The Paris Olympics Opening Stupidity
People tend to see what they want to see. More precisely, people see what they’ve been conditioned to see. These days, angry (mostly white) Christians have conditioned themselves to see everything as an attack on them. They seem to live in a constant state of terror that their beliefs, their choices, their way of life, their very existence is under siege. This is patently untrue of course, but that doesn’t seem to matter.
So it comes as no surprise that a high profile event, the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, would generate a flurry of outrage from the Christian right. All the usual right-leaning media outlets are all over it like flies on shit. Fox News, the New York Post, National Review, and others were quick to complain about how one small segment of the opening ceremony “mocked” Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper.
The only problem is that it isn’t true.[1]
As usual, these people jump to conclusions based on less than the full facts. According to the Olympic committee, the segment was a depiction of the Greek god Dionysus.
In a Facebook post, MarLa Francis brings this perspective:
Art is meant to evoke emotion and thought. It’s open to interpretation. And yes, you can dislike it.
I’m tired of these people who think everything is an attack on them. I wish they’d close their mouths and open their minds just a little bit. For once.
- Dan McKlellan: Did the Olympics Mock Jesus’ Last Supper?
But since when does truth matter? LOL. ↩︎