The Olympic Games have definitely shattered major records this year! There’s just so much to take in! Where do we begin? Why not…the Opening Ceremony.
My thoughts on the ceremony for this year’s Olympics in London are quite varied, and from what I have seen on social media, this goes for many others as well.
There were definitely aspects and parts of the ceremony where I was in absolute awe and brought to tears because of the overwhelming sights and theatrics. Then there were moments where I was honestly completely confused or utterly bored.
I did not expect the ceremony to be dead-on perfect. It had its highlights and low points. I think my main issue was there were parts that were confusing or obviously centered on the United Kingdom, such as the tribute to the National Health Service.
I was hoping for more honor and tribute to the fact that this was the Olympics, a culmination of the best athletes from around the world. Really other than each country marching through with their original outfits and waving their flags, I did not find anything that really honored all of the countries coming together.
The first portion of the ceremony really felt like Danny Boyle. I can imagine Boyle had a field day putting this together, him being one of Britain’s most successful filmmakers and having directed Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting. He mixed filmed passages with live action and 15,000 volunteers took part in the show. Seeing the countryside drastically change to an industrial, smoky landscape was a great visual.
Then, there was the now very viral clip of James Bond, the Queen, her adorable Corgis, and a climactic jump from a helicopter into the stadium. The “Digital Age Love Story” as I’ll call it was a tad confusing to me at the beginning but I loved the dancing and music mash-up.
The NHS passage threw me off. Nigel Lawson, a British Conservative politician and journalist, famously called the NHS “the closest thing the English have to a religion.” Perhaps this is why there was such a large portion of the ceremony dedicated to it – something I found honestly very odd.
We also watched a battle between Voldemort and Mary Poppins, in a sense. The ceremony brought out famed author of the Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling to start a section of the ceremony recognizing English literature. As children in hospital beds went to sleep, their nightmares took over and we saw giant figurines of famous villains, such as Cruella De vil and Lord Voldemort.
Who better to come to the rescue than… Mary Poppins?
Overall, the ceremony was indeed unforgettable. It was touching to see young athletes be given the honor of igniting the Olympic flame and to see “This is for everyone” light up across the stadium.
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