Let’s calm down, people
By now we have all understood that social media has become the arbiter of rapid response, the immediate expression of individual or collective opinion, the raw, uncut measure of often visceral reactions to events or statements. And now that the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris is over, the heavily weighted social media sites – X, Threads, Instagram, Facebook – are filled with opinions on said ceremony, some praising the panoramas, some hating all of it. The comments are often interesting and sometimes amusing and fun. We agree or disagree and go about our business.
But now the comments have become aggressive, insulting and just plain wrong. Somewhere along the line, the sites began exploding with the fury of the American Evangelists.
“How dare the French leftists make fun of the Last Supper of Christ?” This was a popular tweet. And, “How sad” to see poor Jesus treated such, wrote Marjorie Taylor Greene. “Revolting!” “Disgusting atheists” proclaimed some FOX subsidiary.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson posted an image from the ceremony, writing in a tweet, “Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.” The Speaker of the House!
It’s overwhelming to read the tweets and comments and to absorb the anger, the outrage of thousands of people who hinted that they would rather enjoy another French Revolution.
Having been born in Washington, DC and after spending over a half century there, my disappointment and sadness is increasing. Europeans from everywhere are now trying to explain to Americans, via counter-tweets, that this image is not, in fact, a depiction of the Last Supper, but rather of the Greek Bacchanal, or Dionysian Feast celebration. The fellow shown in blue is Dionysus, one of the 12 Olympians, the Greek god of festivity and feasting, ritual and theater. Olympians. Do we need to spell it out? The first games, long before Christianity.
The French, as all European residents, fully understand the unequaled and enormous significance of the Greek civilization on the West. The name of Europe is Greek. The references to ancient Greece appear throughout the lively ceremony. What a loss that so many didn’t understand it. But the American media that streamed the ceremony are also to blame. NBC, FOX, CBS, and others couldn’t explain the images either. It was repeatedly said that their commentaries were empty, uncomprehending and dull. Historical context and knowledge of the Olympics and its origin would have helped.
The French know their history and they portrayed it sublimely, in my opinion. After all, the French invented ‘avant-garde,’ described as an experimental genre or work of art that is usually aesthetically innovative, while often ideologically unacceptable to the artistic establishment of the time.
Everyone has an absolute right to their opinions on the aesthetics of the ceremony. Yes, much of it was pure kitsch. Not everyone had to like it, and certainly one can compare to past Olympics openings. But to become furious over mistaken interpretations is such misplaced passion and waste of energy, in addition to being vastly insulting to the French.
And, by the way, to those who were appalled by the supposed image of “Death on a pale horse,” it should be explained that the image was Sequana, Goddess of the Seine, the River in which the boat procession took place.
Let’s calm down, people. The Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles in 2028. We can only hope that there will be less judgment and more enjoyment.
Tenia Christopoulos is a writer from Washington, DC, who lives in Athens. She is a contributor to Kathimerini, The Washington Post, Insider Magazine and Tatler, and is the author of “Lords of the Dance.”
