The opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics was one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever witnessed. The level of artistry, precision, and drama was a credit to everyone involved. The perfect circles of the Tai Chi exhibition, unfolding into the waves of birds flying on screens surrounding the stadium brought me to tears. End to end, it was overwhelming.
I think the most impressive thing, for me, was how masterfully the use of technology was folded into a very human experience. What were your thoughts as you watched?
The Birdsnest
Tai-Chi
Tai-Chi Circles
2,008 Drummers
The Globe
Chad 4:33 pm on 9 August 2008 Permalink
Mesmerizing. Stunning. Tasteful and Artistically Focused.
I hope we never go to war with these people.
rich 7:36 pm on 9 August 2008 Permalink
gosh, i hate to be a downer, but i was thinking it was one the most masterful displays of propaganda ever. that the display could give the world warm and fuzzies in spite of china being one of the the worst human rights violators in the world is proof positive…
michael lee 8:18 pm on 9 August 2008 Permalink
I took it as China’s statement of what they view as the best of their national spirit, and national identity. There were several points where the dominant theme was a celebration of increasing openness to the world, and increasing opportunity for the people of China. If they consider those two things to be integral to their national identity, I take that as a positive sign.
The problem with a propaganda event of that magnitude, focusing on those themes, is that your own people might start to believe it, and their expectation of their government might change. That’s a pretty big risk to take, if you’re only interest is in doing some international PR.
I don’t want to minimize the importance of China’s human rights violations, but I think the decision to host the games is an important milestone on a trajectory that is increasingly more open, more free, and more humane.
rich 8:24 pm on 9 August 2008 Permalink
I hope and pray you are right. Remember, their people started to believe in and ask for these things nearly 20 years ago…
Bobby 8:32 pm on 9 August 2008 Permalink
I heard a line during the ceremony that China had the highest GDP 9 of the last 10 centuries… Ouch!! That’s hardly a ringing endorsement for the government in charge for the last 60 years.
The ceremony was fascinating.
lorijo 10:16 pm on 9 August 2008 Permalink
i loved it. i was ooing and ahhing. i hope to watch it again from the beginning, i think i missed for the first 30 minutes. but those perfect circles were amazing. i loved everything, and i loved the use of technology so fluidly. way cool.
Alex 11:08 pm on 9 August 2008 Permalink
I keep thinking back to the point where I thought… “Wow… sweet hydraulics…”
Then they popped out of the top and waved.
june 11:13 pm on 9 August 2008 Permalink
I had all of the above thoughts….I vacillated between awe and something like scorn (but not quite as strong as actual scorn) while watching the opening ceremonies. My in-laws have lived in various parts of China for extended periods of time so we’ve learned much about China—it’s people, history, culture and government—from them. It’s fascinating, to say the least. I’ve often found myself thinking that the Chinese way of thinking/doing/being is the polar opposite of American ways. Such thoughts are over-simplifications, of course, but when faced with the mind-boggling differences between China and the western world, this is the conclusion my wee brain often lands on. Watching the impressive execution of undeniably beautiful artistic vision in the opening ceremonies, I felt guarded gladness about what such a thing hopefully means for China and it’s people. I guess there’s a big part of me that wonders if China wasn’t saying what it thinks we all want to hear.
michael lee 12:04 am on 10 August 2008 Permalink
I have no doubt that was a big part of the inspiration. I wonder if we can appreciate what a massive transition that represents, that China would be interested in what the rest of the world thinks of them.
michael lee 1:19 am on 10 August 2008 Permalink
Great pictures
James 11:42 am on 10 August 2008 Permalink
Inner music nerd coming out says:
It made me miss drum corps… almost enough to make me want to do it again…
key word: almost… :P
sharolyn 2:17 pm on 10 August 2008 Permalink
Disclaimer: I am not thinking politically at all.
Alex, I had the same reaction. I watched that part for the first time last night and (like the rest of the ceremony) my jaw was dropped. I thought the columns were too tall for humans, and therefore was delighted when it was revealed that that was done by humans. As a timid fan of technology, I thought the whole show used technology in such an artful way, and did not use technology to substitute for human beings.
I loved the delicate / beautiful / tender moments that I doubt would happen in America. We would have had someone rocking out (in a mediocre fashion), maybe even a wardrobe malfunction… we would never name a kick-ass stadium “The Bird’s Nest”.
Thus concludes my inch-deep thoughts.
michael lee 2:29 pm on 10 August 2008 Permalink
The juxtaposition of the first commercial break, where the opening ceremonies were brought to you by Budweiser and McDonald’s, was jarring, and more than a little embarrassing.
Alex 2:36 pm on 10 August 2008 Permalink
How about that second or so commercial break? I’m still not sure what to say for a fleshy conglomeration of sumo wrestlers stampeding down a street and lifting off (way to go Intel) or the hot tub powered by dragon-breath-heated water pipes.
michael lee 2:40 pm on 10 August 2008 Permalink
American culture at its best. This is what we do – take meaningful cultural expressions from around the world, and mill them into commercial gristle!
Nick 4:39 pm on 10 August 2008 Permalink
So many moving parts. One wrong move, and bang! a massive pile-up of bodies. Not to mention the threat of execution if you’re the one who screws up.
Sharolyn 7:14 pm on 10 August 2008 Permalink
Yes. What if one of the 2,008 drummers had unintentionally mixed up their moves?
Sharolyn 7:14 pm on 10 August 2008 Permalink
What if they’re not telling us that it was really 2,008 robots?
june 9:19 am on 11 August 2008 Permalink
Wow, I just linked to the photos… “great” indeed! (Thanks for the link Mike!) My two young sons looked at them with me and it was cute to hear them say “Oh yeah, I remember that!” I wonder if the older one will remember always…so fun to see him taking his first Olympics all in. And of course, it’s fun to hear the lil’ guy say “I wike da Wympics!”
I must say, looking at those photos reminded me of what I was thinking as I watched the other night: those opening ceremonies seemed the most appropriate out of any I’ve ever witnessed. How curious that it was CHINA that achieved such a thing…it begs oh-so-many questions!
James 7:10 pm on 11 August 2008 Permalink
Sharolyn, they couldn’t be robots… You’re thinking Japanese :P
Sharolyn's Husband 7:57 am on 13 August 2008 Permalink
Chad,
I had similar thoughts about no war with China. It was awesome. Rich, as far as human rights violations, we should be looking for any planks in our eyes first. Before anyone gets too upset, I am not saying any American violations are on the same level as the Chinese, I am saying that if we have even one instance of government sanctioned torture (or “aggressive interrogation”) it takes away from our ability to point out other countries transgressions.
Chad 8:28 am on 13 August 2008 Permalink
Hehe…
I was more referring to how organized they were. I was feeling like if we ever went to war with them, we’d get our asses kicked.
I don’t mean that in much seriousness, so… let’s not get into a big debate. I was just especially astonished at the tai chi display, and thinking… “I have a really hard time getting 25 high school students in choir to stand with their hands at their sides instead of folded behind them…. we’re so effed.”
Josiah Mory 7:16 am on 14 August 2008 Permalink
Definitely amazing. However, reports like this make me disappointed and still questioning China’s intentions after the tourists leave.
Chad 10:26 am on 14 August 2008 Permalink
Totally!
Americans never, ever lip sync. Nor do we put the cute ones ahead of the average ones!
Freakin’ commies!
:)
june 11:07 am on 14 August 2008 Permalink
Did anyone else hear the report on NPR last night about the ticket situation at the Olympics?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93571935se
So sad. And stupid.
Chad 1:39 pm on 14 August 2008 Permalink
The link is dead! The Chinese got to it!
Josiah Mory 2:09 pm on 14 August 2008 Permalink
It was the fact that the lip syncing involved a nine year old girl and a seven year old girl and that her face wasn’t pretty enough to be on TV, so they had her lip sync for the prettier girl that got me. Not just the fact that it was lip synced or a cute one ahead of the average one.
Chad 3:15 pm on 14 August 2008 Permalink
Dude… don’t get me wrong. It’s lame.
I guess I just feel like it’s a smoke and mirrors job similar to the kind of thing that happens all the time in the US…. or really anywhere.
Heck, for a minor character in High School Musical 3 you’ll hear my voice instead of a squeaky clean, buffed and bronzed tweenager. This is show biz.
Sharolyn's Husband 3:45 pm on 14 August 2008 Permalink
Well, when I thought, “lets not go to war with these guys” I wasn’t thinking too seriously either. And its not like that thought means, Central African Republic, we could take them easy. I just probably hope that we don’t go to war with anyone.
Sharolyn's Husband 3:48 pm on 14 August 2008 Permalink
And…when I was in high school, one of the leads for Bye Bye Birdie freaked out the night of the show and one of the teachers lip synced her part from the pit. This might be a had to be there moment, but it is a crack up memory for me. Now is the part when if we were at a party I would say, “Sharolyn, you tell the story.”
sharolyn 5:21 pm on 14 August 2008 Permalink
I think you did have to be there. But you can imagine a 16 year-old “Kim” taking on the phone, to all of a sudden hearing the operatic middle-aged singing voice of a teacher named Betty Gail.
As far as the Olympics, I don’t get out much but have heard that the young vocalist has crooked teeth, and was sad for her to know that the whole world was talking about her flaws. :(
Chad 5:49 pm on 14 August 2008 Permalink
Is this actually Sharolyn’s Husband, or is this strike 2 of 17?
Sharolyn 7:37 pm on 14 August 2008 Permalink
I like a game where you get 17 strikes.
Says Sharolyn.
Chad 8:25 am on 15 August 2008 Permalink
Like American League Baseball?
harmonicminer 5:01 pm on 16 August 2008 Permalink
I found the whole thing to be colossally depressing.
Chad: I know you didn’t mean it that seriously, but war is not mostly about organization and staying in ranks anymore. It is about technology, and small groups thinking creatively and responding to changing circumstances on the ground (or in the air, or the sea). It is about will, and specifically, the will of the individuals, not just the leadership. And in the end, if it is “all out war”, it is about relative economic strength. (This is true even if it goes nuclear, up to a point…. God forbid.)
All these things have been true since at least the American Revolution (ever hear the old Cosby comedy routine? Lots of truth in it.).
I hope we never have to go to war with them, but my reason may be different: their leaders don’t much care how many of their soldiers they waste. So we will have to kill an enormous number of them. And they will be soldiers who mostly didn’t feel they had much choice about whether or not to be there. Think of it as killing hostages who are carrying rifles to protect their captors, and you’ll have the flavor of it.
Somebody up above thought the USA had no grounds to make comments about other nations’ human rights records until we were perfect.
Just to say: Paul did not at any time claim to be perfect. He spent plenty of time pointing out evil done by other people, both in an out of the church.
Linda 8:01 pm on 16 August 2008 Permalink
I wandered into the “next entry” on the fabulous photos Michael referenced on this website:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/2008_olympics_opening_ceremony.html
It is all so fragile.
Sharolyn's Husband 11:00 pm on 16 August 2008 Permalink
Somebody up above said, “we should be looking for any planks in our eyes first.” And the same somebody said, “if we have even one instance of government sanctioned torture (or “aggressive interrogation”) it takes away from our ability to point out other countries transgressions.”
Who said we have no grounds for comments about other countries human violations? Do you think that the pictures from Abu Ghraib help as we point out the transgressions of others?
harmonicminer 12:02 am on 17 August 2008 Permalink
Simple difference: Abu Ghraib was an aberration. The abusers went to jail. It was not official US policy, before, then or since.
China’s official policies are incredibly abusive and brutal. It is unrepentant, because it has nothing to reprent for, in its eyes. Ditto for Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, and too many others.
Our media holds our government’s feet to the fire. Dissenting media in those other places winds up dead. Or just “disappeared”.
Here you get a Peabody award, or a Pulitzer.
Sadly, our media spend hugely more time reporting on US abuse…. that’s because it’s news. Of the man bites dog variety. It is not news in those other places, it’s daily business, utterly unremarkable, virtually unworthy of comment.
Not an excuse for bad behavior on the part of USA. But realism, please. Citizens of those other places would love to come here and take the risk of abuse… if, that is, they aren’t totally misled by the lies in thier government run media organs. Read PRAVDA lately?
If we, imperfect as we are, fail to speak out, and loudly, about human rights abuses elsewhere, who else, exactly, will qualify? Sweden? Lichtenstein? Now, THAT will make a real dent in world opinion.
Read some books by Sharansky, or Solzhenitsyn, to get a feel for just how critical it is that the USA speak out, and often, and loudly, imperfect as it is. We are, literally, the only hope some people in bad situations have.
aly hawkins 9:42 am on 17 August 2008 Permalink
I agree, for the most part, Phil. (OMG! My head just blew off!) Two caveats:
(1) I think part of the problem, on the part of our government, is the choice to borrow money (incredibly large sums of money) from China. We’re in a sticky situation of our own making: How do you stand in the bully pulpit when it’s owned by the guy you’re dressing down? I watched the Saddleback Civil Forum last night. When asked how we should respond to governments who do not protect religious freedoms (indeed, that often persecute believers of various persuasions), McCain pointed to Ronald Reagan at the Berlin Wall. All I could think was, But did we owe the Soviets $500 billion?
(2) We could still do better on the government policy front. Suspension of habeas corpus (I know that’s a contentious one), “harsh interrogation techniques,” etc., make our beacon of hope dim a little, in my opinion. The U.S. of A. is not even close to (and, God willing, will never be in) the same league as Khrushchev’s USSR, Pol Pot’s Cambodia or Milosevic’s Yugoslavia (or Hu’s China, for that matter). But I think it’s important that we constantly evaluate and dialogue about any policy that might take us even a baby step in that direction. I don’t want to settle for being proud that we’re less bad than really, really bad regimes. We must always be careful, I believe, to act according to our stated values — the very things that make us “the dream” for so many around the world.
june 9:44 am on 17 August 2008 Permalink
Phil, I had the same thought in regard to war…the number of Chinese dead would be so astronomical because, like you said, the fundamental respect for the life of the individual is simply not there. My in-laws have told me that there is a saying in China: “Life is cheap.” This is why I had scorn mixed with awe at the opening ceremonies…just like the athletes who are drafted at age three and see their parents maybe once a year, I suspect every single Chinese person who performed at the opening ceremonies was assigned to do so. Probably most of them got into it, so to speak, just like most of their athletes do eventually. I’m sure I would too. When you have no choices about the life you live, you just make the best of the life you’re assigned I guess.
aly hawkins 9:49 am on 17 August 2008 Permalink
One more point on (2): Sometimes choosing to act in accordance with our values might make us less safe (but only in the short run, I’m inclined to think). It’s important to have more and better honest dialogue about how we rank “safety” on our list of values. Its citizen’s security should be very high on the list of any government’s responsibility (as many 9/11 widows would confirm), but I’m not convinced that “keeping America safe” should ever trump “keeping America America.”
harmonicminer 8:30 pm on 17 August 2008 Permalink
Aly, thoughtful as always.
Re: the fact the we are criticizing the nation to whom we owe so much money, I’m not sure it is such a great problem. Those debts are structured: that is, China has no ability to call them to full payment at once. And to be blunt, China needs us much more than we need them…. so it is not likely they will try to ruin our economy (not that they could, unless we let them for some reason), because if we go into depression, they simply starve. Who else is buying the output of their toy factories? Europe has sort of dropped out the business of buying toys lately…. gotta be making kids for that. ;-)
Anyway, your other point is more substantial, I think, and deserves consideration. In general, of course, we do need to be pretty reluctant to use high pressure interrogation tactics. Given the sorry record of inmates released from Gitmo (they’ve killed lots of people after release), I’m just fine with keeping them there until hell freezes over, or they are told by Imams they will obey to knock it off, or we can release them to nations that will keep them locked up until it’s over, whenever that is. If you’re carrying weapons on the battefield against US troops and you aren’t in uniform, maybe you should be glad they took you prisoner instead of just shooting you.
It isn’t just that “we’re less bad than really, really bad regimes”. It is that we’re HUGELY less bad. And it is that we have an open society which is allowed to criticize our failures. And it is that human rights abuse is generally not national policy. In other words, the difference between us and them is not merely quantitative (as your phrase suggests… and your phrase allows for the difference to be fairly small, which I think you didn’t really mean), it is a qualitatively enormous difference.
And we are not merely “hugely less bad”, we do many positively GOOD things around the world, not all of which are even advertised widely. Much of that good is done by our military, and I don’t just mean tsunami relief.
Read this: http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Grunts-American-Military-Ground/dp/B0019S0F84/ref=pd_bbs_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219029560&sr=8-7
and this:
http://www.amazon.com/Hog-Pilots-Blue-Water-Grunts/dp/1400061334/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219029560&sr=8-2
I’m not saying we’re perfect, don’t have problems to correct, etc. I am saying that it does not a lick of good to agree with any aspect of our foes’ false assertions about us. I am saying that generally WE reveal our problems to the world, not vice versa. I am saying that we act like a nation operating in good faith, generally, with imperfect results. Which is about the best anyone can realistically hope for.
And I’m saying that not a single nation on earth, including ancient Israel, has ever done it better.
If you’re indeed worried about “keeping America America”, and believe there is great danger in seeking safety/security/unity when the cost is personal freedom and human rights (with which I mostly agree), you might want to read this:
http://www.amazon.com/Liberal-Fascism-American-Mussolini-Politics/dp/0385511841/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219029872&sr=1-1
I reviewed it here:
http://www.harmonicminer.com/wordpress/2008/06/16/liberal-fascism/
Did you learn that the USA was basically a fascist nation during World War I when you were in school? I didn’t either. But then, school history texts are mostly written by the Left, and they like Wilson… so why should they let the cat out of the bag? Compare how Wilson ran WWI, or Roosevelt ran WWII, and you may find that Bush has been very restrained in the war on Islamic fascism.