This is what we're like
This is on my Facebook, but I thought I'd post it here as well.
I've read a few reviews of the Olympics opening ceremony now. There's an interesting split. The British media - even the most rabidly right-wing of them (with certain disgraceful exceptions) - have been enthusiastic about it. The US media - especially, it seems, in the blogosphere and its commentards - have been (with exceptions) somewhat negative. The most commonly used word has been "boring", a word that parents such as myself are used to hearing from their teenaged offspring.
This interests me. The British are quite likely the most self-critical nation on Earth. We have a strongly right-wing press which, nevertheless, praised a show which gave two fingers to the present Conservative-led government. But - only one Conservative MP - Aiden Burley - complained about the show and he was instantly, universally condemned.
So what's happened?
My hypothesis is this: The show said: look, this is what we Brits are like. We're cranky, traditional, forward-looking, creative, funky, tolerant, argumentative, kind, repressed, humble and vain. When we want to be, we're the coolest people on the planet. See! This is what a post-imperial, post-industrial racially and culturally diverse country looks like. We come from the past, yes, but also from the future. Maybe your future.
Perhaps some countries would rather not be reminded that empires fall and dynasties end. Perhaps, like the teenager who uses the word "boring" to describe everything that he or she considers uncongenial, some countries would rather stick their fingers in their ears and shout "la-la-la, can't hear you".
I've read a few reviews of the Olympics opening ceremony now. There's an interesting split. The British media - even the most rabidly right-wing of them (with certain disgraceful exceptions) - have been enthusiastic about it. The US media - especially, it seems, in the blogosphere and its commentards - have been (with exceptions) somewhat negative. The most commonly used word has been "boring", a word that parents such as myself are used to hearing from their teenaged offspring.
This interests me. The British are quite likely the most self-critical nation on Earth. We have a strongly right-wing press which, nevertheless, praised a show which gave two fingers to the present Conservative-led government. But - only one Conservative MP - Aiden Burley - complained about the show and he was instantly, universally condemned.
So what's happened?
My hypothesis is this: The show said: look, this is what we Brits are like. We're cranky, traditional, forward-looking, creative, funky, tolerant, argumentative, kind, repressed, humble and vain. When we want to be, we're the coolest people on the planet. See! This is what a post-imperial, post-industrial racially and culturally diverse country looks like. We come from the past, yes, but also from the future. Maybe your future.
Perhaps some countries would rather not be reminded that empires fall and dynasties end. Perhaps, like the teenager who uses the word "boring" to describe everything that he or she considers uncongenial, some countries would rather stick their fingers in their ears and shout "la-la-la, can't hear you".