Here we go with another Olympic Games. Some are wondering
aloud if the Olympics are the old typewriter of today's high tech world,
worn and pointless. But every four years the grumbling about the
Olympics is silenced by the excitement of the event itself as it gets
nearer to the opening ceremonies (with that awful nationalism as its
theme). But despite the rampant and idiotic nationalism of the Olympic
Games, the expensive facilities, and the drug inflated athletes, we will
still watch and enjoy much of it.
There's a lot that is good about the Olympic Games. The world gets to see its better side (Ok, maybe it is like putting lipstick on a pig) on display, showing the great cultural diversity that makes life interesting, and what I most like about the games apart from the great competition on the fields is the many firsts that happen at or because of the Olympics. The last Summer Olympic Games can be remembered as a first for site of its venue. When China put on the games so well it showed that the Olympic Games belonged to every person wherever he or she lives, despite the ideology of the place.
Now having them in London has brought the games back to a more traditional and less opulent venue, London (which is hosting for the third time). Londoners don't feel the need to impress outsiders with expensive facilities, they want tradition to be the attraction, a reminder that in the Games themselves there is also rooted much inherent ceremony and tradition that can be as appealing as those obscenely expensive "Bird's Nest" stadiums.
Too, this year there are some other great firsts that we already know will happen They will be remembered along with the surprise firsts we are not yet aware of but that are being germinated and will be revealed during the games. There is, for an example, the announcement by the crazy Iranian government that it will pretend to stop hating Israel long enough to compete against Israeli athletes in London because, even when competing against Jews, the Iranian government said, "We will be true to sport and play every country." Of course a few days after announcing that the only Iranian athlete, a judo contestant, who was scheduled for a match against an Israeli withdrew because of a "critical digestive system infection". Oh well, at least it's a first that Iran pretends not to be paranoid. (They do however retain their first place for the hypocrisy medals.)
And another first in this version of the Games is especially nice for the ladies of the world. Women athletes from Brunei, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia will be allowed to compete at the Olympics for the first time ever as those countries finally recognize the existence of something not male. It's a crack in the stone for women's rights there, but is a start nonetheless. One of the handful of women athletes from those three Muslim countries will also carry the nation's flag in the opening ceremonies. The desire to fit in and join the Games and not be seen as the crazy aunt who lives in the attic, even reaches fundamentalist Muslim dictatorships.
The power of the symbolism of the Olympic Games is enormous. When a billion people are watching we all try to behave a little better, and that's a good thing.
There's a lot that is good about the Olympic Games. The world gets to see its better side (Ok, maybe it is like putting lipstick on a pig) on display, showing the great cultural diversity that makes life interesting, and what I most like about the games apart from the great competition on the fields is the many firsts that happen at or because of the Olympics. The last Summer Olympic Games can be remembered as a first for site of its venue. When China put on the games so well it showed that the Olympic Games belonged to every person wherever he or she lives, despite the ideology of the place.
Now having them in London has brought the games back to a more traditional and less opulent venue, London (which is hosting for the third time). Londoners don't feel the need to impress outsiders with expensive facilities, they want tradition to be the attraction, a reminder that in the Games themselves there is also rooted much inherent ceremony and tradition that can be as appealing as those obscenely expensive "Bird's Nest" stadiums.
Too, this year there are some other great firsts that we already know will happen They will be remembered along with the surprise firsts we are not yet aware of but that are being germinated and will be revealed during the games. There is, for an example, the announcement by the crazy Iranian government that it will pretend to stop hating Israel long enough to compete against Israeli athletes in London because, even when competing against Jews, the Iranian government said, "We will be true to sport and play every country." Of course a few days after announcing that the only Iranian athlete, a judo contestant, who was scheduled for a match against an Israeli withdrew because of a "critical digestive system infection". Oh well, at least it's a first that Iran pretends not to be paranoid. (They do however retain their first place for the hypocrisy medals.)
And another first in this version of the Games is especially nice for the ladies of the world. Women athletes from Brunei, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia will be allowed to compete at the Olympics for the first time ever as those countries finally recognize the existence of something not male. It's a crack in the stone for women's rights there, but is a start nonetheless. One of the handful of women athletes from those three Muslim countries will also carry the nation's flag in the opening ceremonies. The desire to fit in and join the Games and not be seen as the crazy aunt who lives in the attic, even reaches fundamentalist Muslim dictatorships.
The power of the symbolism of the Olympic Games is enormous. When a billion people are watching we all try to behave a little better, and that's a good thing.
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