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Title : I had 2 big problems with the Olympics opening ceremony.
link : I had 2 big problems with the Olympics opening ceremony.

I had 2 big problems with the Olympics opening ceremony.

1. Phony nationalities: There were way too many "Olympians" who were there because they marched under a flag that was not, in fact, their home country, and these people seemed to be mostly Americans. It was really irritating to watch these people soaking up screen time under false pretenses. There are so many countries that lack winter sports. So what?! It's the Winter Olympics. Let it be what it is.

2. All those references to "Asia" in the script: The NBC announcers had a script to read as the dance/theater extravaganza unfolded, and for some reason, instead of telling us about how the various costumes, symbols, movements, and projections said something about Korea, they kept saying things like "and Asia," "and all over Asia," and "and Asian people in general." Why?! Asia's a big place, with culture and history that didn't take place in one united whole group (even though at one point we were told that Asians really believe in the importance of the group, and were were told that dancers, dancing together, prove what people can do if they work as a group). Was that South Korea's idea, some subtle way to include North Korea without saying it outright, or was this some NBC idiocy cooked up for Americans?

I haven't read any reviews yet, but now I will. I just want to see how much the 2 things that annoyed me annoyed the professional critics.

The AP article "What NBC talked about at Olympics opening ceremony, and what it didn’t" doesn't talk about my 2 problems but raises this one, which I'd forgotten:

We get that Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White are two of the biggest stars heading into the games, but even [NBC announcer Mike] Tirico seemed to get sick of NBC flashing pictures of them. “There’s Lindsey one more time,” he said. “Getting some major camera time and not shy about it.” She doesn’t own the cameras, Mike.

And it raises something else I just didn't know about because it's about something we didn't hear about:NBC didn't mention it: "Two-time Olympic speedskating champion Shani Davis’ anger at losing a coin toss to determine the flag bearer for the United States, and his decision not to attend the opening ceremony." That links to a more detailed article, here:

Davis and luger Erin Hamlin tied 4-4 in voting by fellow athletes to carry the flag. Hamlin won the honor in a coin toss, a process the 35-year-old speedskater said was executed “dishonorably” in a post on his Twitter account. His tweet included a hashtag mentioning Black History Month, which raised the question of whether the five-time Olympian was suggesting that race played a role in the decision. Davis is black, Hamlin is white....

Davis has trained separately from his U.S. teammates for years, including the last two summers in South Korea. In a Feb. 6 blog post he wrote for TeamUSA.org, Davis explained that he chose to complete his pre-Olympic preparations in Germany while the U.S. team had its camp in Milwaukee.

He should be honored, under the circumstance, to have received as many votes as he did. What was going on there? And the he complains about losing a coin toss. That's got to be the ultimate in poor sportsmanship.

Here's the NYT analysis, "Winter Olympics 2018 Opening Ceremony: Highlights and Analysis":

Vice President Mike Pence waved at the huge American contingent — at 242 it is the largest for any country at any Winter Games. The United States also got the chance to walk out to “Gangnam Style,” by far the most successful Korean pop song ever.

I enjoyed hearing "Gangnam Style," but thought it was politically incorrect to be playing the words "Hey, sexy lady" as athletes marched.

USA Today leans on social media with "What viewers thought of the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony." This lamely collects mentions of "Tongan shirtless guy," which is almost a gesture at my problem #1. Now, I've got to give this post my "MSM reports what's in social media" tag.

Deadline Hollywood has "Olympics Opening Ceremony: Katie Couric & Mike Tirico Prove Gold For NBC," which gets a close to seeing my problem #2:

[NBC Olympics contributor Joshua Cooper] Ramo seemed intent on delivering the pummeling gravitas that characterized the worst aspects of Bob Costas’ long Olympic commentator reign. Dropping generic Otto von Bismarck and cul-de-sac explanations of Korean and Asian culture, Ramos seemed to be striving for purpose most of the night. Answering a question from Couric early on about the significance of the joint Koreas entrance at the Opening Ceremony, his response of “It’s going to be one of these unforgettable, electric, historical moments. But what we honestly don’t know yet is why it’s historic” was more pabulum than political insight.

Here's Variety, "The Opening Ceremony of the Pyeongchang Olympic Games Finds Poetry Amid the Politics." The critic here, Maureen Ryan, sees something of the "Asian" problem that bothered me:

As athletes excitedly entered the stadium, Tirico, Couric and analyst Joshua Cooper Ramo offered tidbits about the histories of individuals or nations, and not all of those factoids were upbeat. As they bantered, they didn’t step on each other and they shared a polite, calm liveliness, but I did get tired of the endless generalities from Ramo about what constituted “Asian” culture, which felt about as deep as a Wikipedia entry.

I didn't mention the costumes, but here's "Ranking every piece of Team USA’s Winter Olympics opening ceremony outfit," putting the bandana in 8th (last) place and the gloves in 7th. I loved the gloves, which I associated with cowboys, but this article says is "very close to crossing the line between being “inspired by” traditional Native American clothing and completely crossing over into cultural appropriation." And I see the jacket's self-heating technology is the kind they put in car seats. I could use that, but I don't think I'd like it in my jacket alone. If it weren't also in my shoes and mittens, I think I'd end up colder and, simultaneously, hotter.

Thus articles I had 2 big problems with the Olympics opening ceremony.

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