Thursday 2 August 2012

Mandatory Olympic Post; Rage against the USA.

Why is the vast amount of American 'journalism' regarding the London 2012 Olympics so bitter and spiteful? I get that there is natural competition between everyone but it seems to be the USA in particular are trying to piss on our parade and find fault with absolutely everything. Take the opening ceremony. Boyle created a British masterpiece, it was eccentric, historical and witty, so very British. Yet as I scrolled through many tweets posted by Americans it was full of criticism. One girl asked why Britain had excluded other countries by making the ceremony "all about Britain." I'm sorry, but that was the whole point. No body criticised Beijing for having a lavish Chinese ceremony, so why should we not be proud of our own heritage? Some may be quick to suggest the Americans are jealous of their own lack of history. Perhaps when it's their turn they can have Ronald Macdonald prancing about? There was heavy criticism from many US congress men because of the dedication to the NHS. one claiming it was ‘The most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen – more than Beijing, the capital of a communist state!', Why should we be ashamed of our healthcare system? No matter what class or race you are, everyone is entitled to free medical services in our country, this is an example we want to proudly set to the world! Boris Johnson said  ‘People say it was all leftie stuff. That is nonsense…I thought it was stupefying, one of the most amazing events I have ever seen.’ surely if it were a "leftie" production, the staunchly conservative man wouldn't have enjoyed it so much! 

One comment that really did ruffle my feathers was found in the New York Times. "Britain offered a display of humor and humbleness that can only stem from a deep-rooted sense of superiority". Not only is it such a contradictory statement, as humbleness and superiority are complete antonyms of each other, but it completely disrespects the whole ceremony. Great Britain just wanted the opportunity to do something great and historical, something for people to always remember and to prove we can put on a jolly good show, just the same as every country who have hosted the games. When the USA host the games next, we could all bet our houses that it will be the least humble ceremony in history, full of starry eyed patriots rambling on about how "awesome" America is. I felt it was a very humble ceremony, we didn't claim to be the greatest country of all time or anything ridiculous.

One example of excellent journalism was in the USA daily mail, where with absolute seriousness a journalist marvelled at the hilarity of Rowan Atkinson, but noted "you would think the organisers would want the well-known fool to be kept well away from the ceremony in order to prevent any disasters." I thought at first the journalist was trying to be funny, but upon reading the comments it was clear she isn't aware that Rowan is a top class intellect, educated at Oxford university who just happens to be an excellent actor. I know they say American's don't get our sense of humour or eccentricity, hence why their "comedy" shows are full of elaborate stupidity and insults rather than wit, but I always felt this was a stereotype, until I read that article. Come on guys, no one is really that stupid. I'm glad the Queen's stunt was met with roaring success from all walks of the world, so clearly the Americans can appreciate our sense of humour occasionally! One of the few things that the critics seemed to unanimously enjoy was the Macca sing a long, which I hated as it was so out of tune & time.

I'm not sure what the critics were expecting, did they think the Royal Family were going to get up and perform Pulp's 'Common People?' come to think of it that would have been rather entertaining, but it was nice to explore the working class side of our history rather than the usual sterotypical display of Red Buses, Beefeaters and aristocracy. Hands off to Boyle for getting us more excited about the Olympics in three hours than it's taken poor Boris in the last seven years. I just think the American haters need to chill a little, if they get the chance to show us how it should have been done we will be watching. I probably should point out that many of the informal tweets from American citizens were full of praise and enthusiasm, it's just a shame some of the professionals
couldn't have been a little more open minded and positive. End of the day they know they are coming home with more medals than us, so perhaps they should just enjoy the even we have put on and appreciate what Great Britain has to offer. The whole point of the Olympics is unity & friendly competition, by disrespecting the hosts efforts to entertain you goes against the Olympic spirit.