The opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics concluded in the early hours of July 27, but controversies have persisted. Recently, the Paris Olympic Committee had to hide/delete videos of the opening ceremony and publicly explain themselves after being criticized by Christians and Catholic worldwide for actions considered a religious mockery. Meanwhile, ,any have called the Paris 2024 Olympic opening ceremony the “worst disaster” in the history of the Olympics.
Specifically, during the opening ceremony, the Paris Olympic Committee staged a reenactment of Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting “The Last Supper,” intending to depict the biblical scene of Jesus and his disciples sharing their final meal before his crucifixion. This reenactment included female impersonators, transgender models, a naked singer dressed as the Greek god of wine Dionysus, and a child.
This scene shocked Christians and Catholic believers, who saw it as a “blasphemous” insult.
In response to the anger, Tony Estanguet, the President of the Paris 2024 Olympic Committee, stated, “The idea was to really trigger a reflection”, adding, “We wanted to have a message as strong as possible.. Having said that – it is a French ceremony for the French Games – so we trusted our artistic director. We have freedom of expression in France and we wanted to protect it..”
Meanwhile, Anne Descamps, a spokesperson for Paris 2024, said at a press conference, “Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think (with) Thomas Jolly, we really did try to celebrate community tolerance. Looking at the result of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are, of course, really, really sorry.”
Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the ceremony, explained his idea to The Associated Press: “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that,” adding, “”My wish isn’t to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock,” Jolly said. “Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”
Source: K14
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