Olympics opening ceremony: US media reacts to 'peculiar' British festival

[AlphaCentauri]

Source: Guardian

With its colourful and stunning melange of the bizarre and unexpected, Danny Boyle's Olympic opening ceremony was bound to provoke a few puzzled looks from across the Atlantic.

When you mix an eccentric British history lesson about the Industrial Revolution with a tribute to the National Health Service and throw in Mr Bean, a parachuting monarch and a horde of Mary Poppinses, then virtually the only guarantee is that some people won't get it.

That seemed to be true of the reaction of the American press, which digested Boyle's spectacle a good deal later than the rest of the world after network NBC refused to show it live, preferring instead a delayed and edited broadcast.

Some American critics loved it and others found it bizarre and hard to understand.

In the first camp was the New York Times' writer Sarah Lyall who was so ecstatic about the show that it believed it had solved – sort of – the great problem of Britain's post-Imperial place in the world.



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jul/28/us-media-reacts-olmpics-opening-ceremony

---

"Perhaps not surprisingly in a country where healthcare reform is so controversial it was the high-profile presence of the NHS that stunned many American writers.

After all, the idea of state-control of healthcare is demonised as "socialised medicine" with scare stories of "death panels" touted by top – usually Republican – political leaders."

[underpants]

1. My wife last night on the NHS part - "THAT is clearly flipping the finger at the US"

We cracked up.

WHAT a health system that works, is cheaper, and actually popular???
Matt Lauer sounded like he was about to swallow his tongue having to read his script

[northoftheborder]

3. I had the same thought - about showing up the ridiculous American attitudes about ......

......"SOCIALIZED MEDICINE" horrors of all horrors

PS I loved the program - so British - the Queen "helicoptering" in accompanied by Bond - the history, all the best loved English literature - the stunning method of the torch display.

[arely staircase]

8. no offense intended

but I think that comment reflects a "the whole world revolves around us" bias. We Americans are bad about that. Rightwingers are the worst but we can be pretty bad ourselves. I find it unlikely that the British decided to showcase their half century old national health care system because of our demestic politics.

[Lars77]

10. Bingo. Americans tend to see things through the lens of their own experience

This goes for progressives as well.

I cringe when i hear people praise the occupy movement with things like "It's quintessentially American to protest your government".

Really? Ever been to France?


I see it more as a celebration of the accomplishments of the UK, ironically they are few and far between after World War two but still.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

17. You're saying it's NOT all about me?

Well Harumph!

[Tunkamerica]

50. Don't you mean: People tend to see things through the lens of their own experience?

In France they say it's quintessentially French.

To single out Americans is doing exactly what you're saying is wrong with Americans.

[Lars77]

51. Well of course everyone does that,

i guess it's more correct to say that Americans tend to see things and events with themselves at the center, even though it's not always the case.

[Tunkamerica]

70. us and the belorussians... total outliers! no other countries ever see themselves

as the center of world events!!! stupid Americans!

[Marrah_G]

16. I agree

They were showing pride in what they created. They rest of the world does not function around our politics.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

22. Correct. America has the "Me, Me, Me" mentality of a six-year-old ...

... no offense intended to many fine six-year-olds I know, including my daughter who exhibits far more empathy than most adults I know.

It's a major part of what fucks us up, in business, in community, in politics and with our friends and enemies.

[dotymed]

32. I agree,but it is nice that they showcased a crucial part of

the unquestionably humane system that is not greed oriented. I know it was not aimed at America. Obviously it did get Americans thinking..

[underpants]

41. Well

as posted below she meant it more about how we live a bubble news-wise and are not allowed to see outside...so we are conditioned to be ME ME ME

[arely staircase]

45. i'm just saying that any perceived insult

was in the mind of an american seeing it that way.

[pasto76]

26. thats an american ego centric perspective

Few things actually revolve around the US.


Britain has a good, public healthcare system. They celebrated their leading role in the industrial revolution, and celebrate their _culture_ of healthcare being a right, not a privilege. The entire thing was about _great britain_, and nothing about the US.

[underpants]

40. No she meant more of how it would be received (and probably attacked) by the US MSM

It wasn't about us it was about our living in a bubble where we are not allowed to see the rest of the world.

[pasto76]

61. +1

[HuckleB]

47. +1,000,000,000,000

[riverbendviewgal]

48. That is so true

I loved it.......Having good health care for ALL and not for profit does make some Americans squirm.

[roamer65]

59. I think the NHS part of the show was a warning to PM Cameron as well.

It was meant to tell him to leave it alone...keep your budget cuts away from it.

[Voice for Peace]

2. I have no doubt that Mitt with the shared history and special relationship w/Great Britain

understood and loved every minute of it.

Do you think?

[smirkymonkey]

52. Well, he is "Great British" after all.

So why not?

[Voice for Peace]

4. this is a lovely description

New Yorker writer Lauren Collins also got in on the love for all things British.

"Danny Boyle wins the gold" was the headline on her piece. "The unspoken message was that Britain was an old country, a proud country – and a very different country from China.

"Boyle's living diorama, as specifically-drawn a world as Middle Earth or Pandora, was the opposite of Beijing's vague corporate bombast.

"You could hear the sound of a horse's hooves clopping; of balloons being pricked, in the countdown to the start of the ceremony, a rebuke to the silent grandiosity of lights and lasers,"


(I haven't seen the ceremony but this makes me want to watch it.)

[northoftheborder]

6. Yes, the humanity of all of it, the triumph of the human creative spirit and imagination

what a contrast to the Chinese spectacle, which I enjoyed also, for what it was. I can understand how some cultures might not understand the program last night, unless they know of British history and culture.

[pennylane100]

33. Try to watch it from some source other than NBC.

I thought their coverage was awful. I was watching it with my American SIL and when I kept remarking about what a screw up NBC was doing while covering it, he kept saying that goes for all US media.

I felt that they totally failed to capture the experience of watching it live. When they cut away to show the videos that were part of it, including the Mr. Bean on the beach scenes, it did not make sense to me. Myself and the rest of the viewers were taken to a beach somewhere while the stadium audience was still experiencing the whole thing. Those videos were part of the whole show and should, in my inexperience of media production opinion, have been shown in that context.

I know that it is hard to capture the same feeling as being there but NBC did not even come close. The two commentator's continuous jabbering in the background was also annoying. The art of discreet background commentary was lost on those two.

[riverbendviewgal]

49. Try CTV

Canadian network

[alarimer]

69. A colossal failure on NBC's part, all of the coverage actually

I hope this company loses its shirt on these Games. Bob Costas makes me lose the will to live. I hate, hate, hate the prime time coverage.

[2Design]

5. nothing confusing - american media are brainwashed twits

The storylines were all timelines of greatness of the UK peoples

First timeline - people
2nd timeline - literature
3rd timeline - music

The NBC media did not know who Tim Bernes-Lee was and decided he was unknown to them and therefore not important

Being able to use the Internet with www and html came from Tim Bernes-Lee - his message written in the audience "This is for Everyone" was how we all can use it

[bemildred]

7. Yeah, illiteracy on parade, that's our "news" media. nt

[patrice]

13. They should have to take tests in order to earn the privilege of speaking to us & their scores

should be on the screen when we see them. Not to prevent them from getting jobs in the media or anything, but just to let us all know who, exactly, is speaking to us in such a POWERFUL capacity by means of COLLECTIVELY built and owned resources, the broadcast spectrum and band-width.

[Blue_Tires]

63. +1

I thought the whole thing was incredibly impressive, and that's saying a LOT from me...

[fascisthunter]

9. The Media and Corporate Elite need to STFU! They are destroying this country with their greed!

It's not the average Americans who are making this country look so fascist.

[Lars77]

11. This was the best moment of course!

[dipsydoodle]

23. That was 10 months ago :)

http://news.sky.com/story/885338/pink-floyd-porker-takes-to-the-skies-again

[Lars77]

24. But it had a glimpse in a video during the ceremony too, when the helicopter overflew it.

Was probably CGI, i didn't look too closely.

[dipsydoodle]

27. Oh !

I wondered why you'd mentioned it. Yes - part of London's past.

[Retrograde]

42. And the (too, too) brief samplings from the Sex Pistols and the Clash

and the posse of Poppinses descending on the stadium. I thought the boy-meets-girl segment went on too long, but there may have been some cultural references I wasn't getting.

It was British, and with a better focus on "We, the People" than an American committee would have done.

There was a tribute to the victims of 7/7?

[patrice]

12. Looks as though we'll have to go to the WWW in order to see the ceremony as it actually was. nt

[onehandle]

14. Ah yes. The American fixation on banality.

We are the trailer trash of the world.

[patrice]

18. Trailer trash in expensive clothes. I know trailer trash in poor clothes who know more than msm does

Last edited Tue Jul 31, 2012, 11:04 AM - Edit history (1)

[Tunkamerica]

64. so, is it classier to call people 'trailer trash' or to live in a trailer?

I say living in a trailer is way better than classist name calling.

What type of trash are you?

[patrice]

65. Pardon my offense to your sensibilities. That would have been a joke amongst my friends.

I forgot that I'm not amongst friends here.

[patrice]

66. And, btw, there are plenty of people who know that their understanding is what makes them

who they are, not where they live, and those people aren't as vulnerable to their social status as you think they are.

[Tunkamerica]

67. next time i comment on the vulnerability of people who live in trailers i'll keep that in mind

i was just asking if calling people trash seemed classy or cool to you in some way that it didn't to me. It just struck me as a rude, and potentially offensive, way to refer to a group of people.

[Horse with no Name]

15. Pravda. n/t

[dickthegrouch]

19. I loved it

Rowan Atkinson's "Chariots of Fire" was masterful

The rings coming together stunning

Congratulations to OMD for being picked as the first music. (My favorite band)

Disgust to NBC for censoring the 7/7 tribute.

[alfredo]

20. The opening video was aimed at the pot heads

[dipsydoodle]

21. demonised as "socialised medicine"

[Auggie]

29. My cousin called it "filler" and "propaganda"

*sigh*

[dipsydoodle]

30. You should ask your cousin

what he or she has got that provides cover from conception to being put in a box plus , when I was a kid, free orange juice.

[alfredo]

25. The UK has displayed real discipline in the face of all the false propaganda by the Repubs.

[radhika]

28. I was expecting a Dr Who/TARDIS cameo..did I miss it? n/t

[Pluvious]

38. yes

There was the sound of the TARDIS during part of the OMD piece iirc

[knitter4democracy]

43. Just a sound clip, though. :(

No actual TARDIS. I wish they'd had 11 standing by the Queen or something. That would have been cool.

[radhika]

54. oh, thanks.

[Kolesar]

31. I just watched a few clips--I wish I had seen the whole thing

The production looked pretty damn good. I liked the music.
http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/2012/opening-ceremony-london-opens-its-doors.html

I spent the evening cultivating my garden, instead.

[zonkers]

34. The show adhered to a MASH UP aesthetic. Either get it or not.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. Loved it, simply LOVED IT, and I am not to like or watch

many opening or closing ceremonies.

And the celebration of the NHS was proper, with a stiff upper lip.

It is that which is probably giving tummy aches to our media... they are supposed to HATE IT I tell you.

[kardonb]

37. loved ir

best Olympic opening ceremony EVER ! Meaningful , beautifully executed , just "loverly ".

[obamanut2012]

55. I've said the same thing -- best ever!

And, I've been watching since Munich.

[FightingIrish]

36. I just heard from a cousin in Newcastle

The Brits are deservedly on an emotional high. She was disappointed to hear that NBC cut away from a moment of silence for the victims of the 7/7 bombing. They love Michelle and are having a great time with Romney's "clangers".

[pinboy3niner]

39. Thanks. It was a great ceremony.

Tell your cousin that many of us over here 'got' it, and appreciated it.

Great job, Brits!

[knitter4democracy]

44. This. It was my favorite in years.

The cauldron is gorgeous and a beautiful concept, too. The lighting of it wasn't as neat as Lillehammer, but then, no one's come close to that one.

The set was amazing, the Bond thing and Mr. Bean were funny, and it really had some great moments. Good stuff.

[Tx4obama]

58. Lillehammer lighting - VIDEO

Skip to the 2:00 minute mark

[knitter4democracy]

62. I loved the ski jump.

It's still awesome.

[juajen]

46. I loved all of it, but the natural green was just incredible.

I loved the flags on the green. It was so moving; but, I found the whole opening ceremony moving and gorgeous. Good for our brothers across the pond. I am Welsh/Irish, and it made me cry.

[Beacool]

53. I enjoyed the show.

It was nicely done, but Barcelona's opening ceremony and the way they lit the cauldron is still one of my favorites.

[Tx4obama]

56. Barcelona cauldron lighting - VIDEO

[Beacool]

60. Thank you!!!!

I still marvel at the precision of the archer's shot. So many factors to be taken into consideration to make that shot. I remember holding my breath until the cauldron burst in flames. Absolutely original and breathtaking.

I love opera, so it was a treat to see Placido Domingo and Monserrat Caballe perform.

Great opening ceremony. Ditto for Beijing, they to did a great job.

I liked London, but wasn't overwhelmed. My favorite part was the bit with the Queen.

[roamer65]

57. Nice show, but I still think the best opening/closing ceremonies belong to Sydney in 2000.

The Australians really know how to party.

[ajain31]

68. Olympics Opening ceremony - a homage to the British Health care system like Obamacare

PLEASE FORWARD...

ROMNEY ON TRACK TO LOSE ELECTION

Romney’s financial manipulations have, in the last 48 hours, exploded from mysterious shouldering embers into a political bonfire that could consume his entire campaign.
Romney is calling President Obama a liar and Obama is continuing his call for Romney to release full information about his financial manipulations and more than one year of tax returns.
Articles in the Washington Post and Boston Globe have probed and continue to probe into Romney’s convoluted finances and his years as CEO and owner of Bain Capital. Romney has called for retraction of these widely quoted articles without success.
For a Rachel Maddow interview with the Boston Globe writer who probed Romney’s SEC reports click here: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-rachel-maddow-... .
For a broader discussion of Romney’s financial manipulations on Morning Joe click here: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/morning-joe/481735... .
Either Mitt Romney was "sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president" of Bain Capital from 1999-2002, when all sorts of ugly outsourcing and vulture fund activities were taking place, or he was just listed as "sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president" on the company's documents, which means he was simply a figurehead collecting cash generated by said ugly outsourcing and vulture fund activities.
There appears to be more than ample multiple evidence that Romney is not telling the truth about completely leaving Bain after 1999. If you want to read all the details:
1. Click here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/mitt... ;
2. Click here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/12/us-... ;
3.Click here: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/07/romne... ;
4. Click here: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/b... .
And these articles on Romney/Bain only scratch the surface. After the Boston Globe article on Thursday the Internet lit up like a Christmas tree as everyone with access seemed to have something to report.

More MoJo coverage of Mitt Romney (http://www.motherjones.com/category/tags/romn... ):
►The Mystery of Romney's Exit From Bain:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/m... ;
►Romney Invested in Medical-Waste Firm That Disposed of Aborted Fetuses, Government Documents Show: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/r... ;
►Romney Tax Tips: 10 Ways to Stiff the IRS:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/t... ;
►Mitt Romney's Long History of Misremembering His Past:http://www.motherjones.co m/politics/2012/06/mitt-romney -history-problem;
►Get-Rich-Quick Profiteers Love Mitt Romney, and He Loves Them Back:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/m... ;
►How Romney Fibs—and Gets Away With It:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/r... .
Of course the Obama campaign wasted no time getting out TV ads on the subject. One of the most recent has Romney singing “God Bless America” while the graphics pound him for his financial manipulations. Click here:http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/14... . Voters in the swing states are getting their first glimpse behind the mask of Romney’s polished campaign performance.
This all brings back Richard Nixon’s famous statement,“I am not a crook.”
The problem for Romney is that it is impossible for him to win an election campaign based on whether or not he is a potential criminal who has lied on legally required reports. Every day the media probes deeper into the Romney financial paper trail and reveals more and more conflicts between Romney’s personally signed reports and his recorded campaign statements is a day closer to his political defeat. If the present political bonfire doesn’t die down soon the GOP may decide at its late August convention to throw Romney under the bus.

Ed Schlick

AP News

PLEASE FORWARD...
ROMNEY ON TRACK TO LOSE ELECTION
Romney’s financial manipulations have, in the last 48 hours, exploded from mysterious shouldering embers into a political bonfire that could consume his entire campaign.
Romney is calling President Obama a liar and Obama is continuing his call for Romney to release full information about his financial manipulations and more than one year of tax returns.
Articles in the Washington Post and Boston Globe have probed and continue to probe into Romney’s convoluted finances and his years as CEO and owner of Bain Capital. Romney has called for retraction of these widely quoted articles without success.
For a Rachel Maddow interview with the Boston Globe writer who probed Romney’s SEC reports click here: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-rachel-maddow-... .
For a broader discussion of Romney’s financial manipulations on Morning Joe click here: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/morning-joe/481735... .
Either Mitt Romney was "sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president" of Bain Capital from 1999-2002, when all sorts of ugly outsourcing and vulture fund activities were taking place, or he was just listed as "sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president" on the company's documents, which means he was simply a figurehead collecting cash generated by said ugly outsourcing and vulture fund activities.
There appears to be more than ample multiple evidence that Romney is not telling the truth about completely leaving Bain after 1999. If you want to read all the details:
1. Click here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/mitt... ;
2. Click here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/12/us-... ;
3.Click here: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/07/romne... ;
4. Click here: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/b... .
And these articles on Romney/Bain only scratch the surface. After the Boston Globe article on Thursday the Internet lit up like a Christmas tree as everyone with access seemed to have something to report.
More MoJo coverage of Mitt Romney (http://www.motherjones.com/category/tags/romn... ):
►The Mystery of Romney's Exit From Bain:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/m... ;
►Romney Invested in Medical-Waste Firm That Disposed of Aborted Fetuses, Government Documents Show: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/r... ;
►Romney Tax Tips: 10 Ways to Stiff the IRS:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/t... ;
►Mitt Romney's Long History of Misremembering His Past:http://www.motherjones.co m/politics/2012/06/mitt-romney -history-problem;
►Get-Rich-Quick Profiteers Love Mitt Romney, and He Loves Them Back:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/m... ;
►How Romney Fibs—and Gets Away With It:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/04/r... .
Of course the Obama campaign wasted no time getting out TV ads on the subject. One of the most recent has Romney singing “God Bless America” while the graphics pound him for his financial manipulations. Click here:http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/14... . Voters in the swing states are getting their first glimpse behind the mask of Romney’s polished campaign performance.

This all brings back Richard Nixon’s famous statement,“I am not a crook.”

The problem for Romney is that it is impossible for him to win an election campaign based on whether or not he is a potential criminal who has lied on legally required reports. Every day the media probes deeper into the Romney financial paper trail and reveals more and more conflicts between Romney’s personally signed reports and his recorded campaign statements is a day closer to his political defeat. If the present political bonfire doesn’t die down soon the GOP may decide at its late August convention to throw Romney under the bus.

Ed Schlick
WOLFEBORO, N.H.(AP)— President Barack Obama is keeping up a drumbeat of skepticism over Mitt Romney's insistence — displayed in a blitz of TV interviews — that he stepped down from his private equity firm years earlier than federal records indicate.

Obama planned another day of campaigning in Virginia on Saturday, a state he won in 2008 but before that last supported a Democratic presidential nominee in 1964. Advisers said he would remind voters of the discrepancies between Securities and Exchange Commission filings and Romney's recollection of his role at the Boston-based firm.

His re-election campaign released an ad that repeated its allegation that Romney's Bain Capital shipped American jobs to China and Mexico; that Romney has personal wealth in investments in Switzerland, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands; and that as governor of Massachusetts, he outsourced state jobs to India.

"Mitt Romney's not the solution. He's the problem," Obama's latest ad says as it plays video of Romney awkwardly singing "America the Beautiful."

The ad was set to run in the battleground states of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The ad, targeting Romney's vast personal wealth, comes as Democrats — and some Republicans — call for Romney to release tax returns going back several years. Romney has said anew that he won't go beyond releasing his 2010 tax records and, before the election, his 2011 taxes.

"You can never satisfy the opposition research team of the Obama organization," Romney told CBS on Friday. In the same round of interviews in which he defended his account of his role at Bain, Romney said Obama owed him an apology for an aide's suggestion that the Security and Exchange Commission filings, if false, could bring a felony charge.

"This is simply beneath the dignity of the presidency of the United States," Romney told ABC.

It wasn't just Obama, though, pushing the presumptive Republican nominee to put the issue of his tax returns and wealth to rest.

"There is no whining in politics," chided John Weaver, a veteran Republican strategist. "Stop demanding an apology, release your tax returns."

For full AP article click here: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-07-14/bai...


Contact:
Ed Schlick
Executive Director
Maine People’s Voting Coalition
E-mail [e-mail]

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