I must admit, I was one of the cynics
beforehand, but from the moment that Danny Boyle’s incredible opening ceremony
of the Olympics began, I have been enthralled by the whole sporting event. As a expat Brit in Florida, I have been experiencing
things from across the Atlantic in the USA, of course – but judging by the mixed, but overall favourable
viewpoints expressed in the BBC’s article that I read on world opinion,
it has been a great success. It hasn’t
all been plain sailing though, of course, though.
The
Mitt Romney faux pas
Before the Olympics even began, there was
the Mitt Romney faux pas on his trip to the UK. My wife told me Romney committed the sin of
not recognizing the fact that the Brits can criticize the Olympics but
foreigners should stay out of it. I can
see her point, but I think that there are also other factors at play.
Yes, there were definitely problems with
security and travel strikes in the run up to the start of the Olympics, but I
think there was a cultural misunderstanding at the heart of the Romney faux pas. Brits love to moan about things, we know that
we are an organized country, but playing up problems into virtual epic calamities
is almost a sport in itself and is seen as a strange sort of fun on some level
– at least when expressed as a talking point: “Isn’t it terrible, you’ll never
guess what’s happened now…” type of way.
The British media, politicians, and general public all collaborate.
In the upbeat and optimistic US, the Olympic
security and strike problems, rather than being played up, would’ve been
handled as a “We’ve got it covered, it’s all going to be awesome,”
situation. Romney’s problem was that he
interpreted the British moaning literally and then was shocked by the response
he got. Moaning can often be a casual
thing in the UK, like talking about the weather and people will even invent stuff
just to moan about – it’s a totally different mentality. In the US, a positive
attitude is de rigueur and every problem is there to be solved.
Then again, Mitt made his remarks in an NBC
interview, maybe he just didn’t expect them to be reported by the British
media…
The
opening ceremony
It was just amazing. I couldn’t believe the Queen’s parachute
act. I was worried that the ceremony
might be too traditional or pompous, but if anything it was the other way -
modern and full of humour. I keep
meaning to watch the whole thing again as there was just so much in there. Some of it was pretty obscure unless you are
British – the first lesbian kiss on Brookside, Ken Loach’s “Kes”, other classic quotes and clips
from film, books, TV and radio through the decades. It is incredible how much culture, be it pop
music, Shakespeare, or Mr Bean(!?!) we have brought to the world!
World
opinion on the Olympics
As I mentioned, it was interesting to read
some of the feedback from other countries in the BBC article.
The criticism from the Russian reporter
that "The average Londoner doesn't make a big deal about food - feeding
the kids chips, pizza, toast and sandwiches…
cannot even begin to imagine what would happen to Londoners and city
visitors if it wasn't for Chinese and Indian takeaways," is true in my
estimation.
There is lots of good food to be eaten in Britain,
but the British public generally has no passion for good food and tends to
prefer crap. Unfortunately, the
situation isn’t much different in the US – but
they do know how to do customer service, at least. Plus the US has
the advantage of not having France
next door, reminding them of their inadequacy.
Some of the other criticisms though, I take
with a pinch of salt – biased refs (sour grapes!) and people not being
interested in the games outside the Olympic Village - I mean you have to
respect the fact that a lot of people just aren’t interested in sport, whether
it’s the Olympics, the football World Cup, or the Wimbledon Finals.
There aren’t that many complaints though,
it seems. I know that the London
Olympics have gone down well in America
from noting the reaction of the media and my friends.
Whatever its downsides (dirty, overcrowded,
expensive, grumpiness, etc.) London is a world city and an iconic one.
Things generally seem to have run very smoothly and the staffing has
been cheerful (which is an achievement).
Even the weather has been good by British standards and Team GB have won
a few medals (Yorkshire did so well they would have made it into the top 10 if they were an
independent country). The BBC also have impressed me with their coverage - every sport shown live on the internet!
I can’t wait for the closing ceremony
now. Apparently the Spice Girls are
going to perform…
