I graduated from a prestigious art college, and have worked at the intersection of art and commerce for over 20 years. In my professional opinion, the grotesque theatrics unapologetically shoehorned into the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics have no redeeming artistic value. On the contrary, they appear to be an attempt to broadcast negative and destructive energy into the world.
It’s not as though people didn’t notice. Artistic director Thomas Jolly spend two years planning an elaborate opening ceremony, mainly consisting of straightforward musical performances (including a rendition of John Lennon’s Communist elegy “Imagine”) and set pieces reflecting French history and culture (including a headless Marie Antoinnette). But, aside from the implied ménage a trois, what viewers responded most strongly to was a high-fashion Bacchanal (or, more accurately, Dionysia) centered on a satirical representation of Dionysus surrounded by drag queens in a tableau of Da Vinci’s “Last Supper.”
Numerous commentators pointed out that this blasphemous pantomime had nothing to do with sports, the Olympic ideals, or genuine ancient Greek culture. The Olympics’ Twitter feed was swamped with almost entirely negative comments, and the official Olympics opening ceremony highlights reel on YouTube now shows a “Video Unavailable” message. Even the editors at Vogue - fashion industry professionals - omitted it from their “Mesmerizing Moments of the Opening Ceremony” article.
In response to the public outcry, Jolly explained that his intention was not “to mock or shock,” but to represent the diversity of France.
While the word “diversity” tends to trigger people, I’d like to focus on the word “represent” instead. In my view, it’s vital to understand that “representation” has artistic, political, and metaphysical ramifications of which most people are unaware.
Representative Representation
The text in Réné Magritte’s famous painting, “The Treachery of Images” reads “this is not a pipe,” bringing the viewer’s attention to the fact that the painting is not actually a pipe, but rather a representation of a pipe.
But this does not mean that an image of a thing has none of the power of the thing. If that were true, there would be no point in advertisements that show sleek gadgets, toned bodies, and shiny automobiles.
So, what does it mean to “represent” something? It can mean to depict or symbolize, as in Magritte’s pipe. It can also mean to serve as an example of a category of people or things, as in having LGBTQ+ icon Barbara Butch flanked by drag queens “representing diversity.”
It can also mean “to make present something which is absent,” and “to act on behalf of another.” For example, when you elect a representative to public office, or you name a personal representative for legal matters, that person represents you. In other words, he or she serves as your proxy with the authority to project your power.
This, I believe, is why so many people found Jolly’s imagery profoundly disturbing.
Jolly and the Olympics officials have insisted that their intention was to promote “community tolerance.” However, when you depict a scene full of ugly, quasi-Satanic imagery, it may not actually BE a depraved, blasphemous orgy, but it “makes present” the energy of such an event. It also “acts on behalf” of whatever entities would want such an event to occur.
Therefore, one might reasonably ask: On whose behalf was this represented? What power did it project into the world? Is that, from the perspective of humanity, good or desirable?
It’s worth noting that Baz Luhrman’s highly stylized 2001 musical film “Moulin Rouge” also had a decadent French cabaret theme, but its theme was “Believe in Truth, Beauty, and Love.” The movie centered around a romance between an attractive man and woman, and featured songs and imagery that, for the most part, depicted hope and joy. While some of the risqué scenes - such as those of glamorous prostitutes singing “Lady Marmalade” - led to some pearl-clutching in the audience, the movie had none of the aggressive grotesquerie of the Olympics’ Last Supper.
A painting of a pipe may not be a pipe, but it represents a pipe. In the same way, a performance of ugliness and evil represents ugliness and evil. Whatever artistic pretensions it may clothe itself in, it acts on behalf of ugliness and evil, and it projects the power of ugliness and evil into the world.
Excellent discussion of the power and purpose of representation. And I find Mr. Jolly’s explanation of only trying to “represent “ diversity and bring people together highly disingenuous and insulting.
How did this, in any way, represent France? France has a thousand points of beauty, from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower, to the Arc De' Triumph. to the Notre Dame Cathedral. It has a thousand years of history, from the Lascaux cave paintings to the revolution, to Normandy and the Maqui freedom fighters in WWII. French, for hundreds of years, was the language of diplomacy, and French poets and novelists often ranked first in the written word.
If anything, this should have been an insult to France. It should have never been.