# Imbecilic Olympic, "controversy." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** olympic-sports-track\ **Created:** [July 31, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031 "2024-07-31T00:00:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/61 "2024-07-31T05:24:49Z")
You don’t get it. _We_. _Fucking_. _Get_. _It_. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/62 "2024-07-31T05:26:29Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > The planners, we decided, looked at previous Games for inspiration: “They did a demonstration of X, or a paean to Y, or an ode to Z. What should we do to show the world something new and interesting?” And somebody snapped their fingers and said, “I know! Let’s just be aggressively French at them.” This just cracked me up. 🙂 Why didn’t I move to France when I had the chance? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/63 "2024-07-31T05:31:26Z")
Who me? Why don’t you think I understand the outrage is ridiculous? (I said “I don’t get it” meaning I’m surprised they don’t get it) I completely understand what the Olympics people were doing. Now that I understand the actual scene, that was briefly displayed in a painfully long program of many sights and sounds. Why do you insist on driving by my posts and spouting off to just jab and kick? You never offer anything useful. Just nastiness. Does that make you happy to be that person? ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/64 "2024-07-31T05:32:40Z")
It went full tilt boogie, so I did miss some things. I had to do Hubster’s meds. etc., and you really couldn’t look away for a second. I liked every weird (in a good way) bit of it. As I mentioned in the dedicated Olympics thread: I totally want to ride the mechanical horse down the river. I would totally ride the dapple grey she rode to deliver the flag. I thought it was beyond cool. I think some of the outrage: Full House christian wacko, Candace Bure for instance, is just looking for attention. Yep, same one who posted a picture of herself on social media with her husband groping her breast. Now _that_ really lacked taste imho. I guess it was totally cool though 'cause he’s her husband. 🙄 Somehow, despite what I thought about the picture, I didn’t feel the need to get all over social media about it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/65 "2024-07-31T05:33:43Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > … ["]What should we do to show the world something new and interesting?” And somebody snapped their fingers and said, “I know! Let’s just be aggressively French at them.” And all else followed. Well, some of the elements were pretty cheesy … ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/66 "2024-07-31T05:37:47Z")
It seems to me that the French were just mocking themselves, this the Marie Antoinette bit. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/67 "2024-07-31T05:37:59Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > The planners, we decided, looked at previous Games for inspiration: “They did a demonstration of X, or a paean to Y, or an ode to Z. What should we do to show the world something new and interesting?” And somebody snapped their fingers and said, “I know! Let’s just be aggressively French at them.” And all else followed. Imagine the outrage if they has shoved some Molière into our faces! The nerve! Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/68 "2024-07-31T05:49:43Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Imagine the outrage if they has shoved some Molière into our faces! Now that you mention it, I can’t remember the last time I heard about any theater company offering a performance of Tartuffe. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/69 "2024-07-31T06:01:19Z")
(I was in a production. Now you know one!) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/70 "2024-07-31T06:04:51Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I just wasn’t real sure what it represented. I kinda thought. > Then I heard about the outrage and looked at it a couple more times. > > Could not understand it. > > Don’t know about any one else > [@Czarcasm](#): > > You don’t get it. > _We_. > _Fucking_. > _Get_. > _It_ > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Why do you insist on driving by my posts and spouting off to just jab and kick? > You never offer anything useful. Just nastiness. > Does that make you happy to be that person? Why do you think nobody should respond to what you post? He responded perfectly appropriately to what you wrote. You didn’t write any of the explanatory stuff until _after_ he posted what he did. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/71 "2024-07-31T06:08:04Z")
Incidentally, there was a segment in the opening ceremony that was _much_ more outrageous and boundary-pushing (and French!) than this gender-bending catwalk business. In order to cover the gaps in the staging of the boats parading down the Seine, they had some pre-filmed segments. One of them was set in a library. There were three dancers, two men and a woman, dressed in colorful psychedelic costumes, twirling through the stacks and occasionally sitting and reading suggestively-titled books. The whole time, the three of them were making eyes at one another, flirting alternately back and forth, using the sexy books to express interest in one another, giving the vibe that each of them was trying to choose which of the other two was more appealing. At the end of the video, all three of them went back to someone’s flat for a _ménage à trois._ I thought it was hilarious. But, I mean, come on, people, if you’re going to get your skirts all ruffled because the French like to push the cultural envelope, don’t just stop at the goofy bacchanalia. Edit to add: If you want to see for yourself, here’s the video, cued up (I hope) to the relevant sequence. > **[Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony LIVE | Eurosport | #Paris2024](https://www.youtube.com/live/j-Ou-ggS718?si=PIhQzO8ydPAvo9wi&t=3093)** > > Join us in Paris for Eurosport's live coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony. Stream every moment of the Paris 2024 Olympics only on Max: https... ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/72 "2024-07-31T06:10:31Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > But, I mean, come on, people, if you’re going to get your skirts all ruffled because the French like to push the cultural envelope, don’t just stop at the goofy bacchanalia. And don’t tempt the Germans to out ‘push’ the French! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/73 "2024-07-31T06:37:26Z")
Thanks, teach. I’ll try to remember that. Will it be in the test? (I’ve posted enough in this thread, all you gotta do is read and stop reading one or two posts and then dropping in with a snide remark, I think) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/74 "2024-07-31T06:45:17Z")
I posted about that in the other thread. Now, I do find that cringe-y and not the thing to see. (In a library? Come on) Around where children (teens) are competing. I hope pedophilia is NOT ok, because it’s Frenchy French? The girl looked about 12 yo. (My opinion) With two supposed “lovers”? She was outnumbered. First. She was running from them. Second. All kinda wrong. I guess they could a been going in the room to study. 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/75 "2024-07-31T06:49:37Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’ve posted enough in this thread Le sigh… ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/76 "2024-07-31T06:53:35Z")
You’re right behind me, you know? (Toi aussi) ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/77 "2024-07-31T07:18:58Z")
OK, I wasn’t going to get in on this, but… she,IMHO, did not look 12. I have a 12 year old granddaughter, I had a 12 year old daughter once upon a time. I’ve seen 12 year old girls as students and as customers where I work. They don’t look like that. She was not running _from_ them, she was running with them _joyously_ to their destination, someone’s place. I do not think there is any reason that the opening ceremonies need to be G rated when PG is perfectly fine. Nothing is seen but a little kissing and some flirting. I see more than that on most tv shows. She was enthusiastically consenting up to when she slammed the door in our faces for some privacy. I mean, seriously, no one jumped on the library table and got jiggy The young men who looked as ‘12’ as the woman. Didn’t throw her down and rip her clothes off. It was a healthy happy 3 on 3 as it was depicted. I just don’t see any reason to see stuff that isn’t there. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/78 "2024-07-31T07:20:24Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Le sigh… As an online discussion of the French grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Pepe Le Pew approaches 1 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/79 "2024-07-31T07:29:58Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I didn’t really watch it, but I could tell that it was going to be very offensive to some millions of people Do you regularly form opinions about things you haven’t seen and know little to nothing about? > [@Ulfreida](#): > > I know I won’t get any support on this bastion of atheism, but my point here is that if there was a specific reason millions of people (billions probably) were purposely offended, I wonder what that reason could be. What do you assume the offense was on purpose? The world is full of unintentional offense. Also full of people offended by things they have no direct experience of, or know nothing about. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2024, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031/80 "2024-07-31T07:31:01Z")
I understand and hear you. I raised 3 daughters. I, too have a 12 yo granddaughter. From what I saw my granddaughter looks even older than that girl. Taller for sure. But, no matter. That’s perception at best. Still if we’re gonna rate it, a threesome would be R rated, at least. You’re right it could’ve been entirely innocent. But we don’t know that. What we do know, like said, this is the French being French. And it’s entirely possible they meant _exactly_ what it looked like it meant. If you’re ok with that being at a sporting event where children are competing, on prime time TV where families are watching, that is fine. Luckily it looked silly enough I don’t think the outraged church ladies even noticed it. (I have strains of "Thank heaven for little girls…"running through my head now. Ick!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imbecilic-olympic-controversy/1005031.md?page=5)