Olympics Opening Ceremony....
It was nice, but....
The so-called "Cultural Segment" of the Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games featured a giant bear, killer whales, maple leafs, a Druidic ballet among the towering Douglas Firs, totem poles, golden fields of prairie wheat, and some of our wonderful Canadian performers, most notably k.d. lang.
But displays of Canada's astounding beauty do not a "cultural segment" make. In the entire ceremony, there was no reference to Canada's history -- no Jesuit missionaries, no fur trade, no transcontinental railway, no lumberjacks, no gold rush, no fishermen, no reference to our Britannic heritage. Because of course we couldn't touch on any of those subjects without making apologetic references to imperialism and environmental degradation. The dignitaries praised our multiculturalism of course. What else could they safely praise, after all. I really enjoyed, and was moved by, the First Nations segment, in which dozens of First Nations performers from across the country danced and sang and welcomed the athletes. But it was no surprise to me that the rest of us have reached the stage where we cannot -- cannot -- talk about ourselves. What is the fate of a culture that cannot talk about itself, I wonder. Thank goodness for the fiddlers, at least.
Lona Manning lives in British Columbia, Canada.
posted by GayandRight @ 9:50 AM
6 Comments:
G&R, you are correct. I truly enjoyed the ceremonies. My children loved it. Maybe the closing ceremonies will have more of what you have mentioned.
The 'hewers of wood and drawers of water' meme is well past its expiry date.
Well if there were totem poles it would make more sense that inuit symbols standing for B.C. and the Olympics...
If you want to know what happens to a culture that cannot talk about itself, look at Britain.
Was I the only one who cringed at the rendition of Oh Canada? I don't have a clue who the woman was that sang it (being an expat, I'm not up on current pop culture), but someone should have clued her in as to the difference between a Canadian Idol audition and singing the national anthem at a ceremony such as the opening of the olympics.
Nemesis is correct, Canada is next. (real conservative)
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