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Thomas pfp
Thomas
@aviationdoctor.eth
Some people here and on X have expressed outrage at parts of the opening ceremony of the Olympics in France. As someone who is both natively French and a "global citizen" (lived on four continents, visited 50 countries, expat for nearly 20 years), I wanted to share my dual perspective. My goal is not to pass judgment on Friday's performance, but rather set the cultural context in which it was delivered. So, don't shoot the messenger. Also, references are annotated in brackets like this: [i] for further reading at the end. The TL;DR is that the French brand of secularism (laïcité) is unique, highly idiosyncratic, and part of the core identity of the French republic; it's understandable that it does not translate well to an international audience. Now, onto the 🧵: 1/9
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Thomas pfp
Thomas
@aviationdoctor.eth
> That show was blasphemy! The concept of blasphemy (the action of speaking sacrilegiously about a god or the sacred) may speak to you, but it explicitly does not exist in secular France [i]. In France, religions are treated as mere ideas, and like all ideas, they can be examined, praised, criticized, and even mocked. In the eyes of the secular French republic, no text or religious icon deserves special protection, no matter how holy to some. That aspect of freedom of speech is as foundational to the French as the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is to Americans. Of course, people whose identity is rooted in faith might take offense at that, which leads me to... 2/9
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Thomas
@aviationdoctor.eth
> Why pick on religion though? I can't speak for the artistic director (Thomas Jolly)'s decision to add religion to the show. But one clue is that France has had a long adversarial history with religion. Until the Revolution of 1789, the Catholic church ruled over all of society. The clergy ran civil registries, public schools, higher education, tax collection, and courts. You had better be a good Catholic or you would be subject to arbitrary abuse, including massacres of people of other or no faith. All that changed not just in 1789 but also as recently as 1905, when a law [ii] put a final end to Catholicism being the state religion of France. Common people revolted, fought, and died for the right to criticize religion. Furthermore, the show also picked at another ancient French institution, the royalty, by prominently displaying a beheaded Marie Antoinette. The French maintain a certain pride in having ousted their king and clergy simultaneously, and have kept a deep distrust of both ever since. 4/9
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Thomas
@aviationdoctor.eth
> Why pick on Christianity and not Islam? My first reaction to this question was, "Yikes!". The likely answer though is that the French mocking Catholicism (as the historically dominant religion) is akin to the French mocking themselves and their own past, which is considered acceptable. It would be extremely weird to a French audience if a public show like the Olympics opening randomly mocked a foreign religion, whether Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. without any historical basis for doing so. Remember that Islam is much more recent to France than Christianity (8th century notwithstanding [iii]), and remains a minority religion in the country. Furthermore, French artists have in fact taken to criticizing other religions, incl. Islam, in the past few years and in less notable settings, and some have paid a heavy price ([iv]). Laws have also been updated to extend secular rules to Islam ([v]). So, it's not like other religions get a free pass under the French republic. 5/9
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Thomas
@aviationdoctor.eth
> The show was lewd / a grotesque display of trans people / etc. That part of the show was burlesque, a genre intended "to caricature the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects" [vi] (in this case, the Last Supper). It's definitely not mainstream considering its extravagant display of, well, non-normative sensuality. The ceremony's director exercised his artistic license in full by subverting classical expectations here. But (AFAIK) it wasn't a "woke display" with an agenda to promote DEI; the burlesque genre long predates the 21st century histrionics over gender identity that are so acute in the US but much less so in France. 6/9
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alixkun🟣🎩🍡
@alixkun
First, I wanna mention I'm ferociously anti-religion. All religions. :) I think Christian ppl in France are pissed that, for the longest time, France media & comedians have made fun of christian faith without any consequences, whereas as soon as someone makes a joke about Islam or their prophet, the consequences are dire (terrorism, assassination etc...), and so ppl complain that they're being targeted because weak, decreasing in strength & peaceful. It's like shooing at the ambulance: easy, and not really noble or daring at this point. The ceremony wasn't the place to make fun of judaism or islam anyway, I agree with you on that. But I think it's more in the context of our time, it's not only about this single event. Ppl are quick to talk about anti semitism or Islamophobia when those religions are targeted, but when someone tries bringing up christianophobia (if that's even a thing?), they're being laughed at.
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kugusha 🦋
@kugusha.eth
One things that I’ve learned during my first year in France. You could laugh at anything, but the only criteria - it should be “yours”. French are Christian, they won’t laugh at Islam, just like the way they won’t laugh at Buddhism or any other religion. * also read that the reference could’ve been a painting The Feast of the Gods by Jan van Bijlert, but it seems too niche to me
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