Content pfp
Content
@
0 reply
0 recast
0 reaction

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
51 replies
45 recasts
258 reactions

dusan.framedl.eth pfp
dusan.framedl.eth
@ds8
i love the deep dive. thank you for that. i haven't watched the ceremony, but given the context you provided i feel as if those in charge failed to read the room and misjudged how much influence the ceremony carries. i come from slovakia and the political situation there is pretty rough right now. you wouldn't believe how much support russia gets and if it were purely up to people, they would've given away the whole country to putin in no time. and this state of mind is rooted in successful anti-western propaganda drawing from similar naive expressions ("attacks on traditional values"). if nothing else then timing was certainly off.
1 reply
0 recast
2 reactions

Thomas pfp
Thomas
@aviationdoctor.eth
In France, there is this thing called “parisianism”which mockingly refers to the tendency for the Parisian elites (politcians, technocrats, celebrities, artists, etc) to live in a very shielded bubble from the rest of the country and the world, and that occasionally results in a certain amount of tone deafness
0 reply
0 recast
1 reaction