Sochi opening ceremony was depressing

  • Thread starter Thread starter empther
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
E

empther

Guest
What a drag, man!
Looked like a convention of robots.
Where was the joy?

Especially oppressive was the segment representing Stalin’s industrialization period in the 1930s. You had these thousands of people all dressed alike ( no individualism under Stalin, you know ) carrying steel beams and walking inside giant gears. Makes you nostalgic for the good old days! 😃

At the end, the little girl let go of the red balloon symbolizing the twentieth century dream never realized, meaning that it was a new century and let’s be hopeful. That was the end.

My sister said it was all trash. She and my brother take a trip every year. They’ve been to China, Egypt, England, Ireland, Italy, France, Greece, Russia and I forget where else. She says of all the peoples she saw the Russians were the grimmest.

Compare to the 1984 Summer opening ceremony in Los Angelos orchestrated by a prominent Hollywood movie producer/director. People dancing and running around to a hundred popular pieces of American music of the last two hundred years. The IOC President was moved to tears in gratitude “Well done, America!” 😃 ] for our reviving the Olympic movement which wasn’t doing so well at that time after Jimmy Carter’s idiotic boycott of the Moscow 1980 games and Russia’s reprisal boycott of the 1984 games. We knew how to throw a party without the Russians.
 
Personally, I liked the presentation. I thought it was both astonishing and beautiful.

But that’s my opinion. I believe when it comes to taste, the dictum is “to each his own.” (but not in morality, of course 😛 )
 
Personally, I liked the presentation. I thought it was both astonishing and beautiful.
The background technology for these displays has advanced tremendously since the 1984 Los Angelos Olympics opening, ( which was in an outdoor stadium :bigyikes: :banghead: )
but as for the human element,
we had them beat by a mile way back in 1984.
 
I was too young at the time to have vivid memories of the opening of the Moscow Olympics, but I remember a very catchy and upbeat pop song was used which remained in the charts for a while. Can’t be all grim as that.
 
… Where was the joy?

… My sister … says of all the peoples she saw the Russians were the grimmest…
This is a common misperception. A smile does not mean the same thing in every culture.

If you google “russian smile” you can find helpful explanations like this:

from About.com - How to Behave in Russia
The reason Russians don’t smile at each other on the streets is because smiling is generally considered to be something to be shared with a friend. Smiling at a stranger is considered to be an “Americanism” and is assumed to be insincere. Even Russian waiters and store clerks will usually not smile at you. Don’t be afraid – and don’t walk around grinning at everybody, either.
You mentioned a performance at the Los Angeles Olympics. Well, in Hollywood they know how to put on a big smile.
… Looked like a convention of robots.
Funny, I read this quote from a Russian:
“I hate the way American people smile, they are like machines.”
You think they look like robots. They think we look like robots. It’s all about cultural differences.

😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃
 
I thought it was nice. Not so “over-the top” as some, and not like London’s "let’s show every moment in our illustrious history :rolleyes:.

I thought it was simple and elegant.
Each to his own I guess. 🤷

I would prefer that they not go on and on for hours though…let’s get on with the games.

And by the way…why can’t we watch the games live online? Talk about not being with the times.
**They only let you view 30 minutes. **
Kids would watch on devices if they could…
When we have so little wholesome entertainment?
Come on.
 
What a drag, man!
Looked like a convention of robots.
Where was the joy?

Especially oppressive was the segment representing Stalin’s industrialization period in the 1930s. You had these thousands of people all dressed alike ( no individualism under Stalin, you know ) carrying steel beams and walking inside giant gears. Makes you nostalgic for the good old days! 😃

At the end, the little girl let go of the red balloon symbolizing the twentieth century dream never realized, meaning that it was a new century and let’s be hopeful. That was the end.

My sister said it was all trash. She and my brother take a trip every year. They’ve been to China, Egypt, England, Ireland, Italy, France, Greece, Russia and I forget where else. She says of all the peoples she saw the Russians were the grimmest.

Compare to the 1984 Summer opening ceremony in Los Angelos orchestrated by a prominent Hollywood movie producer/director. People dancing and running around to a hundred popular pieces of American music of the last two hundred years. The IOC President was moved to tears in gratitude “Well done, America!” 😃 ] for our reviving the Olympic movement which wasn’t doing so well at that time after Jimmy Carter’s idiotic boycott of the Moscow 1980 games and Russia’s reprisal boycott of the 1984 games. We knew how to throw a party without the Russians.
Their history is about classical music
“The music included pieces by Alexander Borodin, Georgy Sviridov, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky, with selections from “Swan Lake” and “The Nutcracker.” There were roles for the opera soprano Anna Netrebko; the prima ballerina Diana Vishneva; and Russia’s best-known conductor, Valery Gergiev of the Mariinsky Theater. There were Cossack dancers and singers from the more than 600-year-old Sretensky Monastery Choir.”
Can you imagine a world without classical music - No. In fact many of our own music melodies are based on classical. When they played Swan Lake, all I could think about was West Side Story.

Here are a few songs but there are so many more.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Popular_songs_based_on_classical_works

Even Elvis and Disney - so many popular songs…

magle.dk/music-forums/940-modern-popular-songs-based.html
 
I watched the whole thing, and as I recall, I don’t think that opening ceremonies are supposed to be a contest. There are cultural differences between the host countries that may not be readily understood.

Of course there will be differences between an American opening ceremony and a Russian One. I come from Vancouver (remember 2010?) Our ceremonies were different than either.

I appreciated the overall atmospheric elements of this particular ceremony. It may not have been all “in your face” upbeat, but Russian history has at times been difficult. They focused on their history in beautiful and often very touching ways, I thought.

I particularly loved the beautiful classical music, and was very happy to see my favourite opera singer Anna Netrebko (who is one of the main divas at the New York Met) She is Russian. I cheered when I saw her on stage, with that beautiful blue dress.

The Olympic Village looked beautiful, and I thought the torch lighting was stunning.

GO ATHLETES of every country. May a peaceful and sportsmanship rule during this time.
 
Yes, the classical music was awesome.
I remember when it was in Atlanta…Celine Dion…:rolleyes:
 
I love this! 😃
This is a common misperception. A smile does not mean the same thing in every culture.
If you google “russian smile” you can find helpful explanations like this:
from About.com - How to Behave in Russia
The reason Russians don’t smile at each other on the streets is because smiling is generally considered to be something to be shared with a friend. Smiling at a stranger is considered to be an “Americanism” and is assumed to be insincere. Even Russian waiters and store clerks will usually not smile at you. Don’t be afraid – and don’t walk around grinning at everybody, either.
You mentioned a performance at the Los Angeles Olympics. Well, in Hollywood they know how to put on a big smile.
There were no big screens in 1984. The spectators in 100,000 seat Los Angeles stadium couldn’t have recognized their own mothers from three hundred feet away. The performers could have all worn Nixon masks and it would have made no difference.

The Russians don’t smile because Russia still ranks 140th in the world in human rights.
The Russians don’t smile because in the showcase city of Sochi where 50 billion dollars was spent ( 30 billion went into the hands of Putin’s cronies ) the hotel water is a suspicious yellow, some hotel rooms don’t have pillows, and the streets are covered with dog poo from herds of stray dogs being systematically shot.
The respect for the Russian people is always overwhelming at this forum. I am sure your the Russian people are deeply saddened that your sister ‘thinks it’s all trash’.
The Sochi opening ceremony would have bombed with spectators in any other country in the world.
 
The opening ceremony was, well, very Russian - with all the good and bad that may imply. What else should we expect? As it was, they pretty much skipped over centuries of their history, going from Peter the Great to the forced industrialization under Stalin, which at least did bring them into the 20th century in some ways. What’s obscene to me is that host countries have to spend so many billions and billions of dollars building facilities that to a great degree are used only once. Such a waste.
 
I love this! 😃

(…)

The Sochi opening ceremony would have bombed with spectators in any other country in the world.
What? We must have watched completely different things. I thought it was amazing and was happy I got to watch it twice since there was so much to see.
 
What? We must have watched completely different things. I thought it was amazing and was happy I got to watch it twice since there was so much to see.
But would you watch that high tech special effects stuff every week?
Apparently not, since nobody has set up that razzle dazzle stuff for a television series. It would bomb.
 
простите, пожалуйста, мы не понимаем по-русски.

Perhaps the title of this thread should be changed to:
Sochi opening ceremony was depressing to empther and his sister
 
простите, пожалуйста, мы не понимаем по-русски.

Perhaps the title of this thread should be changed to:
Sochi opening ceremony was depressing to empther and his sister
:rotfl:
you guys must be buddies…LOL
 
What? We must have watched completely different things. I thought it was amazing and was happy I got to watch it twice since there was so much to see.
But would you watch that high tech special effects stuff every week?
Apparently not, since nobody has set up that razzle dazzle stuff for a television series. It would bomb.
I’m sorry. I’m not understanding you at all.
 
Agreed. Seems like the Cold War is still going on for our American brethren 😉
 
Perhaps I should provide a translation of the Cyrillic which appeared above.
простите, пожалуйста, мы не понимаем по-русски.
“Pardon us, please, we do not understand Russian.”
…
Perhaps the title of this thread should be changed to…
And forgive me for that show of disrespect. The title expresses a reasonable opinion and surely there are others who feel the same way. Diversity of opinion enriches these forums.
 
The title expresses a reasonable opinion and surely there are others who feel the same way.
I haven’t been able to watch all the television coverage of the Olympics in the last forty hours,
but in what I have seen,
there wasn’t a word said about the opening ceremony, or a five second excerpt replay.

Hmmm! :hmmm:
 
I thought it had some issues (how about that Olympic ring), but overall I thought it was good.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top