RIO DE JANEIRO — Put aside the cynicism. The insect repellent. The fear and complaints and the looming disastrous debt
There’s time enough for all of that in the next two weeks
But Friday night was a time for something else. The Rio Olympics officially opened in legendary Maracana Stadium, and Brazil finally got a chance to tell its own side of the story
And to throw a party. It was a night of music and dancing. Brazil also offered a serious message, an unusual torch lighting and a parade of some of the world’s greatest athletes
Most of all, Friday was the moment to remember why we do this every four years
Why the Olympic movement matters
Despite the myriad of problems with the Olympics, they matter even more because of the world that we live in
In recent bloody, frightening months, humans have been blowing up one another and opening fire on one another all around the world. But on Friday night, 11,000 athletes from around the globe gathered, waved their flags, wiped away tears and danced the samba together
If it doesn’t give you goosebumps, or bring a smile to your face, you need your pulse checked
Almost all of the athletes — from 205 nations, plus a refugee team that received the second biggest cheer of the night — are here for the right reasons. To compete, to represent their nations, to spread the message of sportsmanship. And by doing so, to provide a needed antidote to a world of war and walls, bullets and bombs
Yes, the Olympic movement needs to be completely revamped. But it does not need to be discarded. To the contrary, it needs to be fixed and embraced
The Rio Olympics have been under the microscope for years, as Brazil’s economy slides into recession, its government is impeached for corruption and health and safety crises explode
The budget for the Olympics was severely slashed, including the budget for the Opening Ceremony, which was created by Fernando Meirelles, the Oscar-nominated director of “City of God.”
But Meirelles embraced the challenge
“We are in a moment in the world where we need to be reasonable with the way we spend money,” Meirelles said. “The environment can’t handle it anymore. We are warming the planet. It is pretty tacky to be overspending
“It’s not a good message for the world. When 40 percent of the homes in Brazil have no sanitation, you can’t really be spending a billion reais for a show. … You can do something with heart, with concept, without spending.”
Meirelles for IOC president!
He put on a beautiful, fun and festive Opening Ceremony at a fraction of the cost of either London or Beijing. If only the International Olympic Committee honchos would adopt his sensible message, then perhaps their quadrennial party would not be so controversial and damaging
On Friday, Brazil finally got to show the world its own story. Something besides mosquitoes, crime and pollution
The vision was of a country aware of its problems — there was even a prominent acknowledgment of its role as the world’s biggest slave trader, shackles and all — but also of a country embracing life
A land of beauty and music and joy. The dance party in the middle of the ceremony was phenomenal. The fans were all off their seats, dancing the samba
Meirelles said he wanted the Opening Ceremony to “be a drug for depression in Brazil.”
“Brazilians can say we are a cool people, we are different ethnic groups, we live together, we never went to war, we are peaceful, we know how to enjoy life and we tend to be happy.”
Who wouldn’t want that to be their country’s message? In the midst of economic and government chaos, with an Olympics they really shouldn’t be hosting, embarrassed on the international stage, Brazilians reclaimed the Games as their own on Friday night
It wasn’t just a party
The Opening Ceremony also contained a serious message about sustainability and the environment. And, yes, the irony was not lost on anyone that the Olympics failed to help clean up the horribly polluted waterways, that it built an 18-hole golf course partially in the Atlantic Forest, a protected environmental reserve
In Rio on Friday, there were some anti-Olympic protests, against both the Games and Brazil’s interim president, Michel Temer. At one point, tear gas was used on a small group. The only harsh moments during the ceremony were when the president of the Rio organizing committee, Carlos Nuzman, thanked the government and when Temer declared the Games open
The crowd that had erupted with joy just minutes before when their Brazilian athletes danced their way into the stadium at the end of the parade of athletes turned against the suits, with boos and whistles. Brazilians love their athletes but hate their government
When the torch was finally lit, it wasn’t by Pele — who is in poor health — but by marathoner Vanderlei de Lima. De Lima won a bronze medal in Athens, after a fan attacked him on the course while he was leading the race. He handled the bitter disappointment with grace and class. Which appears to be the way Brazil will handle these Games
The cauldron that de Lima lit was unusually small and low emission — a nod to sustainability. The climatic lighting was a muted and understated ending to the Olympic opening
News Source
http://www.sfchronicle.com/
There’s time enough for all of that in the next two weeks
But Friday night was a time for something else. The Rio Olympics officially opened in legendary Maracana Stadium, and Brazil finally got a chance to tell its own side of the story
And to throw a party. It was a night of music and dancing. Brazil also offered a serious message, an unusual torch lighting and a parade of some of the world’s greatest athletes
Most of all, Friday was the moment to remember why we do this every four years
Why the Olympic movement matters
Despite the myriad of problems with the Olympics, they matter even more because of the world that we live in
In recent bloody, frightening months, humans have been blowing up one another and opening fire on one another all around the world. But on Friday night, 11,000 athletes from around the globe gathered, waved their flags, wiped away tears and danced the samba together
If it doesn’t give you goosebumps, or bring a smile to your face, you need your pulse checked
Almost all of the athletes — from 205 nations, plus a refugee team that received the second biggest cheer of the night — are here for the right reasons. To compete, to represent their nations, to spread the message of sportsmanship. And by doing so, to provide a needed antidote to a world of war and walls, bullets and bombs
Yes, the Olympic movement needs to be completely revamped. But it does not need to be discarded. To the contrary, it needs to be fixed and embraced
The Rio Olympics have been under the microscope for years, as Brazil’s economy slides into recession, its government is impeached for corruption and health and safety crises explode
The budget for the Olympics was severely slashed, including the budget for the Opening Ceremony, which was created by Fernando Meirelles, the Oscar-nominated director of “City of God.”
But Meirelles embraced the challenge
“We are in a moment in the world where we need to be reasonable with the way we spend money,” Meirelles said. “The environment can’t handle it anymore. We are warming the planet. It is pretty tacky to be overspending
“It’s not a good message for the world. When 40 percent of the homes in Brazil have no sanitation, you can’t really be spending a billion reais for a show. … You can do something with heart, with concept, without spending.”
Meirelles for IOC president!
He put on a beautiful, fun and festive Opening Ceremony at a fraction of the cost of either London or Beijing. If only the International Olympic Committee honchos would adopt his sensible message, then perhaps their quadrennial party would not be so controversial and damaging
On Friday, Brazil finally got to show the world its own story. Something besides mosquitoes, crime and pollution
The vision was of a country aware of its problems — there was even a prominent acknowledgment of its role as the world’s biggest slave trader, shackles and all — but also of a country embracing life
A land of beauty and music and joy. The dance party in the middle of the ceremony was phenomenal. The fans were all off their seats, dancing the samba
Meirelles said he wanted the Opening Ceremony to “be a drug for depression in Brazil.”
“Brazilians can say we are a cool people, we are different ethnic groups, we live together, we never went to war, we are peaceful, we know how to enjoy life and we tend to be happy.”
Who wouldn’t want that to be their country’s message? In the midst of economic and government chaos, with an Olympics they really shouldn’t be hosting, embarrassed on the international stage, Brazilians reclaimed the Games as their own on Friday night
It wasn’t just a party
The Opening Ceremony also contained a serious message about sustainability and the environment. And, yes, the irony was not lost on anyone that the Olympics failed to help clean up the horribly polluted waterways, that it built an 18-hole golf course partially in the Atlantic Forest, a protected environmental reserve
In Rio on Friday, there were some anti-Olympic protests, against both the Games and Brazil’s interim president, Michel Temer. At one point, tear gas was used on a small group. The only harsh moments during the ceremony were when the president of the Rio organizing committee, Carlos Nuzman, thanked the government and when Temer declared the Games open
The crowd that had erupted with joy just minutes before when their Brazilian athletes danced their way into the stadium at the end of the parade of athletes turned against the suits, with boos and whistles. Brazilians love their athletes but hate their government
When the torch was finally lit, it wasn’t by Pele — who is in poor health — but by marathoner Vanderlei de Lima. De Lima won a bronze medal in Athens, after a fan attacked him on the course while he was leading the race. He handled the bitter disappointment with grace and class. Which appears to be the way Brazil will handle these Games
The cauldron that de Lima lit was unusually small and low emission — a nod to sustainability. The climatic lighting was a muted and understated ending to the Olympic opening
News Source
http://www.sfchronicle.com/
