RE: Worst opening ceremony for anything I've ever seen in my life.

Muhammad Ali Olympic score:

1 gold medal

2 cringe-worthy opening ceremony appearances

Please, go away.

Wait, Atlanta didn't have a history lesson on plantation living with masters beating slaves? They didn't have a simulation of the burning of Atlanta which then lit the Olympic torch?

To be fair, NBC in the States didn't show the memorial to the London terrorist victims: http://deadspin.com/5929778/heres-the-opening-ceremony-tribute-to-terrorism-victims-nbc-doesnt-want-you-to-see

nameless faceless sufferer wrote:

ukathleticscoach wrote:

We gave you what you wanted.. not to like it

They should have had a it like last time- exactly the same a big dumb party. They parachuted the Queen in what more do you want?

For someone who is English, you sure write in English poorly. Try mastering punctuation first, then move on to actually writing better. You are embarrassing other English people who are old enough to know better and DO BETTER.

Comment on what I write. Unlike you I don't spend half an hour placing commas- then doing spell check. Your work is hardly War and Peace and since when was the UK just England? Keep changing your name you will still be the same loser

You Americans have no knowledge of the arts, history and or any respect of greater cultures than your miserable country.

We are light years ahead of you. You want to vote out the only strength you have and that is a liberal president! He is the only thing good about you!

I watched like 2 minutes of this. Said this was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen, so decided to turn it off and enjoy a good book.

ph wrote:

I watched like 2 minutes of this. Said this was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen, so decided to turn it off and enjoy a good bonk.

corrected

Mrs. M wrote:

To be fair, NBC in the States didn't show the memorial to the London terrorist victims:

http://deadspin.com/5929778/heres-the-opening-ceremony-tribute-to-terrorism-victims-nbc-doesnt-want-you-to-see

This makes me mad. Stupid NBC.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Philistines with no history

We kicked your ass. Twice.

Pretty lame all around. Felt like I was watching Captain Kangaroo, The Movie. PG 13 meaning only for kids 13 and UNDER. The Royals take the cake. They looked bored (of course they always looked bored).

The teams marching in was the better part. I had to turn off the first part. Came back later to watch the teams entering the stadium. Even that was sped up because they wasted so much time making sure every famous British personality was part of the pageant.

Yeah... "F"

I got sick as soon as Matt Laurer (or however you spell his name) started talking. I can't stand him to start with and then he can't keep his mouth shut so I turned it off.

Brianruns10 wrote:

I felt like I was watching something being created in a Christopher Guest film...

LOL! Yes! It was like the play in "Waiting for Guffman," about the history of the town of Blaine.

I've never enjoyed watching things like the opening ceremonies of Olympic Games and half-time shows at the Super Bowl, usually just skipping them entirely, so I was wondering if I was the only one who thought that this one was especially bad. But honestly, I thought that it was delightfully, howlingly, spectacularly, over-the-top awful. The opening sequence, with villagers prancing around grassy patches, was like a hokey re-enactment at a really bad tourist trap. The depiction of the Industrial Revolution, with somber laborers moving from the agrarian communities to the urban factories, looked like something out of a Marxist play from the 1930s. The segment about the national medical system was, if nothing else, oddly parochial for a presentation intended for a global audience. I fast-forwarded through much of it, so I'm sure that I missed a lot of other amusing stuff, but I was glad that I caught the guys on the bicycles with glow-in-the-dark wings flapping behind them as a cover band was singing an old tune of the Beatles.

From my perspective, the only thing missing was another snarky comment from Mitt Romney. ("I don't about those smokestacks. They looked like they came from a novelty store." That sort of thing.) Sadly, he's probably going to keep his mouth shut for a while.

Some coked up brit wrote:

This thread is a study in Anglo-American relations.

Don't you mean Anglo-Saxon?

Hey, coked up Brit! Good to see you here! I hadn't seen anything from you in a while.

So LR gives it the thumbs down. Question is how much LR reflects America. I'm a Brit who's lived Stateside for 20yrs. All non-LR Americans I have talked to liked it....only on LR was it slammed except for those whose pet-issue was the lack of the minute silence.

The opening is supposed to reflect the host country, and I think it did that. Imagine if UK had attempted a Beijing style show. Even if it was as good, it would have seemed totally fake - somehow when the Chinese did it it was 'right'.

Could you imagine in 2008 a Chinese Mr Bean throwing booger-filled hankies into a grand piano?

Face it, the show was London's to tell us all about themselves however they wanted to. I probably wouldn't be too excited about an Iranian opening ceremonies but would try to learn what I could.

I have personal feelings (good & bad) about other countries that I feel USA is in daily competition with outside of the Olympics. I don't have to like what they do but I'm not going to complain about a form of propaganda because I can think for myself. That's why people keep moving to this country.

I liked the transition from agrarian society to industrial revolution & set design from a theatrical standpoint. The forging of the rings was pretty cool. It was pretty clear that progress was made by the few on the backs of the many. What's so different about China or most other places in regard to that?

The health care thing didn't do it for me. Childrens' literature is something for any country to be proud of. The fireworks over the London architecture was awesome. The Queen drop was hilarious. I never liked Mr. Bean but grew up with Monty Python & Benny Hill so I understand those that were into that humor. If they wanted to include disadvantaged or disabled people in their presentation, so what. Geez, some of you are pretty cruel about that. Without the support from all citizens in the host country, the overall product is of less quality and everyone can see what is really important to that society.

I was really hoping for Sir Roger to light the torch but that's my nostolgic side. I thought they already gave enough props to youth through music & the silly teen pop phone thing.

They needed to really focus on a national sport hero for an important moment of reflection. One who was the first, one who did inspire many who followed, Roger Bannister. Post WW2 that opened a door for many to ask what is possible not just in sport but in other endeavors.

ShrkJumper wrote:

The opening is supposed to reflect the host country, and I think it did that...

Mr Bean throwing booger-filled hankies into a grand piano?

It's entertaining that you see it that way.

ShrkJumper wrote:

So LR gives it the thumbs down. Question is how much LR reflects America. I'm a Brit who's lived Stateside for 20yrs. All non-LR Americans I have talked to liked it....only on LR was it slammed except for those whose pet-issue was the lack of the minute silence.

The opening is supposed to reflect the host country, and I think it did that. Imagine if UK had attempted a Beijing style show. Even if it was as good, it would have seemed totally fake - somehow when the Chinese did it it was 'right'.

Could you imagine in 2008 a Chinese Mr Bean throwing booger-filled hankies into a grand piano?

They were being nice to you because you're British. Believe it or not a lot of Americans have good manners.