So, The Olympic Closing Ceremony has returned us to normalcy with Misogyny making it's big comeback; along with Freddie Mercury and John Lennon. I do have to state, for the record, that I went to bed during The Who and I haven't bothered to read any blogs or media reports on the Closing Ceremony yet so it's entirely possible I'm just repeating what everyone else is saying. But, I don't actually care. The Closing Ceremony was just an embarrassing celebration of nincompoopery and misogyny. Spending two weeks celebrating the talents and athletic ability of some truly incredible and inspiring women to end it with 2 women famous for wearing clothes seems a bit, well, pathetic. Not to mention, the whole Kate Moss cocaine issue and Naomi Campbell with her violence problems. Moss, at least, wasn't too out of place considering the rest of the show seemed to be a Who's Who of British Drug Addiction. Why Pete Doherty wasn't invited is anyone's guess.
I thought most of the Closing Ceremony was tedious, ill-conceived and poorly executed nincompoopery. I can't begin to imagine why anyone thought One Direction was a good idea or what dimwit was in charge of sound and hadn't planned enough music for the Athlete's Parade so that they were forced to repeat music from the first half; cleverly highlighting who had been lip-syncing. All in all, it was nowhere near as good as the Opening Ceremony lacking any sense of story-telling or political protest. I was holding out for a Pussy Riot protest art piece and the Kaiser Chiefs singing I Predict a Riot. I was sorely disappointed by the lack of both. Although, I do have to give whoever was in charge props for celebrating two charming British institutions: the traffic jam and police kettling tactics. Unfortunately, those were simply not whimsical enough to maintain any sense of fun during 3 tedious hours of bad British music: performed by some who should have been better [and I'm looking at you here Beady Eye].
But, what really fucked me off was the Ode To Misogyny which was the second half. That should have been accompanied by Soul II Soul's Back to Reality wherein men are celebrated (fully clothed) for their talents and women were running around half-naked. Then, at least, we could have pretended it was meant ironically. And, yeah, I'm fucking incensed that Moss and Campbell's images were paraded around the venue on the back of a truck: because objectifying women's bodies is just so cool and, you know, unusual. Or, something equally tedious.
That alone was just beyond fucking sexist bollocks but Eric Idle surrounded by (fake?) Victoria Secret's Models in angel gear was the final nail in a night of extreme stupidity. Monty Python aren't exactly reknown for their realistic portrayal of women but accompanying Always Look on the Bright Side of Life with a bunch of angels in their underwear is just beyond ignorant. They had a chance to do something truly spectacular and original with the Monty Python sketch and instead went with the same tedious misogyny; much like they did with the inclusion of rape apologist Russell Brand. It was disgraceful. He is disgraceful. The less said about him, the better.
The ONLY redeeming feature of the whole night was Darcey Bussell. She is just an incredible athlete and a true celebration of British talent. That sequence with the Phoenix and the brilliant dancing was the best part of the Closing Ceremony. As soon as someone with better computer skills than me puts the Phoenix sequence on youtube, I will post it because it was genius.
The rest was a gigantic pile of shite. And, I can't even begin to work out what Annie Lennox was on about. If this Olympics was a real celebration of women athletes with Saudi Arabia sending women competitors for the first time, Lennox should have been singing her anthems of women power: Sisters are Doing it for Themselves or Sing. Oh, and George Micheal's Freedom should have been performed by women in Pussy Riot outfits. Just because. But, it wasn't. It was the same tedious misogynistic constructions of patriarchal conformity celebrating the hyper-sexualised objectification of women's bodies that Playboy peddles daily. A waste of money and time.
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