Olympics closing ceremony should convey France’s apology

France’s contributions to intellectual studies in Western thought and culture have been noteworthy. Paris 2024 is an opportunity to show the world how much France has advanced from the 100 years prior when they hosted the Olympics in 1924. If that was an objective of the recent Olympics opening ceremony, France deserves a grade of “F” for its indecent portrayal of what the history of culture has treasured.

They depicted Leonardo Davinci’s Last Supper in drag. Many Christians and Church leaders were offended and rightly so, but I wasn’t. Honestly, my reaction was one of pity for France and its organizers. Was that their idea of encouraging a culture of inclusion? The lack of artistic discernment of a treasured international and cross-cultural painting reveals how deep France’s culture has sunk. It’s pitiful.

Paris 2024’s ceremony splashed opprobrium on Davinci’s iconic piece of art by disparaging his traditional depiction that continues to inspire people of all cultures. A depiction that has captured the emotions of art lovers, whether Christian or not. The Olympic ceremony’s sketch before a watching world challenged the treasured historical value of the Last Supper and mocked the rich traditional heritage of billions. It crossed the line of decency and civility. Its lewdness was taken to an unprecedented level.

If the plan of the organizers was to promote inclusion, they could have surely opted for other artistic and entertaining sketches that encouraged conversations among different thinking people. The international backlash from people of every generation, nation, societal status, and political position was fired at the French organizers. A young journalist, commented astutely: “The West has officially fallen.” So how is it that the French failed so miserably? The artistic director and mastermind behind the flamboyant opening ceremony said "religious subversion [had] never been his intention."  Whatever the “intention,” it was not inspirational.

Rather, it revealed how ideology can be a force that sacrifices tradition, culture, historical contributions, and civility in order to force an agenda. Globally, commentators were sharp in highlighting how such blasphemous sketches always single out the Christian faith. The French organizers have apologized, but it’s difficult to believe that such cultured people who are enriched with theological and philosophical heritages failed to anticipate the international condemnations. How could such an educated and culturally rich nation not foresee such a debacle?

Consequently, the ceremony’s mocking of Christian faith engendered global divisiveness. Note that this was not a sketch prepared for a private audience, though that would have also been questionable by cultured people. This was planned with forethought that the whole world would be watching. Did they care that billions of Christians would be offended by their choice of art? Did they care that an iconic painting that is treasured by history would be unfairly critiqued and denigrated? How could this have escaped their preparation processes?

It was an obvious mocking of Christian values. Where it backfired is that the French probably thought that their artistic display would resonate with inclusiveness. On the contrary, it caused a backlash and revealed how French culture is progressing in bias. But France has an opportunity to make its apology real. It has enough time to prepare for the closing ceremony where it can show the world some respect for how the past 100 years have brought diverse cross-cultural appreciation worldwide and growing civil discourse.

As a Christian, I acknowledge that not everyone believes like me. So this is not simply another writing from a Christian who is whining about how his faith was caricatured.  Ideologies can be messaged but they must also tolerate counter-perspectives. That is a hallmark of French contribution to Western thought. As the famous Frenchman Voltaire once quipped, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it.”

Hopefully, the closing ceremony of Paris 2024 will make an indelible impression that shows respect for the shared center of civility. That would be a remarkable and memorable finale. The French have contributed so much to Western thought and culture that I would be disappointed if that pitiful opening ceremony is what the world remembers from Paris 2024. France still has an opportunity to apologize meaningfully for its parody of Davinci’s Last Supper. The apology should materialize in its Olympic farewell to the world.