Right-wing protests after opening ceremony

Jasmine Legendre in Paris

Published yesterday at 16:33 Updated yesterday at 18:18

• Europe

The day after the opening ceremony, rave reviews came from all sides. “Bold,” “original,” “dazzling,” could be read in the world's media. But the excitement quickly gave way to controversy in France, in a tense political context.

On social media, the keyword “boycott 2024 Olympics” even appeared. In the discussion thread, people denounced in particular the reconstruction of the Last Supper, the last meal of Jesus Christ with his apostles, by drag queens. Even if the artistic director, Thomas Jolly, affirmed that his inspiration was not the Last Supper, the critics do not blush. “The idea was rather to have a big pagan celebration linked to the gods of Olympus… Olympus… Olympism,” he declared on the BFMTV channel.

The organizing committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games even apologized, Sunday at a press conference, to the religious communities that could have been hurt by the ceremony. “Our intention was never to hurt or disrespect religious communities. “On the contrary, the ceremony was intended to be a celebration of tolerance,” said communications director Anne Descamps.

Some scenes from the show directed by Thomas Jolly were censored by several countries, including in the Maghreb and even in the United States. The Russian Orthodox Church, for its part, called it “a historical and cultural suicide.”

A Disturbing Last Supper

In France, it was the right that seized on the moment to denounce the rise of “wokeism.” French MP Marion Maréchal protested on social media, apologizing on behalf of her country. “To all the Christians in the world who watched the ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking, but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation,” she wrote on the X platform.

Béatrice Leroy and Adèle Dooh-Priso, who met near Martin Luther King Park, were just talking about the ceremony as they were leaving their Protestant church. “I felt very proud to be French, I thought the ceremony was great, different from all the others, but the French always feel the need to shock,” explains Béatrice Leroy.

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While she says she is tolerant by nature, despite her Christian faith, she does not understand why in a show seen all over the world, people feel the need to go so far. She mentions the scene of the threesome, who kissed before locking themselves in a room. “What's the point,” she wonders ? Let them live their lives, but why show that in an official ceremony ?” According to Adèle Dooh-Priso, the French are known for their transgressive nature. “It's part of their personality,” she says.

Parisian Francis Charles agrees. “We often tend to grumble, to complain, about any event that disrupts our daily lives.” He also generally enjoyed the ceremony, but is not surprised that it was taken up by the various political parties to show their colors. “It's very political, there was some bullshit. Some things are no longer for my age, I have to admit. But some scenes were also offbeat, uninteresting, classless,” he judges, referring to the scene where multidisciplinary artist Philippe Katerine appeared covered in blue paint, naked.

A “woke” versus “extreme right” debate

The “J-Woke” wrote on X Marion Maréchal. “But what image of France do we send to the world,” wrote for her part the deputy and vice-president of the National Rally, Edwige Diaz.

For the two young French people Gwenael Lamandé and François Villeneuve, the ceremony would not have been a success if the right had not been shocked. “I thought it was great that there were drag queens who came to reinterpret history. I don’t see how that could be problematic,” said François Villeneuve. For them, this is evidence of the new French identity that embraces differences. “We took classics and modernized them,” added Gwenael Lamandé.

The controversy is part of a difficult political context in France since the new French government elected on July 7 will not be named before the end of the Olympic Games in mid-August in the name of a “political truce” invoked by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron

“Politically, we are living in very troubled times. So I don't think we have a great image abroad. We have an image of a disorderly country, which does not easily bend to discipline. But this is perhaps an opportunity to improve it a little by organizing these Games well,” says Francis Charles. For him, the coming weeks will be an opportunity to improve France's image. “We have to see it as a big Parisian celebration that makes people want to come and visit us even more. »

This report was financed with the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund-Le Devoir.