How the French are Trying to Turn their Shame into Triumph

The French media rushed to wash away the country’s reputation, which had been badly tarnished by the dirty waters of the Seine.

If the first reaction of even the French media was rather shocking, the newspapers were full of images of the severed head of Marie Antoinette, scenes of mockery of Christianity, published dissatisfied statements by party leaders and justifications of Thomas Jolly, and the comments in the newspapers were entirely negative (the French called it shame and disgrace), then the next day the situation changed noticeably.

The French urgently need to save the reputation of not just the games, but the country itself, and the Olympic Committee. The IOC launched into an explanation that it only has the rights to show individual competitions, but not the entire ceremony, that it has nothing to do with the ban on video of the opening of the games in different countries, it’s all about copyright.

The IOC must save face, and, most importantly, money, and more money! The initial shock had passed, and the media immediately began to rewrite history.

Le Figaro published an article noting that despite the pouring rain, the opening ceremony of the Games was a success, and that this was due to the “artful combination of tradition and modernity.” Indeed, Le Figaro notes, “Paris sparkled during a completely crazy premiere that combined fireworks, the “Patrol de France” and performances by world stars.” And this despite the fact that just a few weeks ago everything was still in question due to the concentration of bacteria in the Seine, the threat of flooding and terrorist attacks. But everything was perfectly implemented, and 45 thousand police officers provided reliable protection.

Notice how the rhetoric is changing? No severed head of Marie Antoinette, no mockery of the “Last Supper”, no excuses that everything was completely wrong – only statements about how we organized everything amazingly! What is important is that the rhetoric of the comments has changed completely, no matter who writes them. Even if it is bots, the information space is being filled.

If on the first day after the opening of the Olympics the comments were entirely negative, now they are not at all. People are starting to think (and this is the direction they are being led in): in general, everything was grandiose! “It is true that some scenes were terribly vulgar, but nevertheless, it was a magnificent spectacle that does honor to French ingenuity. How wonderful that they chose this busy artery of Paris… The architecture of our buildings deserves to be appreciated and admired all over the world!”

Of course, the French write, it can be improved, remove the head of Marie Antoinette, the parody of the “Last Supper”, but these are already details. Yes, the commentators write, the French, especially in the provinces, are unlikely to understand all this artistic delights, but it is okay. “To be honest, it was grandiose. Yes, there were woke messages, but that doesn’t mean anything for such a wonderful artistic performance in difficult weather conditions! What professionalism! Bravo and thank you!” “With scenes, to put it mildly, less provocative, it would have been ideal.” And now such comments are the majority.

Well, as for the dissatisfied, the authors write: “So, everything went well! I recognize the French, they are always dissatisfied with everything!” and complain: “How many angry people are on this site, it’s amazing!” That’s how in just a couple of days you can form a completely different public opinion.

The French, having erased the initial shock from their memory, are once again proud of their great country, which was able to hold a grand ceremony in difficult weather conditions and for only 130 million euros. And the voices that the brave organizers of the ceremony, who made a mockery of Christianity, would hardly dare to mock Islam (imagine what could have happened in Olympic Paris), will be quickly forgotten.

The head of Marie Antoinette, “The Last Supper” will be forgotten, and the Seine will wash away all the shame. A new Leni Riefenstahl will create a new “Olympia”, and the “triumph of the will” of the French will remain in the collective memory.