by Aja Romano
February 4, 2022
https://www.vox.com/culture/2022/2/4/22 ... y-politics
Introduction:
(Vox) The Beijing Winter Olympics kicked off to an expectedly weird start, thanks to the unprecedented challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. Directed by legendary Chinese film director Zhang Yimou (who also directed the 2008 Beijing opening ceremony), this year’s opening ceremony focused on visual spectacle, with giant LED screens covering the floor and lining the stage, and no celebrity entertainers.
Facing a diplomatic boycott from many countries over its human rights violations, including the US — meaning the United States sent no official government envoy to the Games but its athletes are competing as usual — China took a low-key approach to this year’s opening ceremony. But inevitably, the tense geopolitics surrounding the event snuck in.
The production, which dovetailed with the Chinese New Year spring festival, included about 3,000 performers, most of them teenagers, and emphasized peace, world unity, and the people around the world who have battled the pandemic. The unifying aesthetic was about as peaceful as you could get: snowflakes.
In the buildup to the ceremony, China had encouraged athletes to sign a “truce mural” with other nations. The government also rolled out a massive winter sports initiative prior to the Games, claiming it had successfully engaged more than 300 million Chinese citizens in winter sports participation, especially targeting kids and teens. The ceremony emphasized these citizens above all else, with no famous singers or actors performing — a first for any Olympics in recent memory.