The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris kicked off on Friday with an opening ceremony that stunned and disgusted many, featuring drag queens frolicking in the street, lewd same-sex foreplay and a genderqueer re-enactment of “The Last Supper.”
There was also a bearded “woman” crawling around on all fours in a provocative blue bustier.
Who was responsible for this atrocity taking place in the art world? Enter Thomas Joly, a theater and opera director who was little known outside France until Friday’s broadcast (seen by more than a billion people worldwide) made him a global curiosity.
In an interview before the broadcast on Friday, openly gay Thomas Joly suggested he doesn’t intend for the opening ceremony to be a pride parade, but he stressed the importance of inclusion and representation.
“How do you write a show where everyone feels, at some point, part of this bigger thing, this bigger ‘we?'” he said. “It’s ambitious and complicated at the same time, because you have to broaden your image, your horizons, include everyone, understand everyone so that no one feels left out.”
NEW YORK: The artistic director in charge of the Paris opening ceremony says he used drag queens to mock 2.4 billion Christians “so everyone feels represented.”
In an interview, Thomas Jolly spoke about the “beautiful responsibility” of being an “artist.”
“how… pic.twitter.com/qOb5CD2tQs
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 27, 2024
Despite being a family-friendly event, Olympic organizers did not pre-announce the sheer number of drag queens and gender-free performers that would be appearing, nor did they mention the ceremony’s strangely sexualized atmosphere, which included performers engaging in simulated sexual acts.
They gave no hint at all about the parody of “The Last Supper,” which sparked immediate backlash among Christians, many of whom pointed out that Jolie would never have had the guts to mock Islam in the same way.
In the live performance, Jesus Christ is played by an obese woman in a plunging dress, and the disciples are mostly played by drag queens in brightly colored wigs.
Would they be brave enough to dress up as a woman and do a parody of the Prophet Mohammed?pic.twitter.com/PlByRHzZlf
— Eric Matheny 🎙️ (@ericmmatheny) July 27, 2024
Jolie, 42, has been hailed as a French theatrical genius who infuses classic works with postmodernism and avant-garde provocation, and has directed at some of France’s most prestigious theatres, including the Paris Opera and the Avignon Festival.
It’s clear that his eccentric interests influenced his Olympic choices.
Friday’s show also featured what appeared to be a male performer with one testicle protruding from women’s underwear.
Oh, look.
A grown man poses with his testicles exposed, surrounded by children, to the amazement of people all over the world.
There is nothing “amazing or brave” about these incidents. They are atrocities. They are a disgrace to society. pic.twitter.com/mB21I9FQkk
— Gay Against Groomers (@againstgrmrs) July 27, 2024
One actress played the decapitated Marie Antoinette, singing the French Revolutionary anthem “Cha’ Illa” with the head.
A few more glimpses into the ritual known as the Olympic Opening Ceremony.
The decapitated head (Marie Antoinette) is singing. pic.twitter.com/5pR1YY85H9
— Vision4theBlind (@Vision4theBlind) July 26, 2024
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