The opening ceremonies at the Paris Olympics on Friday have received substantial criticism following its mockery of The Last Supper, featuring a scantily-clad obese woman wearing an aureole with drag queens posing beside her as the Apostles. Another scene from the opening ceremony featured a disturbing decapitated head, seemingly representing Marie Antoinette from the French Revolution.
Subsequently, the Olympics have faced intense criticism from Christians as Jesus Christ was mocked with drag queens and obesity. “It seems glorifying drag blasphemy and the horrors of the French Revolution were key moments of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. I think I’ll let other journalists report on the games, this year,” one person wrote on X, sharing a clip from the the depiction on Marie Antoinette.
The same user also blasted the involvement of children in the performance, asserting that, as if it wasn’t already inappropriate, that factor made the performance even more egregious. “WHY is a child amongst scantily clad transvestites? WHY are there ALMOST ALWAYS children involved or exposed to this?” the wrote.
Gays Against Groomers also criticized the performance, writing, “We are absolutely disgusted to see these drag queens and half-naked gender cultists dance around little kids at the Olympics for the entire world to watch. This agenda isn’t just an American issue. It’s global. And if this doesn’t horrify you, then you aren’t paying attention.”
The artistic director of the Paris Olympics, Thomas Jolly, claimed the objective of the ceremony was to promote diversity and inclusivity. “Above all, I want this ceremony to include everyone. We must all celebrate this diversity.” He said, “I was overwhelmed at first. I wondered how I could create a show where everyone can feel represented as part of this great union. This responsibility was ambitious, complex, but magnificent for an artist.”
Jolly further claimed he wanted to break free from the stereotypes associated with Paris, opting to highlight the “vibrant youth” and “different cultures” that interact in the streets of the French city. “When we watch ‘Emily in Paris’ or ‘Amélie Poulain,’ we know it’s not quite the real Paris. We’re going to play with all those cliches, but we’re also going to challenge them. Paris is also a vibrant youth. Different cultures rubbing shoulders in the streets. I’ll be fired if I tell you anything. All I can tell you is that it will be very meaningful for the artists that will perform.”
As expected, some members of the media praised the performance, painting it as an “exciting” and “vibrant” display of art. “Jolly expressed his intent before the ceremony to ‘play with’ but also ‘challenge’ French cliché, and in the most vibrant, exciting celebration of French identity in the ceremony so far, they did a full musical, metal–opera–Cameron Mackintosh mash-up tribute to … the guillotine!” according to a repote from Vulture.
However, the Washington Post suggested that the ceremony reflected Jolly’s “outsize ambitions” rather than a genuine reflection of French culture. “Jolly’s liberation of the ceremony conveyed more about his own outsize ambitions than his nation’s identity,” the Post said.
Watch the mocking of The Last Supper below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.