Rampant, Mindless Nationalism

The opening ceremonies, Vancouver Olympics, 2010

The Winter Olympic Games opened in Vancouver the other night, and the ceremonies were an emotional ride. K.D. Laing belted out Leonhard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' in a way that only she can, Sarah MacLauchlin sang like an angel, the singing of Oh Canada was fresh and colourful, and I think it was good that the world was welcomed by the four first Nations of the Vancouver/Whistler area. However, everything else made me squirm.

The organizers missed the point. This is a big party, and we all know that the first rule of being a good host should be to do whatever possible to ensure that the guests are comfortable. However, the organizers instead jammed down everyone's throat just how great is Canada. The second rule is that one should try to lighten up the atmosphere with humour. Rather than poems reciting Canada's 'greatness', boys running through virtual wheat fields, and skaters dangling from the ceiling, I would have preferred a stand-up routine by Jim Carrey or Mike Myers that perhaps made fun of Canada: a little humourous self-effacement is endlessly more palatable than rampant, mindless nationalism.

Sheila Broflovski blames Canada during an episode of South Park that satirizes scapegoating.

A stand-up routine also might have blessed the ceremonies with a little balance. We did not hear that Canada is roundly villified in the world for our government's behaviour at successive climate talks and policy on carbon emissions and energy extraction, as well as its flat-out failures in foreign policy. We did not hear that a Canadian winter in most of the country is a time to hunker down and simply survive the brutal cold and darkness, while on the west coast where the games are being held, we try to maintain our sanity during months of daily rainfall. Mike Myers could have set our guests at ease by telling the world what it already knows: that we are far from perfect.

The best answer to the glitz and extravagance of Beijing's opening ceremonies would have been to do something China could not do, and that is to make fun of ourselves. However, the moment has passed, and had I been a visitor at or tuning in to the games, I would have assumed this country to be full of arrogant, humourless, boors.