Social Media Outrage Mistakes Dionysian Drag Tribute for Mockery of “The Last Supper”
After the completion of the joyous opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics, which was a pageant of stylish evocations of art and the history of France, howls of outrage were heard from social media sites like Twitter. The performances tie in with the Olympics’ Grecian origins as well as a theme of the French Revolution.
It seems that more than one part of the ceremony offended some viewers but was mostly centered on the drag performance that conservatives and religious leaders erroneously assumed was a mockery of Leonardo da Vinci’s Renaissance painting, “The Last Supper,” which was accused of being “Satanic,” without having any Satanic imagery.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, posted on Twitter, “Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today. But we know that truth and virtue will always prevail.”
Donald Trump Jr. said, via Twitter post, “Now with the ever-predictable (and seemingly satanic to me) drag queen opening ceremonies and never-ending BS, no one I know even thinks about it beyond maybe watching some highlights. It’s such a shame that an event that used to inspire so much national pride now inspires, at best, indifference. Using the games to push woke ideology has nothing to do with anything the games stand for.”
In an interview on French television, the artistic director of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, Thomas Jolly, said that da Vinci’s painting was not his inspiration. He reminded viewers that the Greek god Dionysus was represented in the center of the tableau vivant or living picture and went on to say, “Dionysus is the Greek god of festivities and wine and is the father of Sequana, the goddess of the Seine River. The idea was instead to have a grand pagan festival connected to the gods of Olympus, Olympism.” Jolly added the ceremony and scenes were not meant to “be subversive, or shock people, or mock people.”
Director Scott Derrickson and art historian Walther Schoonenberg noted on Twitter that the tableau resembled artworks celebrating the feast of Dionysus. Anne Descamps, Paris Olympics spokesperson, apologized for any offense taken to the ceremony.
Many conservative Twitter accounts spreading this rumor also make homophobic and antisemitic comments about the French organizers of the event.
Sue O’Connell, commentator for NBC 10 Boston, said in a Twitter post, “I’m a dumb-dumb too.
The Olympics Opening Ceremony wasn’t a satire of the painting “The Last Supper”…it was a celebration of the “Feast of Dionysus,” that’s why the Greek god Dionysus was there (the Americans thought was a blue Smurf). The French are French laughing…”
