Over on VeloVoices, the cycling blog I’m involved in running, we do a regular weekly feature called ‘Tweets of the Week’, which takes a Twitter-eye view on what riders, commentators and fans have been saying about the sport over the previous week. I’ve just sat through Danny Boyle’s 80-minute interpretation of British history and culture in the Olympic opening ceremony. It was immensely entertaining on its own, but my enjoyment of the event was greatly enhanced by the 140-character commentary of a wide variety of people on Twitter.
Here’s a sample of the Twitterati’s view of the event. (The Boyle bit, not the parade of nations …)
Let’s kick off with a typically British view of the opening ceremony before it began. Twitter lends itself well to the typically sarcastic and cynical British view of the world, I find:
To truly represent British culture in an Olympic ceremony they should've just had a jumbotron showing a twitter feed of us all mocking it
— Kitchen Bear (@kitchentableLFC) July 27, 2012
The sequence involving the Olympic symbol being forged as a set of five burning rings brought out the pop culture references:
Brilliant: RT @adamallenfoord: Five rings to rule them all.
— Cyclisme Spandelles (@spandelles) July 27, 2012
Oh no! Mysterons in the sky above the Olympic stadium. Where's Captain Scarlet when you need him?!?
— Tim Liew (@timliew) July 27, 2012
And the sketch involving Daniel Craig‘s James Bond with the Queen which ended with a skydiving stunt from a helicopter into the stadium was met with hoots of laughter:
That was funny, just to watch Twitter have a complete shit-fit when the Queen did her acting thing...
— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) July 27, 2012
Now THAT is cool. The name is Madge, Her Madge. Licence to rule ... #London2012
— Tim Liew (@timliew) July 27, 2012
The extended sequence celebrating British pop music turned into a rapid-fire game of Name That Tune – anyone other than me remember that show? – and drew several wry comments:
OMG! OMD!
— Chris Moody (@ChrisJER69) July 27, 2012
What, no Hear'Say? #London2012
— Tim Liew (@timliew) July 27, 2012
Loving the diversity of this musical medley. And not one note featuring Cheryl-not-Cole. Yet #London2012
— Tim Liew (@timliew) July 27, 2012
The inclusion of Tim Berners-Lee, the British founder of the World Wide Web, drew universal praise, with many tweeters recognising his direct influence on laying the foundations for both this and other social media platforms:
And we're all doing this, because of this man. Yes, Tim Berners-Lee, we salute you!
— Alex Murray (@leguape) July 27, 2012
A few miscellaneous observations on various other parts of the opening ceremony:
https://twitter.com/lioneljbirnie/status/228945432976449536So did anyone else watch that Beckham speedboat sequence and think: but the Hoff did it so much better in Baywatch? #London2012
— Tim Liew (@timliew) July 27, 2012
Pogoing punks?!? Only the British (or specifically Danny Boyle) could do this. Genius #London2012
— Tim Liew (@timliew) July 27, 2012
Overall, although there was the odd negative comment about the ceremony, by the end of it even the most cynical tweeters were admitting that it was quite good, and the overwhelming majority of opinions (on my timeline at least) were unapologetically favourable. Here’s a small selection:
Word: awesome #2012OlympicCeremony
— Michael Shevlin (@mrshev) July 27, 2012
Hilariously bonkers. I can't believe this country is allowed nuclear weapons.
— Marina Hyde (@MarinaHyde) July 27, 2012
This is immense. Captivating in a bonkers way and so different to a normal opening ceremony. Danny Boyle = genius.
— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) July 27, 2012
This is fucking incredible. There's no way David Cameron isn't going to try and take responsibility for it in some way.
— Pete Paphides (@petepaphides) July 27, 2012
You couldn't make this up. Except they did. Brilliantly.
— Chris Moody (@ChrisJER69) July 27, 2012
In your face, Beijing. Proof that you don't need to spend millions on fancy pyrotechnics to put on a great opening ceremony
— Tim Liew (@timliew) July 27, 2012
Although many tweeters did recognise that the sheer ‘Britishness’ of much of the production might confuse people lacking familiarity with British culture and humour:
I am loving the fact that practically every other nation must be watching this and thinking WTF?!? #OpeningCeremony
— Helen Johnson #FBPE (@HisforHelen) July 27, 2012
The world is never going to get this..... And I don't care.
— Tanni Grey-Thompson (@Tanni_GT) July 27, 2012
This is utterly self-referential, meaningless indulgence which will mean nothing to most of the world. It's brilliant #London2012
— Tim Liew (@timliew) July 27, 2012
Major props to the fevered imagination of director Danny Boyle, who delivered a ceremony which was in turns both serious and tongue-in-cheek, and mixed no insignificant amount of socialist rhetoric with moments of downright slapstick:
Danny Boyle is explaining the Big Society to David Cameron.
— Alastair PEOPLE’S VOTE Campbell (@campbellclaret) July 27, 2012
Danny Boyle providing a masterclass in how to be mainstream and subversive at the same time. It's genius this #London2012
— James Ducker (@TelegraphDucker) July 27, 2012
Danny Boyle. Genius. Thank you for reminding us of what a great country Britain has been, and still can be at times #London2012
— Tim Liew (@timliew) July 27, 2012
I’ll leave the final word to VeloVoices’ resident Tweets of the Week columnist, Kathi, who mused on how tough it was to keep up with the sheer weirdness of it all at times:
I feel like I've completely lost my mind and am watching the lining of my brain. I'm completely bewildered!
— Kathi Hall (@kittyfondue) July 27, 2012
The Games have truly started now. Let’s hope the next 2½ weeks provide us with moments as memorable as these.