My review of the 2010 closing ceremonies
They were worse than the opening ceremonies, which is saying something.
Basically, the same fundamental problems that plagued the opening show were even more apparent during this one. Beyond that, there’s not a lot to say.
Minister Moore’s efforts to ensure more French was spoken were evidently successful, but only in the most uncomfortable, forced, be-good-because-dad-is-watching sort of way. Jon Furlong spoke even more French, a language he has absolutely no knowledge of (why would he?) and predictably sounded like a fourth-grader. Some of the Montreal artists alternated a verse or two in the sacred tongue, but the others did not, proving the unilingual reality of Canada’s musical talent — and culture — cannot be so easily avoided.
Shatner, Michael J. Fox, that other horrible woman, all offered dribble. Canadian geese, poutine, who cares? Only Canadians, because only Canadians believe ritualistically reconfirming our consensually established National Quirks That Make Us Different From The Americans™ makes for good entertainment. The appeal is parochial beyond words.
Ditto for the giant inflatable beavers and the rest of the “salute to cliches.” Though the CTV announcers constantly reminded viewers that it was all tongue-in-cheek, the heavy twinge of self-righteousness that ran through the whole thing didn’t make for particularly effective satire. Canadians only mock themselves as a way to mock others, which is to say, Americans. Exaggerating the cliches of Canada is not done out of any genuine spirit of self-deprecation. None of the urban nationalists who organized the closing show would ever be willing to make peace with the fact that Canada is, in actuality, an underpopulated, underdeveloped, wilderness nation consisting mostly of ice, evergreens, and furry animals. We only observe such things ironically, with the omnipresent heavy-handed, unsubtle subtext that we’re really so much more. And will be more. And deserve to be more.
A particularly revealing moment came when the woman comedian snarkily jeered to our international friends, “I’m sorry you thought Canada was one great big frozen tundra.” That generated wild cheers from the Canadian audience. That is the sort of thing we like, a joke where the punch-line is always “Canada rules!”
The best part of the show, as usual, was the music. Why it couldn’t it all be music?
