Paris Olympics: Furious young Aussie says what most wouldn’t dare about opening ceremony stunt that mocked one of the West’s most sacred images
A young Australian has hit out at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, declaring it disrespected 2.4 billion Christians and was a ‘sign the West has fallen’.
Journalist and entrepreneur Carla Efstratiou took aim at a part of the ceremony which showed what appeared to be a nod to the iconic Leonardo da Vinci painting ‘The Last Supper’ but with people in drag costumes standing in for some positions.
A furious Ms Efstratiou said the controversial scene proved how it has become acceptable to mock Christianity – but other religions are strictly off-limits for parody.
‘The West has officially fallen,’ Ms Efstratiou said in a video shared to social media.
‘Way to just insult 2.4 billion Christians around the world. Maybe I’m not artsy enough but all I see here is a mockery of Christianity.’
‘The Last Supper with Jesus and the 12 apostles and they seem to have recreated it very poorly with drag queens.’
Ms Efstratiou claimed the organisers ‘would never dare do this about Islam’.
‘This is the way Europe is going. You can see it when you go over there. There is respect for every other religion except Christianity… it’s scary.’
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Billionaire Elon Musk also slammed the opening ceremony for its apparent parody of the Last Supper – after technical hitches and bizarre, rain-drenched performances meant only Celine Dion was able to save it with her spellbinding curtain call.
Critics branded the four-hour show the ‘worst ever’, with viewers reporting poor audio caused by the near-torrential rain while some even joked that organisers needed to ‘stop the boats’.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators watched as 6,800 athletes covered in plastic ponchos attempted to keep spirits high as they travelled down the river Seine in a huge flotilla of 85 boats.
Performances from Lady Gaga and approximately 3,000 dancers, acrobats and actors were hard to hear over the sound of rain, with viewers slamming it as ‘the worst Olympics opening ceremony in memory’.
Gaffes with country names, the upside-down mounting of the Olympic flag and a series of odd scenes – including a headless Marie Antoinette singing – peppered the display last night in Paris hours before the competition began in earnest.
But among the various artistic tableaus, named after French values such as freedom, fraternity and equality, it was the Last Supper-style performance in the ‘festivité’ – or party – scene that caused the most controversy.
Complete with models, dancers, fashion icons and drag queens from the host nation, the performance took place on a bridge over the capital’s river around a table, which also doubled as a catwalk.
At the centre was a woman in front of DJ equipment with a golden halo-style crown, surrounded by several drag queens and dozens of dancers and performers.
A fashion show which showcased clothing designed by some of France’s most promising young designers took centre stage, as those seated on either side performed slick choreography.
Among those present was Drag Race icon Nicky Doll, who has appeared on the French franchise, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World and now hosts France’s own version.
Although also hampered by hard-to-hear music, many young people and fans of the popular TV show took to social media to praise the tableau, which aimed to echo the atmosphere of a nightclub and featured dancing and lip-syncing on the soaking-wet stage.
But others were less impressed, accusing organisers of creating a ‘woke’ parody of the Last Supper – a painting by Leonardo da Vinci depicting Jesus’ last meal with his disciples.
Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk, who has come under criticism for his conservative beliefs, including towards his own daughter, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the performance was ‘extremely disrespectful to Christians’.
He added: ‘Christianity has become toothless.’
Later in the show, the most bizarre moment of the night saw a giant platter bedecked in fake fruits and other foods – with a ‘smurf’ resting among them.
The man, dressed in a skintight blue bodysuit that left very little to the imagination, was dressed as the Greek God of wine, festivity and theatre, Dionysus.
He was later unveiled to be French actor and singer Philippe Katerine.
Another moment from the four-hour bonanza which was not on viewers’ bingo cards was when several dozen headless Marie Antoinettes appeared in a riff on the nation’s history.
Images of the performer, who sang with her seemingly severed head in her lap, were recreated in all the windows of the historic building while a rock band performed outside.
And it wasn’t just the performances during the ceremony which saw technical gaffes. As the long line of boats filled with athletes made its way down the Seine, an embarrassing moment saw South Korea labelled North Korea by the announcers.
As the South Korean delegation sailed down the Seine River in the French capital, they were introduced with the official name for North Korea: ‘Republique populaire democratique de Coree’ in French, then ‘Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’ in English.
‘We deeply apologise for the mistake that occurred when introducing the South Korean team during the broadcast of the opening ceremony,’ the IOCÂ said in a post on its official Korean-language X account.
Meteorologists who predicted the unusual rainy July weather would be a ‘disaster’ for the outdoor ceremony appear to have been correct as the screen at the Trocadéro where thousands of spectators are gathered appeared to suffer a blackout as a result of the dreary weather.
Instead of crowds wearing shorts and t-shirts to soak up the Parisian sun, streets were lined with umbrellas and spectators – including celebrities – turning to ponchos to protect from the rain.
A viewer on social media joked: ‘If this rain keeps up by the time they get to Zimbabwe they’ll be able to sail the boat down the street!’.
‘Well this fancy outside idea went well didn’t it’, wrote another sarcastically.