Sports

Don’t Be Baffled by British Humor: Here‘s Your Guide to Watching the Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies

A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies

Yes, those are actors dressed as Mary Poppins performing during the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. (Photo: AP/Mark Humphrey)

LONDON (TheBlaze/AP) Although the opening ceremonies won’t begin airing in the United States until 7:30 p.m. (EST) — exclusively on NBC — they are beginning to wrap up in London. And the three-hour coordinated affair by Danny Boyle could leave you scratching your head if you don’t understand British humor or history.

(Related: Check out other stories on TheBlaze related to the 2012 Olympic Games)

The opening ceremony production is replete with inside jokes and cultural references that many non-Brits may find baffling.

Here’s some of the confusion (and glee) expressed via Twitter about the ceremonies:

A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies

A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening CeremoniesA Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening CeremoniesA Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies

Some have also been taking to the microblogging site to express discontent over NBC not airing the event in live.

A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies

A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies

The Anglophile dream tour of the ceremonies embraces the “Slumdog Millionaire” director’s complex and by turns dark and whimsical vision of life on this island nation.

Who else would have thought of dancing nurses?

Below are a few compelling photos from the event thus far.

A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies

A speedboat carrying the Olympic Flame leaves a trail on this slow exposure photograph as fireworks explode above the iconic Tower Bridge over the River Thames. (Photo: AP/Vadim Ghirda)

A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies

(Photo: AP/Matt Slocum)

A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies

Actors perform in a sequence meant to represent Britain's National Health Service (NHS). (Photo: AP/Jae C. Hong)

A Guide to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies

The Royal Air Force Red Arrows fly over Olympic Stadium before the Opening Ceremony. (Photo: AP/Gregory Bull)

So read on, all will (hopefully) be clear.

Ring that bell

What is it with Britain and bells? Boyle ordered up a 27-ton whopper from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry to ring in the games. Founded in 1570 and officially Britain’s oldest manufacturing company, Whitechapel – just a few miles from the Olympic Park – also made London‘s Big Ben and Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell. Boyle loved that ringing a bell to begin a performance was customary at the time of Shakespeare. The bell rung Friday will be inscribed with a line from “The Tempest,“ in which Caliban says ”Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises.”

Nurses, nurses everywhere

Boyle recruited real nurses working for the National Health Service to take part, a tribute to a treasured national institution that started in 1948 amid the ruins of war-devastated Britain. The state-funded NHS provides free health treatment to all Britons, and is embraced by all political parties. While grumbling about its perceived slow service is widespread – and planned government reforms are controversial – its egalitarian ethos is a matter of national pride. When U.S. Republicans criticized the NHS in 2009, a Twitter campaign in its defense became so popular it crashed the NHS website.

What is Jerusalem?

Well, there’s the one in the Middle East, and then there’s “Jerusalem,” the hymn that doubles as England’s unofficial national anthem, belted out at big state occasions and sports matches alike. It’s based on a poem by William Blake, which wonders whether there is truth to the legend that Jesus visited England as a young man: (”And did those feet, in ancient time; walk upon England’s mountains green?”) Blake – like Boyle – contrasts that with a bleaker nation of industrialized “dark Satanic mills,” before calling – “Bring me my chariot of fire!“ for a new heaven to be built ”in England’s green and pleasant land.”

Speaking of satanic mills

Britain was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, when transformations in agriculture, transportation and technology brutally reshaped society between 1760 and 1850. Spinning technology led to the creation of textile factories, which was followed by James Watt’s invention of the steam engine, and improved coal mining techniques that powered railroads and ships. The advances of the industrial revolution also led to abuses, which sparked riots by workers and eventually spurred the creation of modern organized labor, as well as overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in British cities that triggered outbreaks of cholera and typhoid.

Amazing engineers

All that industry made Britain an innovation powerhouse – and Boyle celebrates its pioneers, past and present. He has drawn inspiration from two Britons whose names many don’t know, but whose legacy surrounds us every day – Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Tim Berners-Lee. Brunel was the pioneering Victorian engineer who helped knit Britain together with an infrastructure of iron bridges and railways. He died in 1859 but many of his creations – including the first tunnel under the River Thames – are still in use. Computer scientist Berners-Lee is the inventor of the World Wide Web, the infrastructure of the Internet, which is still transforming the way we communicate and the way we live.

Television generation

Ask Britons from 6 to 60 about their favorite TV show and one answer will probably dominate: “Doctor Who.” The series about a space-hopping Time Lord first aired in 1963; so far 11 actors have played its lead character, an enigmatic alien known only as “The Doctor.” The show fuses science fiction thrills with humanism and whimsy and is vital suppertime viewing for millions. Its pulsating electronic theme music is instantly recognizable to sci-fi geeks everywhere.

And Boyle would not be reflecting modern-day Britain without a reference to long-running and hugely popular soap operas like “Coronation Street” and “EastEnders.” Unlike soaps in many countries, which are set among the wealthy and glamorous, British soaps have gritty working-class backdrops. One British critic once noted that “American soaps are about watching beautiful people suffer. We like to watch ugly people suffer.”

Children’s classics

From Britain’s rich literary tradition, Boyle focuses on its cornucopia of children’s classics. British writers gave the world heroes like Peter Pan, Mary Poppins and Harry Potter – and even-more-memorable villains, from Captain Hook to Cruella de Vil to Voldemort. Perfect material for Boyle, who is drawn to both darkness and light, and directed warm but unsentimental depictions of childhood in the movies “Millions” and “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Blowing bubbles?

Despite the British reputation for reserve, get Brits in a crowd – especially at a sporting event – and they love to sing. So no ceremony would be complete without a good old-fashioned sing-along. “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” is the anthem of West Ham United football club, but known to almost everyone. It’s also an Olympic in-joke: West Ham, an east London team, is bidding to move into the Olympic Stadium once the games are over.

Great moments in British weather

Of course Britain’s weather HAD to figure in a show about an island nation, with references to BBC radio’s daily institution “The Shipping Forecast.” Though it provides crucial data for mariners, the forecast is admired for its melodic and soothing chant four times a day. It’s a reminder that even in the jet age, Britain is an island nation where much depends on the movement of the sea.

Boyle also pokes fun, reminding the audience of the moment when BBC weatherman Michael Fish assured his audience that a hurricane would bypass Britain’s shores. Alas, it did not. The Great Storm of 1987 was the most severe to hit the nation for centuries.

Comments (34)

  • Ghostian
    Posted on July 29, 2012 at 3:02pm

    Holy cow, is anybody paying attention? Judging by the comments I’ve seen here, and at other sites, the answer is, sadly, no. Uncomfortable as this may be, here is the bigger picture everyone missed.
    Instead of celebrating rugged individualism, it was paying homage to national socialism. For those with short memories, Hitler exploited the 1936 Olympics in similar fashion. Is the uber-creepiness of the big picture coming into focus yet? National Socialism! Hail to the State! Anybody! Many say they got the meaning,..but did they? Other than the rare individualism found in English literature, every segment of that spectacle was glorifying the greatness and benevolence of National Socialism. Ahhh!

    The Olympics in its true glory, is about the strongest, the fastest, the farthest….individual. The essence of rugged individualism at its most personal. One man standing against….an entire world of individual challengers. As colorful as team competition may be, it is the socialist rot that has infected the world of sports, and the Olympics. This has become a TV show called Whose Country’s Got Talent. Water Polo is an Olympic sport? Are you freaking kidding me? Kayaking? Badminton? Do I really need to go on? No offense Mitt, but dressage? In the Olympics? Isn’t the Olympics supposed to be a humans only event? An individual humans only event? The Olympics: The U.N. of sports.

    Report Post »  
    • Mil-Dot
      Posted on July 30, 2012 at 7:58am

      I know, it made me sick. From the blantant socialism to the overrepresentation of blacks (just like in America) I could only sit through about 1/2 of it before I turned it off.

      Report Post »  
  • sillyfreshness
    Posted on July 29, 2012 at 3:43am

    A celebration of Bolshevism.

    Report Post » sillyfreshness  
  • Kenszen
    Posted on July 28, 2012 at 7:54pm

    Too busy. Too disjointed. Not enjoyable. Spectacular, yes. But not enjoyable. The most entertaining moment for me was Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) playing that repetitive note in Chariot’s of Fire with Simon Carrington directing the London Phil, no less. That was pretty funny.

    Report Post »  
    • katiefrankie
      Posted on July 28, 2012 at 11:25pm

      Just seeing Rowan Atkinson sets me to grinning! Once he graced the stage, I knew the opening ceremonies would be enjoyable. Although to me he isn’t Mr. Bean, but will always and forever be Edmund Blackadder!

      I was a BYU student during the 2002 Olympic games in Salt Lake City, Utah, and although I had to roll my eyes during some of the asinine commentary provided by NBC (is adding “NBC” to “asinin” redundant?), I admit the Brits put on a pretty great show. It will be interesting to see how they handle the daily grind of Olympics right alongside everyday life like the Utahns did….

      Report Post » katiefrankie  
  • bolec slodkie
    Posted on July 28, 2012 at 3:18pm

    Let me get this right….the theme for the British Health Service “sequence” is the theme to the Exorcist!?!
    see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Oldfield
    Virgin years (1973–1991)

    Report Post »  
  • flipper1073
    Posted on July 28, 2012 at 12:29pm

    Sorry That Baby under the Blanket thing
    Was just Plain Spooky an Weird
    Come to think of it the Whole Thing was
    Spooky an Weird.
    Love Ya England
    but is this the Best You Could Do ?

    Report Post » flipper1073  
    • Mil-Dot
      Posted on July 30, 2012 at 8:00am

      I said a couple of years ago when in the closing ceremony at Bejing they dragged out a couple of double decker buses, some chicks with umbrellas and Jimmy Page on the bus with a Les Paul. I said to my wife ” Oh man, are the Brits going to put on a lame show or what?” And, I was right. Pathetic and not entertaining at all. Too much crap.

      Report Post »  
  • JACKTHETOAD
    Posted on July 28, 2012 at 8:29am

    Oh hushup ye naysayers. We’ve been outclassed by The Crown again. :0

    Report Post » JACKTHETOAD  
    • merd01
      Posted on July 28, 2012 at 6:40pm

      @ Jack:

      I agree. It was beautiful! A nice history lesson for the “children,” and a bit of a walk down memory lane for us older folks. So they had real doctors and nurses dancing. Big deal. It didn’t seem to be a glowing statement on the NHS. They were volunteers, just like everyone else in the program. Lighten up!! Not *everything* is about politics (well, except for Michelle’s appearance–yuck!), gang!

      Report Post » merd01  
    • JACKTHETOAD
      Posted on July 29, 2012 at 4:30am

      I was hoping for the ‘twit race’ to be a new event. I’m soooo disappointed.

      Report Post » JACKTHETOAD  
  • hudstim
    Posted on July 28, 2012 at 7:56am

    Couldn’t watch it at all — how could one possibly listen to the Obama shill from the morning show for 4 hours?

    Report Post »  
  • Magyar
    Posted on July 28, 2012 at 6:26am

    The opening ceremonies were the bizarre thing I’ve ever seen.

    The whole thing looked like a post-apocalyptic nightmare.

    England like most of Europe has gone over the cliff—

    Report Post »  
  • youshuthehellup
    Posted on July 28, 2012 at 3:50am

    could someone help these people pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease! I mean what was that crappy display of opening ceremonies! there was too much pot in the air. they have truly gone MAD!!!!!

    Report Post »  
  • chips1
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 8:43pm

    The economy must be worse off than the news is reporting. If the Opening Ceremonies cost more than $47.95 they got ripped off.

    Report Post »  
  • Guerrino_P
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 8:24pm

    If a war broke out between Great Britain and the USA. We would lose. Too much white trash here.

    Report Post »  
  • DDD
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 8:21pm

    Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) made the whole thing worthwhile (almost four hours long). Thank goodness our cable has the Canadian station and we got to spend a nice afternoon watching it here in the NW.

    Report Post »  
  • Skee
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 8:02pm

    Actors perform in a sequence meant to represent Britain’s National Health Service .
    That’s ironic. Just like the Olympics, doctor appointments come around every fourth year.

    The ceremony just started and it looks like the Shire with Hobits scurrying around.

    Report Post » Skee  
  • ChiefGeorge
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 7:42pm

    Yawn! Wheres my Beemer?

    Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
  • saranda
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 7:13pm

    Loved the opening ceremonies. Thankfully in Canada where it is being shown live on no less than 18 channels. IS coverage of Olympics has always been sadly lacking and focused on the celebrities both announcing and attending not the events. I could care less about the talking heads,show me a sport that I only get to see once every four years and maybe a few that American don’t medal in for a change.

    Report Post »  
  • SuperSuineg
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 7:07pm

    What no Jaguar e-type, the last best thing they ever did.

    Report Post » SuperSuineg  
  • Evil-DeC0Y
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 6:59pm

    I may not be British, but I have no problem with the British people showing some pride in their culture and history. I think the world needs more patriots and national pride, and begone with this “world citizen” bullcrap that is trying to take over.

    Report Post »  
    • GoodStuff
      Posted on July 27, 2012 at 7:56pm

      “but I have no problem with the British people showing some pride in their culture and history.”

      That’s the point, this wasn’t about showing pride, is was a self-loathing affair.

      Report Post »  
    • Corrigenda
      Posted on July 28, 2012 at 5:57pm

      Goodstuff replied to this with:
      “That’s the point, this wasn’t about showing pride, is was a self-loathing affair.”

      How (s)he has missed the point! It WAS indeed ALL about pride but a pride that recognises the vicissitudes of achievement. The British do not only boast of their successful outcomes like some. Interesting that Canadians on here had no problem understanding it. We really are countries separated by a common language!!

      Report Post »  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 6:49pm

    I am half English. It would be good to be proud of that for a change. I don’t care if these olympics go off without a hitch and the opening ceremonies were a hit…..; get rid of the muslims and the PC and maybe they will come to be a great nation again.

    Report Post »  
    • oldduffer
      Posted on July 27, 2012 at 7:06pm

      Sorry to say; but, they’ve infiltrated all over the country and government. Just like they’re doing here. They claim that a century to Alah is the blink of an eye and they’re willing to blink the infidel into oblivion. The fanatics are just waiting and I hope there’s something left of Europe when it finally hits the fan and not go by the way of the Pyramids may do and the statues of Buddha in Afganistan.

      Report Post »  
  • barber2
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 6:47pm

    What ? No Robin Hood ? Knowing how the international Left shares Obama’s “ redistribution” ideas. I would have expected to see at least a dance number of his Merry Men. ( maybe they share Obama’s dislike for the Catholic Church so the Friar Tuck bit would be awkward )

    Report Post »  
  • burnteye86
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 6:45pm

    Here’s some American humor:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI_MxogZJ-4

    Report Post » burnteye86  
  • MAULEMALL
    Posted on July 27, 2012 at 6:37pm

    NBC sux and I won’t be watching

    Report Post » MAULEMALL  

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