Thomas on Farcaster

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https://warpcast.com/~/channel/thomas

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@aviationdoctor.eth

Some people here and on X have expressed outrage at parts of the opening ceremony of the Olympics in France. As someone who is both natively French and a "global citizen" (lived on four continents, visited 50 countries, expat for nearly 20 years), I wanted to share my dual perspective. My goal is not to pass judgment on Friday's performance, but rather set the cultural context in which it was delivered. So, don't shoot the messenger. Also, references are annotated in brackets like this: [i] for further reading at the end. The TL;DR is that the French brand of secularism (laïcité) is unique, highly idiosyncratic, and part of the core identity of the French republic; it's understandable that it does not translate well to an international audience. Now, onto the 🧵: 1/9

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@aviationdoctor.eth

> That show was blasphemy! The concept of blasphemy (the action of speaking sacrilegiously about a god or the sacred) may speak to you, but it explicitly does not exist in secular France [i]. In France, religions are treated as mere ideas, and like all ideas, they can be examined, praised, criticized, and even mocked. In the eyes of the secular French republic, no text or religious icon deserves special protection, no matter how holy to some. That aspect of freedom of speech is as foundational to the French as the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is to Americans. Of course, people whose identity is rooted in faith might take offense at that, which leads me to... 2/9

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abrikos 🎩 pfp

Thanks for your level headedness in your explanation. I still feel disappointed by the show bc France has such a rich culture and history, and it blundered an opportunity to present it to the world. 100 $degen

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cyrus pfp

Great thread, full of common sense and knowledge of culture. I see nothing but facts :) In decades to come this ceremony will be seen as a daring artistic experiment and a snapshot of contemporary society, rather than a by the numbers arrangement or 'show of strength' type ceremony that we have seen for years. You're also really kind to take the effort to explain things with references. Hopefully people will learn to do their own research.

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deep substrate foliated tomato pfp

deep substrate foliated tomato

Thanks for taking the time to explain. I'm sure the people who are outraged about it will find a way to still be outraged, though. 😀 1688 $DEGEN

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dusan 🎩 pfp

i love the deep dive. thank you for that. i haven't watched the ceremony, but given the context you provided i feel as if those in charge failed to read the room and misjudged how much influence the ceremony carries. i come from slovakia and the political situation there is pretty rough right now. you wouldn't believe how much support russia gets and if it were purely up to people, they would've given away the whole country to putin in no time. and this state of mind is rooted in successful anti-western propaganda drawing from similar naive expressions ("attacks on traditional values"). if nothing else then timing was certainly off.

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John Camkiran pfp

Valuable perspective. To keep Farcaster interesting, I will attempt an objective defence of the outraged: 1. The use of the opening ceremony to express the French political principle of laïcité violates Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits political expressions, except by participants under certain circumstances. 2. Burlesque is a category of entertainment that is broadly deemed unsuitable for children, who compose an important part of the Olympic audience.

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Beninem pfp

Well said. My kiddo didn't really get any of it and I wasn't a fan of my kiddo watching the 3-some being alluded to by the 3 library folks... But I see now where they're coming from via your post. 10000 $DEGEN

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@meganmichelle.eth

As a French citizen, did you feel like the show reflected France’s culture well, then? Were you proud of it?

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Ben Adamsky 💭 pfp

Ben Adamsky 💭

Very well thought out and digestible explanation, thank you for this! 5000 $degen

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King pfp

you should post this on twitter tom, see all sorts of emotions from the replies

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Darryl Yeo 🛠️ pfp

Darryl Yeo 🛠️

Great context. Haven’t yet watched the show but saw a lot of the outrage on Twitter and wanted to reserve my judgement.

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Phil Cockfield pfp

Cc @ro ↑ Ro, we were discussing yesterday. Thomas has put the cultural primer together for it. 🇫🇷 I love that it wasnt a bland panvoidity, nor a french cliche. If it pissed a few people off, and caused even more people to think something new then the “art” of it was doing its job.

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flight 🛩️↑

I really do enjoy and appreciate your mind. Fantastic share, thank you. 297 $degen

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Andreas Birath pfp

Nuanced and informative. Thanks.

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casslin.eth pfp

I’m totally ok w/ that show & finding it fun & funny that both ppl in the 2 countries i lived longest are outraged by the show lol

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Jon Commstark pfp

awesome thank you for writting it up I was aware that the French have a deep history with the mocking of religion but didn’t know how to explain it to ppl irl now I can share this 1000 $degen 🍖x4000

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Pedro pfp

Great thread. I'm French myself and I loved the ceremony. It was a very representative display of our national trait: irreverence. I honestly think that everyone has a very vanilla perception of what French culture is (beret, baguette, charm and beauty...) and that's what they were expecting to see. But what the world doesn't see (or don't want to see) is that we love provocative stuff. Our cultural icons were shocking at the time (Gainsbourg!!) and we still celebrate people taking brutal jabs at institutions (Charlie Hebdo anyone?). All in all, I'm glad the world got to see another facet of who French people are, and one that finally puts the sticky clichés to bed.

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Mo pfp

Useful and broad thread overview, thanks As a French person, I get frustrated that laïcité ends up being an excuse for not respecting that there can be beliefs that are a core part of others identity, sacred even. I’m a partisan of full free speech, but being responsible for negative outcomes of what I say., and knowing when to say nothing. People are free to do what they want in their circle, but I’m not paying taxes so we can insult a bunch of Christians, locally and around the world This “idiosyncracy” was indeed courageous, but the British meaning of courageous ie. a miss The end reality is its a small circle of Parisian organisers, imposing their world view instead of trying to be as inclusive as possible and fitting into Olympian spirit Lots of good parts to the ceremony though, that final bit with Céline Dion on Eiffel Tower was mad good

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dusan 🎩 pfp

I'm supporting you through @microsub! 78 $DEGEN (Please mute the keyword "ms!t" if you prefer not to see these casts.)

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