Images from the Celebrated Opening Ceremony
Yet there was the dark side that the Chinese government did not want the public to see. Such as the Petitioners Village in Beijing or the village of Taishi. While filming at Tiananmen Square the police stole a journalists passport and because of citizen journalism the video of the scene was uploaded to the internet within minutes. The Chinese Olympic Organizers wanted a what they felt was a perfect representation of China even if that meant they had to fake it. Such as the cases of the fireworks display and 7-year old Yang Peiyi at the opening ceremonies.
While the opening ceremonies were amazing to watch at what cost did it come to the performers? Another on-going controversy is that of the Chinese gymnasts who many believe were not old enough to compete. Bloggers, such as Mike Walker, have been persistent with this story and have used their computer skills to try to research and find out the truth.
China would like you to see their country like the Disney Corporation would like you to see Disney World. Beautiful, clean, energetic and with smiling faces and helping hands all around. They don’t want you to see backstage where you might have an unhappy employee, Cinderella having a drink or Mickey Mouse, with his head off, out back having a smoke. For the athletes who have trained their entire lives for these moments they deserve a wonderful stage to show their world their accomplishments. Yet the Olympics invite, not only athletes, but politicians, human rights activists and the rest of the world in when they host the games. A country must be ready for all aspects of the Olympics and be able to proudly show off their country without any trickery.
In the case of the 2008 Summer Olympics if had not been for the media, both traditional and non-traditional, all the world would have seen is smoke and mirrors from the Chinese Government. Yet through their diligence the world got see a fuller picture.
Olympic athletes have worked their entire lives and given up many things in their life to make it to this day. They illustrate great sportsmanship and show the world that although we do have differences there are many things that link us together. The Olympic Games have much power for good in this world. Being deceived by the host country does not encourage the spirit of the Games.
As for future Olympics, organizers must learn to go with the flow of technology and participate in the new forms of media. The Official Website for the 2012 Olympics that are being held in London have already embraced blogging by having a section on their website just for that. New technology not only sheds light in dark places but it also helps the stars shine even brighter. Michael Phelps is the ideal example of this.
Phelps has broken many world records and within days of the start of the Olympics he had more than 1,000,000 fans on Facebook. I’m sure with those kind of numbers he cemented numerous lucrative deals with sports companies who already can see what a huge fan base he has. For the Olympics to stay relevant they must use all forms of new media and take advantage of the good they can bring to an event. Now unless the Olympics take place somewhere like North Korea, I think they will do just that.
