The 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony was filled with memorable moments, from the lighting of the cauldron to Céline Dion taking the stage.
But one performance has prompted mixed reactions.
The four-hour ceremony kicked off the start of the Summer Games July 26, with athletes gliding down the River Seine and performers reenacting internationally historic moments.
During a controversial tableau, drag queens and dancers lined a long table in an image that some thought resembled Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” portrait of Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles.
Following the scene, some called the imagery a “mockery” and “insulting to Christian people.” Meanwhile, others found the moment a celebration for the LGBTQ+ community and inclusivity.
Why some are connecting a scene in the Olympics opening ceremony to ‘The Last Supper’
In one scene from the opening ceremony, a dinner platter lifted to show a naked person painted blue and sparkling singing in French. In the background, dancers and drag queens struck poses along a long table.
Panning through the tableau, a camera first showed a person crowned with an aureole in front of DJ turntables. The shot then showed the rest of the table, lined with performers holding their poses.
The table then transformed into a catwalk, as the drag queens and models took the stage in homage to Paris’ fashion scene.
Some connected the tableau to the biblical scene da Vinci portrayed in “The Last Supper,” when Jesus Christ and his apostles shared a final meal before the crucifixion.
But the official X account for the Olympic Games shared photos of the moment and referenced the Greek god Dionysus, not “The Last Supper.”
“The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings,” read a tweet captioning the photos.
When asked about the backlash July 27, the ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, said at a press conference he did not intend “to be subversive,” “mock” or “shock.”
“We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that,” he said. “In France, we have freedom of creation, artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country. I didn’t have any specific messages that I wanted to deliver. In France, we are republic, we have the right to love whom we want, we have the right not to be worshippers, we have a lot of rights in France, and this is what I wanted to convey.”
Reactions to Olympics opening ceremony performance
Some were supportive of the artistic vision, arguing the tableau was fighting to make a statement on inclusivity.
“We know in the LGBTQ community in France we are far from what the ceremony showed. There’s much progress to do in society regarding transgender people. It’s terrible that to legally change their identity they are forced to be on trial,” France’s Inter-LGBT President James Leperlier said, per AP.
Le Filip, who won the third season of “Drag Race France” this year, told AP they were “amazed.”
“I thought it would be a five-minute drag event with queer representation. I was amazed. It started with Lady Gaga, then we had drag queens, a huge rave, and a fire in the sky. It felt like a crowning all over again. I am proud to see my friends and queer people on the world stage,” Le Filip said.
Others, including U.S. political figures and Catholic church leaders, expressed outrage at the scene.
House Speaker Mike Johnson shared an image July 27 of the scene on X and called the tableau “shocking” and “insulting.”
“Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games,” he said in a tweet.
Catholic leaders in France called the scene a “mockery of Christianity” in a statement, Reuters reported.
“This ceremony has unfortunately included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we very deeply deplore,” the Conference of French bishops said in a statement.
Harrison Butker, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker who gave a controversial commencement speech touching on birth control, COVID-19 restrictions, women’s roles and more earlier this year, quoted the Bible on X after the ceremony.
“‘Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting,’” he wrote, citing, “Galatians 6:7-8.”
