LONDON — England asserted its well-earned cultural dominance in last night’s Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Parading symbols of popular exports in fashion, film, music and literature from nearly every part of the modern era – from Chariots of Fire to Quantum of Solace, from The Beatles to Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the Arctic Monkeys, and from J. M. Barrie to J. K. Rowling – the best of Britannia was called upon to open the Olympic games.
A true spectacle, each moment of the ceremony engaged the senses aurally and visually with eye-catching dramatics thrilling and daring. At one point, Queen Elizabeth II, in a pre-taped video with Daniel Craig acting in character as 007, showcased one of the many reasons why she remains the world’s longest reigning monarch: her personality. In the film, James Bond escorts QEII from Buckingham Palace to Olympic Stadium by way of airlift. The duo parachute into the whirling masses waiting to greet them. (Of course, QEII and Craig used stunt doubles.)
In another especially memorable point in the ceremony, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling read an excerpt from famed British author J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Soon after, famous villains from British literature — Alice in Wonderland’s The Queen of Hearts, Peter Pan‘s Captain Hook, 101 Dalmatians‘ Cruella de Vil and Harry Potter‘s Lord Voldemort — were inflated, with some rising to be more than 40 feet tall.
Other highlights included comedic actor Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), reprising his beloved role as Bean, zoning out while performing Chariots of Fire with the London Symphony Orchestra, and soccer superstar David Beckham, arriving by boat to pass the Olympic torch to six-time Olympic medalist and rower Steve Redgrave. the Arctic Monkeys performing their hit “I Bet You Look Good On The Dance floor” and a cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together.”
Britons also celebrated the bounty of riches birthed from the Industrial Revolution, a moment that was handled with sensitivity and grace given the human sacrifice involved in achieving the West’s modernity. This was an Olympic celebration with themes that only Britain could have the courage to address and do well.
Actors of every ethnicity dressed as early modern peasants worked the land, eventually giving way to factory workers building chimneys for industrialists who would then craft massive red hot Olympic rings of forged steel that would later hover over the stadium.
World-renown Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh (Much Ado About Nothing) gave an entertaining portrayal of Isambard Kingdom Brunel overseeing the work.
Why Brunel? Brunel was an English mechanical and civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards, the Great Western Railway, a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionized public transport and modern engineering. So, why not?
At one point National Health Service tended to the sick on huge hospital beds, a nod to the West’s strides in healthcare despite industrialization’s health risks.
Notable attendees at the event included First Lady Michelle Obama, Prince William and Kate Middleton, Prince Harry, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, and Queen Sofia of Spain.