Folks, I have committed a serious sin that I hate to spot among other reporters. When searching for obvious religion, I overlooked the subtle spots.
Let me explain.
Like any good American watching the Olympic opening ceremonies by myself, I took to Twitter to let my freak (ethnocentric) flag fly high.
I tilted my head at all the Abraham Lincolns (then I read that Sir Kenneth Branagh was dressed as Isambard Kingdom Brunel reading Caliban's speech from "The Tempest," got that?) and laughed at delight at Mr. Bean (or Rowan Atkinson). It was a show fit for the queen, and I was eating it up, using the twitters to laugh and mock and do what you do on Twitter. Truly, I was most excited to see if Kate Middleton would announce she's pregnant, so we would watch the world implode.
The TV sound was down, so I wouldn't disturb my parents, who generously let me come over and watch on their TV. I was completely intrigued by the history coming out of ceremonies, details I legitimately did not know. I’d ask questions and my friends in the computer would give me the answers. It was like an unedited wiki page, way more fun than listening to Bob Costas.
My dad, meanwhile, sat in the other room reading something very serious and theological. He knows an intense amount of history, including British history, and probably could have explained everything to me. Unfortunately, he walked in during a few pop culture references and he gave up. When Mr. Bean began running in Chariots of Fire, I dragged him back in, saying “Look! This is hilarious!” But yeah, who is Mr. Bean, right? You know those rules of the universe when your parents walk in during the worst parts? Yeah, both my parents legitimately chose to come in right during the PDA make out session (some pop culture reference I still don't understand). They chose to go on a walk with each other as I continued to watch the madness.
Anyway, the whole time, I’m thinking, “England shaped like a lot of religion, right? I just didn’t see much religion. Give me religion!”
And I said something to that effect on Twitter. And then I said something similar in my previous GetReligion post.
My friends in the computer responded!
I learned all sorts of things, like how differently we understand culture and the media and our place in the world.
Like this:
“There was no C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkein”
Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, did we both watch the same opening ceremony? Yes, there was no C.S. Lewis, but did you not see the Lord of the Rings? The green shire dissappears, Isengard staring at me, with those smoking chimneys and the Ring is forged!! Tolkein was all over it.
This article cleverly said in words what I was thinking! http://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=33779
Maybe I should've finished those LOTR movies, I don't know. Don't throw something at me. Yes, I acted out what I hate that other reporters do. They want the OBVIOUS. They want to see a cross, they want to see a religious figure or something blatant to agree to pursue some sort of religion angle. For instance, even though I know there are several faith-driven athletes, I couldn't spot the virgin runner (Lolo Jones) everyone has been salivating over, and that should be so glaring I should spot her in some sort of glow or halo, right?
At least I tried so hard not to embarrass my sports journalist husband who was copy editing Olympics stories last night. There was a time I asked who Jeremy Lin was and he responded by asking who Billy Graham was (it was in the first week of Linsanity). I tell him that my questions help him edit for the common personwoman!
Thanks to kind souls, I also gained from this:
Wait, you’re a religion reporter, and you missed the hymns, not to mention the whole symbolic use of Glastonbury Tor (where Jesus *visited* in childhood) as the focal point?!
In any case, those in the US should know that one of the main stories of the opening ceremony was overtly religious: from its coverage NBC cut (in its entirety) the hymn Abide With Me, all 5 verses, sung in remembrance of victims of terrorism. Why? Religion ghosts perchance?!
Here’s the excerpt: http://m.deadspin.com/5929778/heres-the-opening-ceremony-tribute-to-terrorism-victims-nbc-doesnt-want-you-to-see And, just for the record, the hymns I spotted:
Jerusalem
Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer
Good Christian Men Rejoice
Abide With Me
My friends, I confess: I was having more fun reading Twitter than actually watching the TV, so I also completely missed Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams sitting behind the queen (with that dress, how can you look at anything else?) or the nods to Tolkein. Granted, I’m guessing that most of the audience missed those details as well, but as people pointed out, as a religion reporter I should have known!
Has anyone seen any good mainstream religion reporting out of the opening ceremonies? Crowd source! Surely there are some good links to add to this thread that I haven't seen, even in all my magical abilities to read everything on the internet (or something like that). Remember after Osama bin Laden was killed and people under a certain age had to Google him to see who he was? I can sympathize because it feels like I have to do that all the time.
Part of why the Olympics intimidates me and fascinates me is the nuances that fill the back stories. It's not just about who won the gold, it's about countries coming together (or apart) and all the crazy interesting stories behind them. It's like religion, very nuanced, which can be scary to reporters. For instance, I'm reading about how NBC chose not to air a lesbian kiss, the arrival of female Saudi Arabian athletes, or the tribute to terrorism victims. This stuff has layers! Like religion! Makes you respect sports reporters a little bit more, right?
This is how AFP described it, yet the piece doesn't go terribly deeply.
A celebration of free healthcare, the trade union struggle, the battle for women's rights and a fleeting lesbian kiss: the Olympics opening ceremony Friday did not shy away from weighty social issues.
Unsurprisingly, the show devised by Oscar-winning British director Danny Boyle drew accusations from the British political right that it had strayed into "leftie" issues.
When I watch TV I think is "light," I tend to turn off my “work” brain and turn on my “haha look at those outfits” brain. Still, I have a filter that spots religion that generally doesn’t turn off. So I apologize. I should have seen and broadcasted these little details.
But I also learned another lesson. Crowd sourcing can be incredibly valuable. I have my own filter where I thought one of the songs sung was a Psalm (it's the tune to a Psalm), given my upbringing in a Psalm-singing church. Everyone comes to religion reporting with some sort of background, whether it’s Christian, Muslim, Hindu, whatever. Even among my GetReligion colleagues, I have learned much about personal experiences in the Episcopal Church, Lutheran differences, Churches of Christ, Eastern Orthodox, being former Mormon, being former Southern Baptist, etc. and I am grateful I have a group I can ask stupid questions to, like “how do you write out the Rev. Is that capped and abbreviated?” There's the AP stylebook and an RNA stylebook. Or sometimes you can't be too afraid to just ask.
Sometimes knowing what you don’t know is the most important thing to know.