#19: Commonwealth Games Diary -3
The Opening Ceremony, from my seat, and a special selfie.
Opening Ceremony:
For someone like me, who knows Birmingham’s history only from it’s Wikipedia page, the opening ceremony seemed quite a good representation of the city’s story. The city’s status as an auto manufacturing hub was represented by a collection of red, white and blue vintage cars that lined up as the Union Jack.
One of the highlights of the ceremony was a short speech by Malala Yousufzai, who was treated in Birmingham after being shot by the Taliban for going to school. Of course, her words were centred around an appeal that girls around the world be enabled to achieve their full potential. The applause she drew was, quite simply, tremendous.
The attempt to ensure the performers representative was apparent, with that number including people in wheelchairs. The monarchy was present of course, with Prince Charles declaring the games open. But an attempt to distance the Games from colonialisation was apparent too. There was no request to remain standing when ‘God Save the Queen’ was played, although most of the stadium did stand of their own accord. And one of the narrations, played out on the stadium speakers, included the words ‘the majesty we aspire to is our own.’
The city’s darker historic connections were acknowledged in the ceremony, represented by a massive robotic bull pulled into the stadium by women dragging iron chains. The chains were used in the slave trade, and made mostly by women who only achieved minimum wage through a series of strikes as late as 1910. The robotic bull, probably three floors tall and surprisingly mobile, figured in a redemption arc, going from raging, snorting, red eyed monster, to doe-eyed companion over the course of the ceremony.
The athletes parade was an exhibition of two things for me (No, neither of those involved bare chested Tongans): How many unheard of countries have the Union Jack on their flags (besides the more well known Australia and New Zealand, countries like Fiji, Tuvalu, even Bermuda). They say the sun never set on the Empire, but I’ve rarely thought beyond India. This parade showed me just how far and wide colonial shadows had crept, and how stubbornly they linger. It raises the question of how relevant these games are.
The second thing, was how many little known nations are here. Niue. Narau. Kiribati . Vanuatu. These are countries that probably won’t qualify for larger sporting events like the Olympics. For them, the Commonwealth Games is a big opportunity, for them this is their Olympics. It answers in part the question of how relevant these Commonwelath Games are.
It’s also significant that these Games are using their platform quite visibly for social change. Among a handful of athletes who ran the last leg of the Queen’s Baton relay, was Tom Daley, Olympic gold medalist in diving, and openly gay man. During his relay leg, the ground announcer recognised that homosexuality is still illegal in many countries in the Commonwealth.
And finally, after the Games had been declared open, came the moment I had been looking forward to (as you’d know if you read the last post): The performance by Duran Duran. Only to leave me a little unsated. ‘Come undone’ did not make it to their set list, which comprised all of two songs. Boo.
But that’s all right, because the next day, I had a much bigger fan girl moment.
