The Olympics

Gregg and I watched the opening of the Olympics in China tonight. It was absolutely beautiful – a spectacular display of art, harmony, discipline and power. Having read a lot of utopian and anti-utopian fiction for my dissertation, I was intrigued as I watched this awesome spectacle.

A lot of utopian works speak of mobilization of people in the service of the common good. For the utopians, this mobilization is not like an army recruitment – it is almost always voluntary. The desire to showcase the arts, crafts, beauty and talent of a utopian regime is what motivates its people to put on a performance like the one we witnessed today. People are proud of their country, their culture and their own talents and this is what makes something like this possible.

Obviously, anti-utopian writers turn these arguments around. According to them, efforts like this also require stringent discipline and it essentially needs centralized direction. The anti-utopian writers use the analogy to the army and argue that displays like this are essentially displays of power as well as art and beauty. The perfection demanded from each man, woman and child in the program, they would argue, cannot be extracted without power and authority. Therefore, they argue that it requires an authoritarian regime to spend the time, money and discipline which makes these national shows possible.

As I watched the show, I wondered, which of these two positions were true this time? Can they both be true? And, by thinking of these things which watching this show, was I missing some part of its beauty?

Having said all that, let me add that the grand scale of the program and the breathtaking, dazzling, stupendous performances by each of the 15000 participants was stunning.

If you watched the show, what were your thoughts on it?

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Last Weekend: Gregg and I spent last weekend in Boston. Gregg was a groomsman for his friend Keith’s wedding. It was a beautiful wedding though we stayed up way too late every night. I also got to hang out with my cousin who lives in Boston and meet his girlfriend.

This Week: Betty came to visit on Wednesday and left today. I had so much fun – we did not really do anything much, just sat around and talked. On Thursday, we went to this little place called Kitchen Kettle Village which has a lot of little artsy shops and on Friday we went to the Farmers’ Market. Betty also went with me to the outlets to help me find a couple of jackets for the school year – I got one from Ann Taylor and one from Banana.

Things to Do: This weekend I have to finish all three of my syllabi. Next week, I start a grueling 8am-5pm orientation schedule on Monday and that continues till the Monday after that. Sometime next week I also have to write my APSA paper - which is still in its first 3 pages.