LONDON -- Be careful if you run into Brits for the next little while: They're under a spell. Specifically, they have a bad case of Olympic Fever.
They're giddy because nothing bad happened at the Games, because the British team won a lot of medals -- and, oh yes, because the weather was sunny and warm for most of the fortnight. Out of such modest pleasures -- and the solid entertainment afforded by the BBC's live, non-stop, all-you-can-eat televising of the events -- they have forged a temporary suspension of mordancy, skepticism and crankiness that normally form the iron triangle of British national character.
They have, based on personal conversations with Londoners and with the outpouring of rhapsodical praise from the media, bought whole-heartedly into the premise of the event's slogan, "Inspire a Generation" -- so much so that if the motto had been "Making Golden Coins Fall From the Sky," more than half the populace would be standing out in the garden today with outstretched buckets.
That "inspiration" is thought to take many forms. Some, particularly in the political class, prefer to believe that the Games have imbued the country with a healthy dose of optimism, drive and can-do ambition -- in short, to have turned the Brits into Yanks. To a certain extent, they're right. Never again can British people indulge their amused condescension at the American penchant for flag-waving. In case you didn't notice, the stage for the closing Olympic ceremony was a gigantic Union Jack. Between the Queen's Jubilee and the Games, the country itself has been festooned with more flags -- gigantic, tiny, and in between -- than decorate the dreamscapes of Sarah Palin, Paul Ryan and David Petraeus combined. Even while heading for your gate at Heathrow, you would have encountered a giddy volunteer avid to hand you a paper flag and urging you to wave it "furiously."
For lots of other folks, there's a sincere belief that two weeks of watching televised athletic competition will solve Britain's social problems. The rush to retailers, reported by as sober a paper as The Guardian, to buy cycles and rowing machines, doesn't make Brits envision garages a year hence filled with rusting equipment; rather, they see young people eager to emulate hard-working athletes instead of vapid reality-show "stars." One can hope that way, but one might not want to bet that way. An early test will come in two weeks, when the Notting Hill Carnival, now feared by many white folks in the neighborhood as the setting for opportunistic crime, manifests instead an outburst of innocent and joyous running and leaping. We are all Usain Bolt!
David Cameron's government, reading the polls and listening to call-in radio, is exploiting this feeling by calling for mandatory competitive team sports in all primary schools, so as to teach the unique lessons of that experience. My childhood may have been unique, but all such a regime would have taught me was to hate school.
Intense temporary events like the Games are almost designed to trigger such popular fevers. New Orleans during the two weeks of Carnival undergoes a similar crescendo of benign craziness, but the event, being annual, leaves not a mental trace the following morning, except the desire to do it again a year later. But the British media have stoked the fires of this fever relentlessly. Once it became clear there would be no cockup and no scandal, the words "wonder" and "magic" flowed like a river of gobsmacked mush not only from the tabloids but from staid "serious" papers and from the "Olympic broadcaster," the Beeb. In the latter case, the teenage-crushness of the coverage can be partially explained as a reaction to the onslaught of criticism the Corporation got for its Jubilee coverage as crass and ignorant.
But in Monday's special commemorative editions of the papers -- Print Lives! -- one could read analyses in which, between the "wonder" and the "magic," one could learn that, thanks especially to the opening ceremony, 50 years of nagging post-Empire doubt as to Britain's role in the world had been resolved. Its role is to be creative, wacky, and self-deprecating. Tell that to the Iraqis and the Afghans. They thought Britain's role in the world was to be America's war poodle.
We'll soon see whether the "legacy" projects -- new neighborhoods in the long-blighted Stratford area, the shiny and endless new luxury mall adjoining the Olympic stadium, and the school sports regime -- pay off the bloated cost to the public budget of this fortnight festival of fun and national pride. Perhaps they will, or perhaps the Athletes Village retrofitted with kitchens will not become the hot new urban address, and the Prada and Gucci stores in that Westfield mall will have been replaced by discount outlets by the time Rio welcomes the world.
In the meantime, do be gentle with the Brits. They can't help themselves. They've partied hard, and the hangover has not yet arrived.
Follow Harry Shearer on Twitter: www.twitter.com/theharryshearer
| 1 | United States | 46 | 29 | 29 |
| 2 | China | 38 | 27 | 23 |
| 3 | Russia | 24 | 26 | 32 |
| 4 | Great Britain | 29 | 17 | 19 |
| 5 | Germany | 11 | 19 | 14 |
| 6 | Japan | 7 | 14 | 17 |
For the athletes and their supporters, this was an amazing games. For the Brits who remained in touch with reality, the sickening prospect of wasted millions of pounds through construction over-spending and the shocking non-delivery of contracts (G4S); breaking up of communities and green spaces and believe it or not in London, destruction of wild landscapes; all gone for good while Coe and gang of smug sods bask in the glory of their own cleverness, just amounted to a mass wishing-it-were-over.
In media-land there was this very lovely glossy image, but the reality was quite different, I am referring to the actual 'from the ground' stories from the people living at the site. People turfed out and forced to move away, jobs given away.
Please do not lump all Brits as one, there were those who revelled in it, and those who did not.
For me, the blatantly empty promises to return land to its pre-Olympic state leaves a very bitter taste. Of course they aren't about to tear down these giant complexes. They never intended to - it was merely a ruse to get those 'in the way' out of the way. These promises are now forgotten by the general public, but there will be people across the UK for whom the Olympic experience has been one of misery.
We know it cost a fortune, we know that most Brits that wanted tickets to go to the events couldn't get them even though most venues had empty seats; we even know that London's much promised boost to the retail sector, actually experienced a substantial drop in trade as most shoppers stayed away from the stores.
The feel good factor may well last only slightly longer than a dry day in September, but whichever way we look at it, the positive and inspirational impact that has been made on so many lives, confirms that the Games were ultimately well worth all the effort.
We may well go back to being content in our misery, but at least we'll have a justifiable pride in the outstanding performance of our athletes, the quiet professionalism of our security and military personnel, the unfaltering cheerfulness of an army of volunteers, and the generous spirit of the people of London ( and indeed other venues around the UK ), that invited the world to our shores and then made their visits into an experience they'll hopefully never forget.
Now if that isn't a cue to get back into a typically grumpy Londoner mode ....
Is the author a Romney advisor on diplomacy and foreign affairs, by any chance?
I think you understand us Brits quite well, Mr Shearer. We'll be back to "mordancy, skepticism and crankiness" soon enough, though we would have spelt scepticism our way.
Fortunately I had shots to prevent such a thing. If only those with influence had those same shots BC would not have blown upwards of 6 Billion Dollars for a 2 week party which benefited only business interests.
Going to hospital I cant understand how an American can cope thinking of insurance etc when he should be thinking of his illness.
BTW My brother a retired Prof surgeon from NY and totally ignorant of financial matters was left with almost nothing when he retired. He was very very upset saving lives day after day as a slave! The relatively low salaries and retirement that doctors receive here and Britain are unionized, protected by law and in the bank.
Can you find not a single positive and affirming thing to say about any aspect of Britain's performance as host nation or London's performance as host city?
The most you will grudgingly offer is a wait-and-see if it all falls apart attitude.
Harry, even from you, that gets real tedious after a while. And ultimately, it's the laziest kind of social commentary one can offer.
The reaction to the Games among the British public and media was based entirely on the fact that the GAMES WERE SPLENDID.
The reaction to the Games among the British public and media has been entirely justified.
Which You Should Have Acknowledged. Honestly and Candidly. Right Up Front. In Some Detail.
Instead, all you gave was lazy "well, wait and see if it all goes to hell" cynicism.
Anyone can offer that.