The 2014 Winter Olympic Closing Ceremony: Part 2.

http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/the-2013-winter-olympics-closing.html

In the first part of this post on the Olympic closing ceremony that can be read via the link above I explained how the closing ceremony for the Sochi games was attempting to promote discussion about Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws by contrasting them with the way that the Communists banned many great works of Russian art and culture out of a fear that they would corrupt impressionable minds and derail the future of the greatest nation ever created.

With the second act drawing to a close it was time for the traditional International Olympic Committee (IOC) formality of handing Olympic hosting duties from Russia to South Korea who will host the 2018 Winter Olympics.

This began with the flag ceremony which I think involved raising the Greek flag to symbolise the Greek roots of the ancient Olympics, the re-raising of the Olympic flag, the bringing down of the Russian flag and the raising of the South Korean flag. However I cannot be sure because I really, really needed a cigarette at this point. As far as I can tell though no-one of any great political significance/symbolism were used to bring the flags in or out of the arena. The Russian television director was very keen to focus on the Greek flag though. That's because the Greek economic crisis is one of the main reasons why the European Union (EU) is in no mood nor position to welcome Ukraine and its economic crisis with open arms.

Following the flag ceremony it fell to the South Koreans to take over the ceremony with a short sequence welcoming the Olympic family to their nation. As the next host nation now faces four years of members of the Olympic family putting pressure on them out of politeness I tend to avoid studying their sequence in too much detail. On this occasion I actually took the opportunity to go outside for that much needed cigarette meaning that I literally only got to see the last few seconds. However from that little glimpse it is clear that the South Koreans also used used the blue sky and yellow sun motif which was eerily reminiscent of the Ukrainian national flag. The South Korean sequence also featured a flood of dancers wearing metallic grey/black costumes. However the South Korean poisonous/radioactive cloud had a distinctly 1980's style about them. This was clearly a reference to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster when a Soviet nuclear power station melted down and then blew up in the Ukrainian city of Pripyat on what is now the Ukraine-Belarus border.

I don't think it is giving away any great secret to mention that the Korean peninsula on which 2018 Winter Olympic games will be held is still technically a war zone. As such the potential for something as disruptive and stressful as the situation in Ukraine or worse to break out during the games is quite high. For example it is not unheard of for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to drop subtle little hints on their South Korean neighbours in the form of artillery shells. Also the DPRK has recently re-started it's Russian built, Soviet-era nuclear facilities. As such any plan for the 2018 games has to at least entertain the idea of Chernobyl style disaster taking place. To make matters worse the DPRK has also recently broken off most ties with neighbour China in favour of closer ties with the USA. The USA seems to view the DPRK's role in the region as that of the neighbourhood bully which everyone must look to the USA to protect them from. So in summary I think the South Koreans were trying to express their sympathy for Russia over the Ukraine situation without antagonising the USA.

The hand-over portion of the ceremony ended - as they always do - with speeches first from the head to the host nations National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Normally these speeches are quite dry and dull but on this occasion they were cause for much drama. That was simply due to the situation in Ukraine. Although international politics are part and parcel of the Olympics it normally involves an athlete making a 'mistake' or a public statement that leads into an abstract discussion about some vague subject - the age of sexual consent has been a popular such topic recently. The situation in the Ukraine though has been extremely fast moving and chaotic and took place so close to Sochi that on a clear day you can almost literally see Ukraine from the Olympic park. Furthermore the situation in Ukraine was extremely violent with more people being killed there then at the 1972 Munich Olympics when armed terrorists broke into the Olympic village with the specific intention of killing athletes.

As such many people thought that the IOC should have taken action to punish the USA who were behind much of the violence in Ukraine in a clear effort to embarrass Russia over its support for the Syrian government. Not only did the IOC fail to punish the USA but they also seemed keen to shield the USA from any criticism or embarrassment - for example the medal ceremony that was chosen for the closing ceremony seemed specifically chosen to avoid the USA having to stand in the glare of global attention. To make matters worse on Friday (21/2/14) during the speed skating events the IOC even seemed to be trying to reward the USA for its actions by focusing the political pressure on the Asian region that the USA is very interested in at the moment.

Bursting with pride and just an undercurrent of anger the President of the Russian NOC spoke extensively about how Russia had delivered on its promise to deliver a safe and smoothly run games. This pride seemed justified because apart from some initial problems with the construction of some of the accommodation which provided ample opportunity for discussion about corruption within Russian public life the Sochi games have been both safe and smoothly run despite almost unprecedented challenges. Beyond simply stating a fact the repeated use of variants of the phrase; "Russia has delivered" seemed to imply that the IOC had not delivered on its obligation to punish those who go beyond the realms of what is consider acceptable behaviour at an Olympic games.

By the time the IOC President Thomas Bach stood up to speak there was an atmosphere in the arena that I remember from police lines just before the bottles and bricks start flying. In a clear effort to diffuse the tension Bach spent most of what was a very unsettled speech paying the Russian hosts complements and repeatedly relying on variants of the phrase "Russia has delivered" that he had borrowed from the Russian hosts perhaps without realising its significance. I actually felt a lot of sympathy for Bach having to stand up in the opening ceremony and give voice to the USA led Principle 6/1.2.6 campaign on gay rights that called for the boycott of these games. However I feel much less sympathy for him now because the Principle 6/1.2.6 Campaign let alone the situation in Ukraine means that there is still a strong argument for the USA to be retroactively excluded from the 2014 games meaning that the USA loses claim to the medals won by its athletes and is only allowed back into the Olympic family roughly a month before the start of the 2016 Summer games in Brazil if it proves it can behave.

Following the speeches there was a short sequence leading up to and including the extinguishing of the Olympic flame. At around 12:10 on 26/2/14 (UK date) I'll be back to cover that later.

Edited at around 15:30 on 26/2/14 (UK date)

With the speeches over the three Russian children and their Clown guide returned and the giant metal columns/icicles descended from the ceiling to the floor. Up close these columns resembled giant mirrors giving the impression that the children were now trapped in a giant circus-style hall of mirrors. In espionage/psychological circles the term "mirror" is quite important because it refers to the way in which if you take two people with similar personality types you can use one as a test subject to find out how the other will react in response to certain stimuli. Over the years this has played a large part in the Olympics with one nation's 'mirror' of another nation's competitor often remaining hidden behind the scenes. It also has some relevance to the US' recent Rihanna operation because I think Rihanna and I have more in common then she is perhaps prepared to admit.

The term "mirror" is also very important in computer programming/Internet circles because what a person running a website will often do is have their main server and several 'mirror' servers containing exactly the same information. The idea being that if the main server goes down visitors to the website will instead be directed to one of the mirror servers allowing the service to continue as normal. This process is pretty much just how the Internet works but is particularly important in political circles where there is often a running battle between governments constantly trying to force websites offline and activists constantly trying to keep them up and running. In this context the reference to 'mirror's raises the issue of Internet freedom particularly its role in political protest. After all one of the great flaws of Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws is that if Russian adults are not allowed to talk to Russian children about homosexuality those children will instead turn to the Internet where they risk being exposed to exploitation by foreign governments.

The reference to the Internet also brings up the fact that while Russia lacks soft-power icons such as Rihanna or Jessie J one area of soft-power where Russia is a world leader is in the field of Internet pornography. One of the reasons why Russia is such a powerful force in Internet pornography is that its relative poverty means that Russian youngsters are prepared to do far nastier things for much less money. Although I wouldn't go so far as to describe the porn industry in the west as either glamorous or moralistic in Russia and former Soviet states there is much less concern for the safety and welfare of participants meaning that their pornography often touches on sex-trafficking and sometimes child sex-trafficking. I think it is well established that the organised criminal gangs that deal in sex-trafficking and child pornography also deal in illegal drugs and getting people addicted to illegal drugs in often a step involved in turning them into sex-trafficking victims. Mirrors of course are closely associated with cocaine use bringing that element into the discussion.

Sex-trafficking and particularly child-sex-trafficking are huge global issues at the moment and touch on all nations on earth but beyond eastern Europe are particular problems in South-East Asia centred around Thailand and South America centred around 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympic host Brazil. Also this sequence raises the point that if Russians are serious about protecting their children from paedophiles perhaps they should be more focused on this problem rather then websites that put Russian teenagers who are questioning their sexuality in touch with professional psychologists and counsellors.

Lightening up this rather dark subject matter giant versions of the three Olympic mascots started to make their way around the arena. In part this was to make sure that everybody had picked up the significance of the mascots. Drawn in the "Hello Kitty" style "The Hare" mascot was supposed to represent Russia's border with Asia. "The Leopard" mascot was supposed to represent Russia's border with the Persian region and Russian President Putin helpfully posed with an actual Persian Leopard just before the games started. "The Bear" mascot was supposed to represent Russia's border with Europe - the image of Russia people in the west are most familiar with. Together they served to remind us all what an absolutely huge nation Russia actually is.

Also throughout the games people have been bouncing around the Olympic park and the venues dressed in mascot costumes. Some of the things mascots got up to has become the stuff of legend. For example when Russia were knocked out of the men's Ice Hockey the Bear immediately dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands as if weeping. Another highlight came when the Hare and the Bear decided to try their hand at Curling. These produced lots of photographs in which it looked like the Bear was sneakily trying to have sex with the Hare from behind. So this sequence also helped to pay tribute to the antics of the mascots.

Perhaps in an effort to work the compulsory singing of the Olympic anthem into the ceremony and perhaps in an effort to distract us while they set up the next bit suddenly a golden galleon-style sailing ship appeared floating across the sky. On the bows of this ship stood an operatic soprano singing the Olympic anthem. This was a direct reference to Rihanna's entrance in the 2012 Summer para-Olympic closing ceremony because after all she seemed so desperate to be included in the Sochi games. Rihanna's people of course describe her as a mezzo-soprano which operatic sopranos rightly find quite offensive.

The blue hot air balloon that appeared to be keeping the ship afloat was reminiscent of various depictions of the hot air balloon in the classic story "Around the World in 80 Day's" which has to be the ultimate example of a whistle-stop world tour. Jules Verne who wrote the story is of course French. So this was Russia telling the world that not only did they know that the US intended to dispatch Rihanna to France to meet up with Drake on the day of the closing ceremony in an effort to convince us all that the pair are dating it also knew quite a long time in advance. The floating sailing ship itself was taken straight from "The Adventures of Baron von Munchhausen." First hand experience of the similar sounding Munchausen By Proxy Syndrome is of something that I have in common with Rihanna collaborator Eminem. So this seemed to be a Russian hint to Rihanna that she'd be better off collaborating with people like Eminem and myself rather then Chris Brown and Drake.

The film version of "The Adventures of Baron von Munchhausen" is actually an important and long standing case study in the history or propaganda. However that refers not to the 1988 remake but the 1943 German original that was produced by the Nazi's propaganda chief Joesph Goebbels. Although film was really in its infancy at the time prior to the making of "Munchhausen" war time propaganda was really focused on trashing your enemy while repeatedly drumming into the audience at home how great their nations is and how well the war was going. Through the making of Munchhausen Goebbels realised that it was also important to amuse and entertain your audience - in part to distract them from the hardships of everyday like and in part because people like people who amuse them. As such Munchhausen became the template for what is now termed "soft-power."

By comparing Rihanna to Nazi propaganda the ceremony seemed to be trying to promote discussion about the way in which soft-power works in the Internet age. Basically someone will identify with a soft-power icon such as a sports team (e.g Manchester United) or a pop-star (e.g Rihanna). They will then take to the Internet to learn more about their icon through message boards and fan sites. On those sites they then get exposed to be people who groom them in much the same way a paedophile grooms their victims. However rather then grooming them for sex the victim is being groomed to give away details of what life is like in the society in which they live or to take political action against their government. The Israelis are probably the most open about this practise making no secret of the fact that its army's cyber-warfare unit has a division dedicated to just this task.

During the games Rihanna actually inadvertently provided an example of this by posting pictures of herself wearing a Principle 2/1.2.6 Campaign beanie hat. Although I think Rihanna has her own reasons for wishing that certain homosexuals (especially lesbians) could feel more comfortable with their sexuality this could well have been interpreted by a Russian Rihanna fan with tickets to an Olympic event that they should show their adoration for their icon by staging a spontaneous, unilateral gay rights protest.

As such this sequence was included to warn Russian anti-government protesters and Ukrainian anti-government protesters to be very careful about what they read on the Internet because there is a good chance someone is simply making it up to cause trouble. This of course highlights the security threat that Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws pose in the Internet age.

At around 17:05 on 26/2/14 (UK date) we are now on the final stretch but first, for the sake of my sanity I need a little while staring at something that isn't a computer screen.

Edited at around 19:30 on 26/2/14 (UK date) to add;

As the golden galleon made its way across the arena the lighting scheme changed from icy whites and blues to a warmer almost dusty, sandy yellow. After the galleon left the arena we were left with the three Sochi mascots standing in front of a giant version of an Olympic cauldron, flame alight. The fact that the Bear was standing in the centre was a reference to 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic closing ceremony. This was dubbed the "Land of Tears" because its grand finale featured the death of the then Olympic Bear mascot called Misha and saw her being carried off to heaven.

The USA of course boycotted the 1980 Summer games in protest against the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. This was really the first act of heightened American aggression against the Soviet Union during the decade. As anyone who has seen the film "Charlie Wilson's War" starring the recently deceased Phillip Seymour Hoffman knows the USA rapidly followed up the Olympic boycott by supplying weapons and training to a guy called Osama bin Laden so he could fight the Soviet occupation and inflict a defeat on the Soviet Union that was as crushing as the USA's own defeat in Vietnam. To this day people argue about whether the USA took the Land of Tears closing ceremony as sign that certain sections of the Soviet Union weren't as comfortable with the occupation of Afghanistan as others. One thing most people do agree though is that the USA's decision to support Osama bin Laden was short sighted at best.

Through this closing sequence Russia was trying to remind the USA that it fully understands what happens when occupying forces pull out of Afghanistan too early. It also went on to pose the question of why, despite a general global consensus that it is too soon, US President Obama has this amazing confidence that he will be able to pull American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014?

A possible answer to this question was suggested when the Bear who could have been named Misha or another girl's name beginning with M leaned forwards and gently blew on the Olympic cauldron in front of her. At this point the actual Olympic flame atop of the cauldron that was shaped like a giant, erect penis suddenly went out. As she gently raised her head backwards what appeared to be a single tear rolled down the Bear's face and chin.

The lighting scheme in the arena then changed to the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag and attention turned to outside as fireworks went off accompanied by music composed by Peter Tchaikovsky. The Swan Lake composer is of course central to the debate about Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws because if it is illegal to discuss homosexuality is it also illegal to discuss Tchaikovsky? Also if you know what the US has got planned for Rihanna's summer one of Tchaikovsky's other works might spring to mind. Obviously lots of fireworks have become almost compulsory at Olympic ceremonies  and due largely to the efforts of the UK New Years Eve celebrations as well. So I'm pretty sure I heard something similar to a Big Ben chime mixed in with the music. The UK of course likes to accompany it's New Year's Eve fireworks with the chimes of Big Ben and it's latest tacky pop hits.

The firework display ended with a grand aeriel shot of the Olympic park which from that angle seemed to resemble the Palm Islands that Dubai built off it's coast. That could have a reference to Arab Emirate's attention seeking "Worlds Biggest Fireworks Display!" of New Years Eve 2013 or it could have been a little reminder of just who is really behind the current US and UK position on Syria.


20:00 on 26/2/14 (UK date).