The 2018 Winter Para-Olympics: Opening Ceremony.

On March 9th (9/3/18) the 2018 Winter Para-Olympics opened in PyeongChang in the Republic of Korea (RoK/South).

It opened with the traditional Opening Ceremony.

In writing about things like Olympic ceremonies and the Eurovision Song Contest I do worry that I seem to be creating rules of what they should contain. This places an expectation on people who participate in them in the future limiting their creativity.

Generally speaking though Olympic Opening Ceremonies are used to introduce and welcome visitors to the host nation. They then make some attempt to set the agenda of the topics to be discussed during the games.

The 2018 Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony introduced some extremely heavy topics. Such as;

The ancient history of the Korean Peninsula. Particularly the Unified Three Kingdoms of Korea period from 57 B.C to 668 A.D.

This topic touches on the Korean people's relationship with the Chinese people. In particular the Chinese Tang Dynasty's role in unifying the Three Kingdoms and the Korean's betrayal of the Tang Dynasty through the creation of; "Balhae." Within the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

Korea's traditional Animist religions such as Taoism and Buddhism. It compared these to the Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Islam. In part to highlight how more complex Animist religions are to understand because they lack a codified belief system.

How these Animist religious beliefs have mixed with local folklore to create things like the Four Guardians explanation of the solar system and various Creation Myths. This in turn contrasts with the Mount Paektu Bloodline Creation Myth which the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) system of government is based upon.

Existential philosophy. A topic which by its nature is impossible to define.

Korean Unification. As an existential concept.

The Closing Ceremony also introduced a pair of very complex topics;

The RoK's falling birth rate sometimes referred to as the; "Birth Strike." It looked at the socioeconomic drivers behind this phenomenon. Such as the RoK's highly competitive childhood education system and its equally competitive system of adult employment. Along with women's changing role in society.

Advanced Physics. Particularly the similarity between the relatively new concept of Unified Quantum Field Theory and the ancient Animist belief of the Wu Xing. Five essential elements which make up everything and strive to exist in balance and harmony with each other.

Other Olympic ceremonies have touched on the topic of advanced physics. However the 2018 Closing Ceremony drilled down into very specific concepts. Such as Wave-Particle Duality, Time Dilation and the Doppler Effect.

I just about remember studying Wave-Particle Duality at High School. That section of the course lasted for about a month.

The Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony didn't really introduce fresh topics. Instead it referenced the topics raised in the 2018 Olympic ceremonies. So they could be discussed again at the Para-Olympics.

Rather than not bothering for the Para-Olympics this seemed to be a deliberate effort by the South Koreans to establish parity between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics. It makes the Para-Olympics an extension of the Olympics rather than a separate event.

For example if you were introduced to the concept of Wave-Particle Duality at the Olympic Closing Ceremony and have spent the past two weeks reading up on it. Well the chances are that you're only now ready to start discussing it with other people.

What's a TV Anyway?: 

One prime example of the inferior way that the Para-Olympics are treated compared to the Olympics is the lack of TV coverage.

The Olympics are a massive global event. The Opening and Closing ceremonies are broadcast live by many broadcasters in most nations on Earth. By contrast Britain's Channel 4 is one of only a handful of broadcasters who showed the Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony live.

During the Olympic ceremonies extra efforts have to be made so all these different broadcasters can calibrate and synchronise their coverage.

This is completely absent at Para-Olympic ceremonies. As almost the sole broadcaster I'm pretty sure Channel 4 could get the hosts to move the ceremonies so the fitted in with its scheduling.

As a result the overwhelming majority of people who watched the Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony would have done so online. Streaming it from the Paralympic website.

This cuts out the middlemen of the broadcasters. So rather then having to coordinate the presenters and the pre-show programming the stream of the ceremony starts about 15 minutes before. Then people keep half an eye on it until the show actually starts.

To highlight this the South Korean host broadcaster provided quite an interesting stream. Rather than say a fixed shot of the outside of the arena they had multiple cameras showing the inside of the arena. So you got to see people taking their seats etc giving you a good idea of the atmosphere.

The irony is that while the International Paralympic Committee (IPC)  have been trying to get more TV broadcasters to show their events the role of TV broadcasters has dramatically decreased.

People who work in the media no longer talk in terms of; "TV Programs" but of; "Media Content." The way that people consume that media content is increasingly been done through Internet streaming.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics the International Olympic Committee (IOC) launched its own Internet streaming service - the; "Olympics Channel." The 2018 Winter Games were the first games where this service was up and running.

As no doubt people on the Korean Peninsula have heard I've recently got into the world on Internet streaming. Through a Roku box which sits on my desk/TV stand. About the size of a big button this connects my TV to the Internet.

I was contemplating using this to watch some of the Olympics and Para-Olympics. However I can't because of a flaw in the IOC and IPC's business model.

Like many Internet enabled TV's a Roku box doesn't allow you to use the Internet through a browser.

Instead it allows you use Apps which use certain parts of the Internet. Without a browser you can only use Apps which are available through the service provider - in my case Roku - market place.  The Olympic Channel app is not available in that market place. I don't think the IPC even have an App.

The challenge for content providers such as the IOC and the IPC now seems to be to get their Apps included in the service providers market place. It is unlikely they'll provide this service for free giving the service providers a great deal of control over content.

Particularly in the US they're currently trying to increase their level of control even further by ending the concept of net neutrality. This will allow Internet Service Providers (ISP) to speed up or slow down the content depending on how much the content providers are prepared to pay for using a particular service provider.

I suppose I could watch the Para-Olympics on Channel 4's online streaming platform which is available on the Roku market place.

Unfortunately Channel 4 is run by Totalitarian Capitalists. They are utterly obsessed with control.

So Channel 4's online streaming platform is unique amongst free-to-air UK streaming platforms. It requires you to register handing over a great deal of personal information. Which the UK government owned Channel 4 will no doubt use for some sinister purpose.

Like all Totalitarian Capitalists Channel 4 is also utterly obsessed by the; "Nudge Theory" of economics put forward by 2017 Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler.

So rather than allowing me to make the free choice to watch the Para-Olympics online Channel 4 have decided to try and nudge me into it.

This has involved shutting down their High Definition (HD) channels and only offering HD programming online.

Particularly targeting the new season of the US TV show; "Homeland" the intention being to force me to sign up to their online streaming platform to watch things in HD. It would certainly be nice to see the end of an episode.

However much like the Totalitarian female Democrat Party President in Homeland Channel 4 really need to learn that they can't bully and trick their way into getting what they want.

The Countdown:

At the Olympic ceremonies the main way that broadcasters calibrate and synchronise their coverage is through the video countdown.

A short video sequence counts down the seconds with numerals showing 10 to 1. This allows continuity editors to know exactly how long they've got before they need to switch from the studio feed to the arena feed.

However as broadcast technology has improved the job of continuity editor has almost completely disappeared. It has been replaced almost entirely by computerised systems.

As a result this video countdown has become less and less important to the broadcast.

It has always been almost entirely irrelevant at the Para-Olympics.

There are so few broadcasters their coverage can be coordinated by the conference call between the continuity editors and the ceremony director. Even the broadcasters which do show the ceremony live don't do so with the same level of studio package provided to the Olympics.

It is though tradition. So many host nation's have taken to making the countdown sequence part of the ceremony itself.

The South Koreans did though include a short video sequence and a semi-separate countdown.

The video sequence featured lots of people with physical impairments and the equipment they use to overcome those impairments to participate in winter sports.

So for example you saw a man pulling on a prosthetic leg. A child wearing a prosthetic leg in the shower. A woman with only one arm, the other amputated at the shoulder exercising in a gym. You also saw an able bodied downhill skier directly followed by footage of a Sit-Skier to highlight the contrast.

A large part of the Para-Olympics is to promote disability rights. This involves lots of discussion about the different types of physical impairments that affect people, how they affect people and what can be done to overcome those limitations.

Also the Para-Olympics is not as high profile as the Olympics. So every Para-Olympic games has to serve as a sort of introduction to people who are watching disability sport for the first time and often encountering the types of physical impairments for the first time.

So invariably you have to spend some time answering the stupid questions and explaining all the complex jargon.

Such as that the woman with one arm in the gym is referred to as; "A single above elbow amputee" and that Sit Skiers have some level of impairment in their lower limbs. So they compete by sitting in type of wheelchair which is attached to skis rather than wheels.

The video also featured lots of shots of South Korea's natural environment while introducing us to the main theme. The rising temperature as show by a thermometer.

This can be taken on a number of levels.

Although these are the Winter Para-Olympics it is March now which is really the start of spring in the RoK. One of the features of the Wu Xing mentioned earlier is that it signifies the different seasons. However there are five elements to the Wu Xing but only four seasons.

The fifth element of the Wu Xing; "Earth" represented by the colour Yellow represents that time between the seasons. So I suppose you could really describe these as the; "Earth Games." Occurring as they do not quite in winter but not quite in spring either.

The issue of rising temperature could also be taking as a reference to Climate Change and Global Warming. As home to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) the RoK is a key nation in the fight against Climate Change. Even if through the Paris Agreement every other nation has already surrendered.

It could also be taken as a reference to the political temperature rising. It is traditional that the Olympics are used by a variety of nations to bring up a variety of political topics. A small number of those topics are then taken forward to the Para-Olympics to be discussed in a lot of detail. So it's at the Para-Olympics the heated arguments and fights start to break out.

At one point the video featured footage of a wind turbine. I think this was the same footage of a wind turbine used during the Olympic ceremonies. However the footage had been speeded up so the wind turbine was shown spinning really, really fast.

This seemed to be a reference to the joke the weather seemed to play on the organisers during the Olympics.

The Korean Peninsula and therefore these games are still stuck in the Cold War era. During the Olympics the weather seemed keen to emphasise this point.

Initially the weather was very, very COLD. When winter sport athletes are complaining about the cold you know its a bit chilly. When winter sport athletes from Canada's arctic north are complaining about how cold it is you know it is really cold.

After the cold the weather decided to focus on the WAR. Explosively high winds caused many events to be delayed and some of the venues to be closed entirely.

The video sequence ended with a flaming Ice Hockey puck being struck by a Sledge Hockey player.

These are people with lower limb impairments who play Ice Hockey by sitting on a sledge. The propel themselves around by using spikes attached to the pair of sticks they use. It's as if someones looked at the already violent sport of Ice Hockey and gone;

"Do you know what this needs?! Spears!"

The hockey puck then seemed to break free of the video and enter the arena.

Light projection showed it tearing a fiery path down the ramp from the Cauldron to the arena floor. It's path was marked in the red of the thermometer shown in the video. When it arrived in the Taoist circle at the centre of the arena floor that circle became the thermometer's reservoir.

Within the reservoir English numerals appeared counting down from 10 to 1. If you wanted to know how those numbers are pronounced in Korean you only needed to listen to the crowd.

As the countdown reached zero light appeared to make ice crack across the arena.

I have to say that the lighting display used throughout the ceremony and in particular in this sequence was extremely impressive.

The arena has no roof. However they seemed to created a roof of lights. The lights being in the colour of the Wu Xing.

Introductions & Handshakes:

It is IPC protocol that each Opening Ceremony features a short sequence in which VIP's are welcomed into the arena.

This normally includes the Head of Government/State of the host nation. In this case South Korean President Moon Jae-in. It also includes the Head of the IPC. In this case Andrew Parsons who was appointed in September 2016.

At the Olympic Opening Ceremony this segment of was dramatic. It featured the first handshake between a sitting South Korean President and a member of North Korea's fabled Mount Paektu Bloodline. In the form of Kim Yo-jong.

At the Para-Olympics this segment was back to being traditionally dull.

The only thing of note was the IOC President Thomas Bach was in attendance. A further gesture of parity and equality between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics.

Also it was South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Not South Korean President Park Guen-hye.

Park Guen-hye was deposed in 2016 after faking claims of foreign interference to rig South Korea's 2012 election.


18:40 on 10/3/18 (UK date).