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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Flame Out

posted by on April 15 at 9:21 AM

The president of the Australian Olympic committee has suggested an end to the tradition of Olympic torch relays as a result of the anti-China protests, freak-outs, and blow-outs that have followed this year’s torch from Greece to Beijing.

And while the flame’s history is weird, having been transported by airplanes, underwater divers, and radio signals (which seems like cheating), it isn’t particularly long or distinguished.

The torch relay got its start here, at the Nazi Olympics, in 1936, as filmed by Leni Riefenstahl.

From the UK Times:

The relay, captured in Leni Riefenstahl’s film, “Olympia”, was part of the Nazi propaganda machine’s attempt to add myth and mystique to Adolf Hitler’s regime. Hitler saw the link with the ancient Games as the perfect way to illustrate his belief that classical Greece was an Aryan forerunner of the modern German Reich.

And a bonus clip, from the 1936 opening ceremonies, in which representatives from countries march into the stadium and either do or do not salute Hitler.

On the don’t-salute list: the U.S. and Japan. Among the Sieg Heil-ers: Italy, Austria, and, um, France:

RSS icon Comments

1

Plus, what's the carbon footprint of that thing?

Posted by elenchos | April 15, 2008 9:25 AM
2

The current round-the-world torch relay goes all the way back to 2004, Athens (since a traditional relay from Athens to Athens would have been stupid). I say kill it. Pomp is smothering the Olympics, anyways; I say kill the opening and closing ceremonies too (except for a daytime march of the athletes).

Posted by Fnarf | April 15, 2008 9:29 AM
3

This tradition just perpetuates the inclination of nationalistic tendencies and detracts from the athletic competition.
Kill it!

Posted by Yep, kill the m-f tradition already | April 15, 2008 9:40 AM
4

Ugh. That second clip might be one of the creepiest things I've ever seen.

Posted by Blacksheep | April 15, 2008 10:11 AM
5

@1 ha! it burns biodisel! it is everything wrong with everything!

Posted by infrequent | April 15, 2008 10:22 AM
6

The Olympics is such a massive distortion of the original games. With he flame ceremony being created by the Nazi Germany as a propaganda move. The rings, though not created by Hitler were promoted by him to the point where we now use them as the Olympic symbol. They never existed in ancient times. But all this history is easily researched online no point in me repeating it here.
It has all become political. The true meaning of the Olympics is propaganda. But most people that just want to be entertained by sports condemn any protests against the Olympics, they see them as the greatest thing ever.
If there was no pomp and spectacle to the games it would be boring. It is boring. Without protests and giant stadiums being built with budgets for safe art the games are just plain bland.
In Beijing there is torture happening on one side of the city and the games happening on the other. In Vancouver Canada there will be half a billion spent on security alone for the winter Olympics in 2010 while on the other side of the city we have one of the worst homeless and drug problems in North America, with very little being done about it except well orchestrated token gestures.
If we had all the money that is being thrown at the Olympics being used for cleaning up our disgraceful homeless situation we would still have some left over to let the world know we did something humane and helped people making Vancouver an even better place to visit. But no we are keeping our homeless and drug problems and throwing money at propaganda like the Olympics.

Posted by -B- | April 15, 2008 10:39 AM
7

I love Olympia for three reasons - even in spite of the wonderful, horrible Leni Riefenstahl. Very, very few - outside of Riefenstahl, Orson Welles and Gregg Toland - have devised such consistently ingenious, original camera angles. This film and Triumph of the Will provides us with a perfect snapshot and an uneasy reminder of that dangerous time. I'm very happy both films exist - although Olympia is a much better film; it's art. Triumph is pure propaganda and therefore tedious. Lastly, after seeing the Finnish team in their sauna and the elegant shots of javelin throwers and shot putter doing their thing in posing straps, I said, "Yep. I'm queer."

Posted by Bauhaus | April 15, 2008 11:06 AM

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