CATHOLIC
HERALD
Drag
queen confirms it was a parody of Last Supper despite Olympic committee’s claim
Artists who participated in the parody sketch at
the heart of mounting controversy over the opening ceremony to the Paris
Olympics have confirmed that the performance was intended to imitate Leonardo
da Vinci’s famed painting of the Last Supper.
The confirmation was made in online social media
posts and in comments to the press, and goes against the explanation offered by
the Paris Olympics’ organising committee that the controversial scene was an
“interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus [that] makes us aware of the
absurdity of violence between human beings”.
RELATED: Olympics’ organisers offer half apology over Last Supper
controversy
The French drag queen and rapper known as Piche
from the show Drag Race France spoke to French media, saying
the intention was to create a tableau of the Last Supper.
“I received a lot of messages of support and people
who were very happy that I was there and very surprised that there were drag
queens at the opening ceremony,” he said, adding the opposition to the
performance indicates that “we’ve succeeded and we’ve done what had to be done,
that we’ve been fair and representative”.
“Art always divides. As long as it doesn’t move
people, it’s not art for me,” he said, arguing that the parody of the Last
Supper “is not a provocation” as “it’s a biblical representation that has been
reused in pop culture for decades and it’s never really been a problem”.
“There were no real provocations or anything that
was truly obscene. We didn’t make fun of the painting at all…it’s really just
because it’s queers and drag queens who use that representation that it
bothers,” he said.
Similarly, Barbara Butch, a lesbian who donned a
silver aureole halo crown headdress and low-cut dress while portraying the
figure of Jesus in the Last Supper sketch, said the opening ceremony was
intended to bring people together.
According to her Instagram profile, Butch is “a
Love activist, Dj and producer based in Paris. My aim is to unite people,
gather humans & share love through music for all of Us to dance & make
our hearts beat (in unison)! Music sounds better with all of Us!”
Butch posted a screenshot image of her performance
in the Last Supper parody above an image of Da Vinci’s original painting to her
Instagram account with the comment, “Oh yes! Oh yes! The new gay testament!”
The post was subsequently deleted.
RELATED: EDITORIAL: Not clever; not funny; just crass
The French Bishops Conference released a statement saying that while the
ceremony “offered the world a marvellous display of beauty and joy, rich in
emotion and universally acclaimed”, it also “unfortunately included scenes of
mockery and derision of Christianity, which we deeply regret”.
“We are thinking of all the Christians on every
continent who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain
scenes”, the bishops say, adding that “we want them to understand that the
Olympic celebration goes far beyond the ideological biases of a few artists”.
Photo: The Last Supper parody sketch during the Paris Olympic Games’ opening
ceremony, with Piche on the far right and Barbara Butch in centre of image;
screenshot from @libsoftiktok.
Has the C of E made any protest about this? Oops! silly me. Of course not.
ReplyDeleteMary Winterbourne.
Of course the C of E will not complain. Just as they never protested about the existence of the Paedophile Information Exchange. You might as well ask Detterling and his ilk to complain about this blasphemy.
ReplyDeleteTony of the Big Saloon
I have been waiting to see if a single Christian athlete would pack up and go home in protest of the satanic, Christ-mocking opening ceremony. It looks like I’m going to wait in vain. My friends say, “But the athletes have been working for this their whole lives and they shouldn’t be punished for this debauchery."
ReplyDeleteA wise friend of mine, whose world is right-side up, said, “Maybe they have been working their entire lives to have the opportunity to walk out and thereby stand up for God.”
Sugarboy Nando