If you have read the blogs from Candice or Sumit from this week, you’ll know how much I love the Olympics. Like I ****ing love the Olympics. I love the ideal of the world coming together to celebrate athleticism and sportsmanship. I love the patriotic pride that follows Olympians like Simone Biles or Michael Phelps. And I love watching people younger than me be more successful than I’ll ever be. 🙂
For the opening of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, I’ve been getting in the mindset for weeks. I bought a full size Olympic flag, got cable television so I watch it live, and told pretty much everybody about my excitement. The Opening Ceremonies from these games did not disappoint at all. From bad-ass puppets to augmented reality to thousands of synchronized drones to adorable children, the ceremonies were at once awe-inspiring and reservedly tasteful. The real MVPs of the night were the group of dancers who had to keep grooving the entire 2-hour parade of nations without missing a beat (http://time.com/5142772/opening-ceremony-dancers/) (Links to an external site.).
The most politically noteworthy event surrounding the Olympics was the joint delegation of North and South Korea. The athletes from these countries marched in under a unified Korean flag and will compete side-by-side. In fact, two women from the joint Korean hockey team ceremonially carried the Olympic torch up a flight of stairs. While the joint delegation seems like a step in the right direction of peace between the Koreas, I think it just masks some of the underlying issues. You cannot have a reasonable discussion about the politics of North Korea without thinking about the human’s rights abuses that occur there. While it seems like North Korea is simply trying to be a player on the world stage, acknowledging North Korea as a legitimate government and equal comes at the expense of the country’s people. If we say, “Hey North Korea – you’re chill. Come trade and negotiate with us.”, we turn a blind eye to how the country denials all basic rights and threatens murder, enslavement, imprisonment, rape, and sexual violence. While this Olympic diplomacy looks good on paper, it really just serves to normalize North Korea and implicitly legitimize the abuses.
Regardless of the political consequences of these Olympic games, I intend to watch as much of it as possible. So, if you feel like watching the US compete in luge, ice dance, or alpine skiing, hit me up – I’m always down!
EDIT – At the time that I am posting the blog to Sites, it seems like Trump will be meeting with Kim Jong Un sometime in the next couple months, which does exactly which I fear: legitimizing North Korea as a reasonable country. Sad!
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