While Metal Insider and metalheads worldwide continue to praise Gojira’s performance during the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, controversy and clashing opinions have emerged from Friday’s (26th) event. Skillet frontman and bassist John Cooper is among the critics. Cooper took to social media, expressing his belief that the ceremony’s portrayal was a parody of The Last Supper, mocking Christianity. He shared a video on Instagram voicing his concerns:
“Hey, guys. What’s up? I’m about to go on stage right here, but my phone’s blowing up from all these people sending me videos of the opening ceremony for the Olympics of insane, crazy stuff because we don’t live in a normal world any longer, okay? For all the people that are always saying it’s so polarized, we gotta get along, everybody stop yelling at each other, we just gotta agree we all want the same things. Do we, though? Do we? Let me explain this to you, this is what tolerance looks like in the new world.
According to all of these global elites that want to change all of Western civilization and remake the world in their image, this is the way tolerance works for them. You sit down to watch the Olympics with your kids. They’re going to start the show with drag queens who come out and mock Christianity. They’re going to mock the number one largest faith in the world. They’re gonna mock it on TV in front of the whole world. The way that tolerance works is this: if you’re sitting with your kids and you go, ‘What the heck’s going on?
I don’t want my kids watching drag queens. That’s not my values.’ If that’s what you say, well, then you’re a bad person. You need to change. You’re old school. You’re the person that is causing all the hate in the world and they gotta shut you up. At the same time, the way tolerance works in the new world is that it’s okay for the drag queens to mock Christianity. Christianity is okay to mock. All right? So they can do whatever they want to, but you can’t. You see, this isn’t normal. This is not normal. It’s not the world that I wanna live in. I don’t think it’s the world that most people in the Western civilization wanna live in. They are, in fact, coming after your kids, because the global elites are perverts. They are coming after your kids. The question is, what are you gonna do about it? Are we gonna stop watching?
Are you gonna stop watching? Say, ‘No, we’re not doing that.’ What in the world does sexuality have to do with the Olympic Games? Can we just leave your sexuality out of the opening for the Olympics? Something we all try to do together around the world, and they make it a celebration of sexuality. That should tell you something. So I reject the new world. I reject their false tolerance. It’s not real tolerance anyway. I reject it and I say this: God will not be mocked. Go for it. Go for it. God will not be mocked. You will reap what you sow. I don’t know about you, but I am not bowing down to this new regime.”
Cooper isn’t alone in his criticism. The Catholic Church in France also condemned the ceremony, as reported by Blabbermouth. On Sunday (28th), Paris Olympics organizers issued an apology for any offense caused. According to Yahoo News, spokeswoman Anne Descamps stated:
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. If people have taken any offense, we are, of course, really, really sorry.”
Despite the controversy, Deadline reports, Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony, denied that the scene featuring drag queens—RuPaul’s Drag Race star Nicky Doll, Drag Race France celebs Paloma and Piche, and dozens of performers—was a rendition of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Jolly emphasized that the tableau was intended to represent Greek mythology.
Jolly explained:
“It’s not my inspiration and that should be pretty obvious. There’s Dionysus arriving on a table. Why is he there? First and foremost because he is the god of celebration in Greek mythology and the tableau is called ‘Festivity.’ He is also the god of wine, which is also one of the jewels of France, and the father of Séquana, the goddess of the river Seine. The idea was to depict a big pagan celebration, linked to the gods of Olympus, and thus the Olympics.”
The Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony featured twelve tableaux highlighting French culture, history, and values. Offbeat France listed the following twelve tableaux consists of 01) Enchanté – a warm welcome; 02) Synchronicity – harmony and unity among nations; 03) Liberty – inspired by the French Revolution; 04) Equality – celebrating gender equality and significant women in French history; 05) Fraternity – brotherhood and solidarity; 06) Sisterhood – achievements of women; 07) Sportsmanship – fair play and camaraderie; 08) Festivity – joyous aspects of French culture; 09) Darkness – reflecting on challenging periods like wars; 10) Solidarity – unity during crises; 11) Solemnity – reflection and remembrance; and 12) Eternity – timeless cultural heritage and values.
Amid the unfolding controversy, one point of agreement between the metal community and the mainstream realm is that Gojira made history with their performance at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. Representing the French Revolution, the group performed “Ah! Ça Ira” with opera singer Marina Viotti, showcasing beheaded figures such as Queen Marie Antoinette. This unforgettable and once-in-a-lifetime performance raised the bar for historical execution portrayals and increased exposure in metal, cementing a monumental new level in Gojira’s career and bringing significant praise to the metal community.
