Like many, I was far from excited at the prospect of London 2012, mainly because it was clear this Olympics more than any other before, had been hijacked by huge corporations such as McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Adidas and BP and promised to be a very ugly celebration of capitalism more than anything else. Ironic too, I thought, that these big organisations tend not to embrace the idea of competition in their own field of flogging crap to us...
After a relaxing day spent wandering around Bath in the sunshine, I found myself in a very good mood yesterday evening and thought I'd watch a little of Danny Boyle's opening ceremony before heading off for a shower and early night... I'd heard a bit about the live farm animals and country bumpkin setting and to be honest it all sounded a tad twee... boring even... But nonetheless I thought I'd watch the first ten minutes or so...
Like everyone else of course I remained glued to my sofa for over 3 hours as Boyle's portrayal of everything that has made Britain great, unfolded before our eyes... No glorifying of wars and empire days, instead it was a tribute to the blood, sweat and tears of ordinary working class people whose labour and love has tirelessly strived to improve the society we were born into...
Some Tories were apparently incensed that they seemed to be watching a £27m Labour Party political broadcast - it wasn't of course... if Labour Party broadcasts were as good as this, Labour wouldn't be in opposition and we wouldn't all be suffering in David Cameron's miserable vision of society...
It is fitting that "Danny Boyle" "London2012" and "NHS" have all spent the day trending on twitter and public opinion has been almost unanimously positive of last night's show as people relish the opportunity to unite in a sense of pride and appreciation, made all the more potent against a backdrop of current Conservative cruelty...
For all the opposition to the Coalition's cuts to vital services and benefits, it has sometimes felt like those of us who endeavour to hold the government to account would still struggle to get people out to vote en masse come the next general election... spirits are battered through stress and fatigue and cynicism about politics seems to prevail among the general public...
But last night was a masterclass in how you connect with ordinary people... how you tap into their sense of identity, their values and their dreams and evoke empathy and a deep desire to belong to something they can believe in.
A few weeks ago I tweeted that this Olympics was unlikely to offer us something as magical as the 1968 Black Power Salute...
But last night Danny Boyle used art and culture to enlighten and inspire and unite people across the country... He's probably sealed the fate of the Tories and Lib Dems come May 2015, and they probably know it...
Bless that man, and everyone who played their part in bringing his vision to life.
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