OPENING CEREMONIES

Victor Bloom MD

The opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City convinced me, as if I ever had any doubt, that our country is the greatest in the world, the greatest in world history. Every aspect of our greatness was evident, from the solemn respect due the tattered World Trade Center flag to the American gold medal hockey team of 1980. That dramatic upset was a bunch of American amateur kids thrown up against a seasoned Soviet team of professionals, which showed that we had the fire, fight and heart that was lacking in communist totalitarianism.

Sure enough, the dramatic ice show, which was in preparation for three years and which was made up of Utah volunteers, featured the symbol of fire, also symbolized by the Olympic flame, embodied in the red-clad young hockey player, carrying a bright lamp. The mythic and magical ice choreography showed him beset by ice storms and monsters, but emerging unscathed, the fire undiminished. This dramatic fairy tale reminds us of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

At first the boy rejected the invitation to perform as a figure skater, thinking it was sissy stuff, but when he saw what was involved he eagerly participated and kept his hockey skates, doing the kind of quick-change hockey moves characteristic of the game, as he skillfully eluded symbolic disaster again and again.

Older, more mature skaters in red came from nowhere, performing greater feats of figure-skating, showing the future potential of the young boy, revealing the true fact that when the fire within does not go out that great things are possible in the future. This elemental truth is true of America and all Americans who have freedom of opportunity. Talented athletes usually reveal their potential at a young age, and Olympic athletes work long and hard to achieve the perfection we have come to expect in Olympic contests.

The show was peopled with hundreds of Utah kids in white costumes, and what with multitudes whirling in dizzying complexity and despite fearsome icicles and multiple snowflakes swirling in dramatic storms, there were no collisions or mishaps. Closeups of the children's faces revealed the awe and wonder of their own participation in this epic performance on ice.

Further development of the ice show revealed the history of America, from the first pioneers who came in covered wagons to the native Americans who were here before them. Despite this history coming in Mormon country, the producers of the show tactfully avoided excess religiosity and instead focussed on the patriotism that draws all Americans together. Symbolic of this unifying theme, the five Utah tribes came together for the first time. The chiefs of the five nations, in full regalia and with tribal drums beating and Indian music playing, blessed the athletes, the games and the greater nation. The five Indian nations united became the five continents united in the Olympic symbol of the five circles overlapping. At least in Olympic sports, there is one world, one family of humankind. The hope remains that people will everywhere see that we are one race, one family of man, abeit with many variants, that can somehow, some day, live together in peace.

Sting sang and Yo-yo Ma played the 'cello, a blend of American and Native music, in such a way that the 50,000 in the stands swayed in unison, each with a light, producing a magical scene of the unifying force of music. The creativity involved was phenomenal and of the highest quality throughout. The next scene showed the pioneers who came in covered wagons and their hoe-down dances were to the tune of Aaron Copland's "Rodeo." Again the faces of the crowd, from oldsters to youngsters were captured, full of awe and wonder. Over a billion people around the world viewed this extravaganza, including soldiers from many countries stationed in Afghanistan, shown being hyped up by the parade of athletes in gorgeous costumes and brilliant colors, marching to the Olympic stadium.

Further American history demonstrating the theme of unity was the gold-spike railroad connection in Utah between the east and the west, bringing about the first transcontinential railroad, further uniting our country. Mock steam engines came from both sides of the stadium, meeting in the center ice.

From the opening "God Bless America," http://www.findsalewatches.com/ by a New York cop and a Black chorus, to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and inspirational music composed and conducted by John Williams of the Boston Pops. and the presence of our president, George Bush and his wife, Laura, the theme was of unity emerging out of diversity. The gold medal winners of the past, carrying the torch, included generations of Olympic athletes, bringing past and present together.

Those who missed the opening ceremonies might be able to order the video, which is well worth watching a second time. I could not help but wonder whether Osama bin Laden was alive somewhere, watching all this, and realizing the magnitude of his fatal miscalculation.

Dr. Bloom is a psychiatrist in Grosse Pointe Park and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry. He welcomes comments to his email address: vbloom@compuserve.com and visitors to his website: www.factotem.com/vbloom.