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GELFAND’S WORLD - We are not Paris and will never be Paris, but we can be Olympic Los Angeles in a way that may be equally appealing. This is the time to concentrate on the task, because the clock is ticking. The first thing to ponder is what went right over the past couple of weeks. We also might want to think about what, if anything, went wrong, but first, we might consider a few of the ancillary benefits of these past two week's games.
The ancillary benefit: We got the chance to be happy and enthusiastic and patriotic -- and we didn't need to dwell on doomsday scenario politicking or on conspiracy theories.
Let me try to explain what I mean by this. We've been through a bout of fear and depression over the specter of the next presidential election, and it's no secret that the fear and doomsday rhetoric is what plays to the Republican side. It turns out that moving the public mood to hope and happiness is an antidote, but it's harder to achieve than one might think. Just calling for an end to "malaise" isn't going to do it -- Jimmy Carter tried, and you know how that turned out. No, the way to turn the emotional tide is to provide something that everyone is happy about. Well, we got it.
When we did think about conspiracy theories (Donald Trump says Kamala invented the 10,000 people who met her at an aircraft hanger) it was only to have fun with them.
We've just had two weeks of American athletes presenting themselves as flag wavers, people who are overjoyed to wear the red, white and blue. They wrapped the flag around their shoulders when they took their victory laps, and they stood for the national anthem when they got their gold medals. It was an expression of the other side of patriotism, the side that celebrates what is worthwhile without supporting that which is vile. It was a remarkable demonstration of American diversity. Who would have imagined that a Hmong-American would be up on the winners' stand at the gymnastic events? And let's give a round of applause to Greatest of All Time Simone Biles for her subtle jab, "I love my black job."
The total effect of these past two weeks was quite the switch from what we've been getting from the war room at Mar a Lago. To dust off the old Hollywood joke, over the past two weeks, Trump couldn't even get himself arrested.
No news was good news in Europe
In a month when the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna were cancelled due to a terrorist threat, the Parisiennes managed to handle hundreds of thousands of spectators and tourists and athletic contingents. There was, I think, a miscalculation in sending swimmers down the Sienne, but we shouldn't have the same problem. We host plenty of triathlon events using beaches facing on the open ocean. Paris could have done something similar, but they seem to have been determined to keep their games in town as much as possible. I don't think we will follow the same script.
The difference between a civilized society and the wild west
One of the more remarkable statements came from an American member of the women's rugby team. She marveled that there was free medical care in the Olympic Village. She could get her teeth checked, and she got glasses. The idea of nationally guaranteed access to health benefits was a new idea to her. We only need maybe another fifty million people having such experiences and we can be civilized too.
The political side of things
One woman was kicked out of the competition for holding up a "Free Afghan Women" message. Even the organizers must have had mixed feelings about taking that action. In the wider sphere, the once-mighty Russian presence was essentially absent. The rest of the world finally got tired of looking the other way to what had become a giant doping scheme, as you can read about here.
The closing ceremony
CNN couldn't have been happier with the closing ceremonies, as you can read here. Myself, I was a little less so, particularly during the scenes where people dressed like they were in space suits (or something) collected 5 giant rings and watched a giant Olympic Ring Symbol form itself in the air above them. Honestly, I've seen too many such displays in opera productions designed by European artists who want to think of themselves as brash and rebellious. Didn't work for me then, and doesn't work for me now. But most of the rest of it was fun, and the part where swimming sensation Leon Marchand ritualistically blew out the Olympic Flame was quietly sad.
So what do we do now?
The Los Angeles planners seem to be most of the way there already, at least in figuring out how to stage the big events. The big shock: They intend to convert Sofi Stadium into a swim arena. We've got the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum -- one time home of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics -- so wouldn't it be a kick if it served a third time for the track and field finals? And then there is the Rose Bowl and a moderate sized stadium in Carson and a couple of major league baseball stadiums. This is why we were able to bid on the 2028 games -- because we don't face ten billion dollars in construction costs.
We've got to find or build sites for all of the other sports, but we have basketball arenas to spare, a seacoast, and sheltered harbors for sailing.
The cultural side of things
One local booster, while being interviewed on American television, referred to Los Angeles as the cultural capital. This has become an old boast, and was originally based on our preeminence in movie and television production. There is, even now, a point to this claim, but it has its limits, the main one being that cultural invention is something that happens behind the walls of giant media companies. Opening up the film business to visitors during the 2028 games would help. Here's a radical idea: Encourage location filming and television production on our streets for the period of the games, but arrange for tourist accommodations at each such location.
And that leads to another suggestion.
The word Hollywood conjures up a vision of filmmaking, and within this vision there are all the old mental images of wannabe actors and actresses getting off the bus from Nebraska and Iowa. There is the image of Harold Lloyd hanging from a clock, way up the side of a downtown building. There was 77 Sunset Strip. The problem is that Los Angeles does not merchandise its film history the way it might. It's both a problem and a major possibility for LA2028.
We need to figure out a way to catalog the many historic locations (like that stairway where they pushed the piano to the top) and then to mark them for our 2028 visitors. Do you realize how many times (starting in 1911) the Incline in Santa Monica has appeared in films? Sunset Boulevard? Sierra Madre?
If we were to develop this historical story both as a tourist attraction and because it is worthwhile in and of itself, we would do a lot to make Los Angeles more hospitable as a tourist attraction for the next couple of generations.
We could wrap the whole package up in a nice bow for the LA2028 festivities: Let's show the Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin masterpieces complete with live musical accompaniment for our visitors, and then provide the Hollywood walking tour of the locations where they were filmed. None of these things would be hard to do. The challenge is to put them together and deliver.
And finally, let's get a dump truck, fill it with giant pods, and have a few actors standing around staring blankly. Hand curious visitors a pod and warn them not to fall asleep. That location would become the selfie capital of the world for two weeks.
(Bob Gelfand writes on science, culture, and politics for CityWatch. He can be reached at [email protected].)
