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Brazilians were figuring out that no one cared about what was being done to their country to facilitate a football tournament. Local outrage was decent tabloid fodder in the absence of anything better to talk about (doomsaying ranks just below triumphs of the will and tragic pets in the news-cycle hierarchy). Once there was a game to focus on, everyone stopped pretending to give a damn.
The World Cup came off without incident. It wasn’t an inspired event, on the field or off. But I suppose you can’t expect too much for $19-billion these days.
Once we left, things apparently got much worse for the average Brazilian. Freed to talk among themselves, the complaining began again.
This is the peak of the catastrophism. If you scanned the headlines to create a Hollywood pitch line for Rio right now, it’d be “Children of Men” meets “The Beach” (with a small taste of “The Human Centipede”).
Nothing will work. Some of us will die. None of those who go will ever again have children.
Here’s soccer legend Rivaldo’s note of welcome: “I advise everyone with plans to visit Brazil for the Olympics in Rio – to stay home. You’ll be putting your life at risk here.”
This hyperbolic nonsense is an understandable effect of political delirium. It creates an expectation of chaos that – short of civil war – won’t materialize. And so people lose interest in it almost immediately.
Instead, the public loves the absurd details and small screw-ups. The “How many toilets can you put in one bathroom stall?” stories. In Sochi, they became their own sub-genre. But they aren’t invested in the big ideas. Why would they be? They aren’t Brazilians. They’ve got their own problems.
The locals are all out banging their metaphoric pots at the moment, but that will stop as soon as the Opening Ceremonies begin. This is where decorum takes over. It’s one thing to make fun of yourselves. It’s less amusing to see yourself become a figure of ridicule in the global community. The on-the-ground theme of the first three days of any Olympics is “How are we going over?” All that’s required to snap Rio residents back into line is an index of the world’s mocking headlines.
As such, it isn’t money that keeps the Olympics afloat. It’s societal pressure to show well to the world. And also money.
No matter how shoddy the facilities are, most athletes won’t complain about them because most athletes don’t complain. They know it only makes them sound like sore losers.
The violence is never as advertised because it’s easy to stop in the short term. You flood the streets with troops and enlist local gangs in your marketing campaign. Just because they’re criminals, doesn’t mean they aren’t patriots as well.
Zika is a mosquito-borne flu and nothing more. It’s winter in Rio. Nobody’s going to get it and, by week two, no one will remember why they were so worried.
Will everything work? Probably not. That was the obvious sub-text of the recent announcement that organizers have run out of money – “Don’t expect much.” I have visions of hitchhiking to the modern pentathlon.
But that’s all behind the scenes. On TV, it’ll look great. Which is all that matters.
Despite bankruptcy, calamity, national states of emergency, plague, violence and the filthy water, I am fully confident that Rio 2016 will be a wonderful success when viewed from the only perspective that matters – your couch.
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