The Games People Play
What strange times we live in. In a few days the Beijing Olympics will take place in a country where even the internet is supposedly highly regulated. (Makes me wonder who regulates those spam e-mails I keep getting from Chinese wholesalers.)
For the first time ever websites like Amnesty International are being unbanned all in time for the upcoming Olympics.
I’m not sure who is going to be hit by a culture shock most. Athletes participating in events, surrounded by smog, visitors or the Chinese themselves.
Can you imagine waking up in Beijing after years of having limited internet access and suddenly having to wonder whether you care if Cuil will be the new Google? As if that wasn’t enough to deal with, you get a Facebook account and suddenly realise that you are not your best friend’s only best friend.
If you can drag yourself away from the internet for 2 weeks, there will be images big and small, flashy and static to vie for your attention (and yuan). Ad campaigns from Games sponsors – Adidas, Coca Cola and all the usual suspects trading on the goodwill the Chinese have for all things Olympics.
The Chinese have no idea what they have let themselves in for.
The window of opportunity is two weeks. Two weeks of Facebook.
Two weeks to get the Chinese into Adidas gear. Two weeks to suspend the West’s support for the Tibetans.
Let the Games begin.
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