The Tonal Whiplash of the 2024 Olympics
Lockdowns, predators, racism, antisemitism and homophobia… but go team USA, right?
When I fired up the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, I was relieved when host Mike Tirico recognized that this gathering, meant to bring the world a few weeks of joy and excitement, comes at a crucial time, with conflicts boiling around the globe and political unrest in many countries. I assumed that having acknowledged the framework, NBC would feel absolved from having to recognize the ensuing events as anything other than celebratory. I was wrong.
“This is all playing out over such a large area across Paris, understandably there’s been a massive security effort,” Tirico explained minutes into the broadcast, where he was joined by Kelly Clarkson and Peyton Manning.
“This area has been on lockdown all week. We were reminded why this morning, with people here waking up to the news of coordinated arson attacks on high-speed railway lines north and west of here which disrupted travel in France.”
Then, immediately, a quick dissolve ushered in the Olympic theme song and we cut to shots of athletes making heart hands and waving enthusiastically at the camera. “And so with all that as a backdrop, the athletes are prepared for their journey down the Seine as we get closer to the opening ceremony here in Paris.” And just like that… we’d flipped in a single sentence from coordinated attacks to heart hands without missing a beat.
I was immediately reminded of one of my favorite examples of an abrupt tonal shift.