Would The £20M Spent On This Over The Top Opening Ceremony Been Better Donated To The Charity It Supports, That Being Unicef?

[anotheoldgit]

And was all this at all necessary?

/// BARROWMAN'S GAY KISS ///

/// John Barrowman, the Scottish-American actor, singer, dancer and presenter, kissed one of the performers during the ceremony. ///

/// In what was seen as a clear message to the 42 countries of the Commonwealth where it is still a crime to be gay, Glasgow-born Barrowman reached out to kiss the man before holding his hand during a sequence to celebrate Gretna Green. ///

/// Craig Drummond tweeted: ‘It makes me strangely proud to be Scottish that John Barrowman can kiss a man on live tv.’ ///

/// Barrowman is openly gay and married. ///

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2703216/Tunnocks-Tea-Cakes-Irn-Bru-Forth-Bridge-Gretna-Green-Glasgow-opens-Commonwealth-Games-world-Scottish-flavour.html

[Gromit]

They'll probably recoup that much on TV rights alone.

It's a celebration of the Commonwealth, you know, what used to be the British Empire - I'd have thought you linguistic types would be proud.

[Gromit]

// A £52m boost to Scotland's economy and 1000 jobs on average in each of the past six years have come from building and revamping venues for the Commonwealth Games, according to a new report.

The Scottish Government published the findings on Monday, which also showed £313m worth of contracts procured to date, of which 82% have been secured by Scottish companies. //

[anotheoldgit]

Gromit

Sorry I thought it was just about sport.

[sp1814]

AOG

It would be an interesting proposal - to kick off a major sporting event with an announcement that rather than spending money on a spectacle, all monies would instead be sent to charity.

I *could* work, but I suspect that many viewers would feel short-changed, opening ceremonies are enjoyed by millions around the world, and have a cultural point to make about the host country.

As for the Barrowman kiss...weren't male and female couples kissing at the Gretna Green section? If so, then Barrowman's shouldn't be an issue. I mean, it was a two second kiss in a broadcast which lasted 4hrs 40mins.

That means that the gay kiss constituted 0.012% of the broadcast time. I wonder why anyone would be bothered by this, unless they would want gay men banned from public displayed of affection?

Like the 42 countries of the Commonwealth where this would lead to a jail sentence. Not sure if the majority of the country want to head in that direction.

...or I might be wrong. Who knows nowadays...?

[factor-fiction]

I don't see a problem with Gromit's answer.

[sp1814]

AOG

Very few sporting events are just about sport.

They are also about national pride, culture, score-settling etc.

[factor-fiction]

It's better to have a ceremony and a Games that people are talking about than one that slips by quietly without many people even reallsing it was taking place

[Gromit]

I watched about 2 minutes of the ceremony (was it really 4 hours long?)

I was not impressed. Every stereotype of Scotland and Scotsman were represented. It seemed really cliched. Or did it get better?

[marje]

I only saw a bit of the OC and I thought I saw John Barrowman kiss another man. Didn't bother me at all, but then I do like JB.

[DrFilth]

> That means that the gay kiss constituted 0.012% of the broadcast time. I wonder why anyone would be bothered by this, unless they would want gay men banned from public displayed of affection? <

sp1814 if any member did post an objectionable post about it they would be hounded off the site as they must be homophobic

[ummmm]

I think it was a great move. The UK don't persecute people because of their sexual orientation and they showed the world that.

[ummmm]

It was a snog....it was a peck!

[ummmm]

*wasn't

[sp1814]

DrFilth

No they wouldn't.

No-one actually gets hounded off AB. If they break AB's rules, then their account is terminated.

Someone is free to post, "Urgh...two men kissing at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony...no thanks".

If they did, they would be slated by some and supported by others.

I don't think we should necessarily support persecution complexes.

[DrFilth]

the mob would descend on them sp1814 if they gave a negative answer be honest

[sp1814]

Yes, but the nature of AB, is that a number of members would express equal and opposite views.

That's what debate is all about. I think we should recognise that.

[ummmm]

Aren't we all grown ups?

[DTCwordfan]

Unicef would probably pish it away to begin with. How many corrupt regimes to they have to pay off?

What's the hoo haa over Barrowman, AOG, you being homophobic again? Surely not.... Now the Commonwealth know that Scots kiss each other, so what? Probably just as well the Games were not in Cardiff or Aberystwyth given the woollies in Wales.

[Zeuhl]

/Sorry I thought it was just about sport. /

Demonstrably aog, your understanding of major events (sporting or otherwise)is severely limited.

I suppose you complained about the pomp and ceremony of the Coronation, wasn't it just about signing on a new monarch?

[hc4361]

Hurrah! for John Barrowman, I say. Which is a very rare thing for me as I am no fan of his.

It is FAR more shocking that being gay is a crime in 42 Commonwealth countries.