Impossible is Nothing

I once took in a lecture about the use of religious and mythological symbolism as employed by Nazi propaganda. I realize that in saying this I sound better educated than you. I don't know if that's true or not, and in all honesty, my life isn't that exciting. It just sounds it. Back to the point. Here in Beijing the Olympics are coming. I know that the whole world knows this to be true because of some random news story here or there. It is my reality. I've never been to an Olympic city before the event, but at the current rate of advertising and excitement, the city will be re-fashioned from a single set of concentric rings to a chain of five interlinking circles with cartoon characters super-imposed over them on metro maps. There is an Olympic merchandise retail outlet on every street corner. You can get key chains and coffee cups and toenail clippers and scale replicas of the Olympic venues. I kid you not. And it's all over-priced and slightly tacky. This is what we call "Olympic Fever" and generally follow with copious exclamation points. I have noticed lately that there is an advertising campaign by Adidas that shows Chinese Olympians poised to win gold in their respective sports. One of the most prevalent in this series is a diver. This diver is poised to jump from a height like a normal high dive, except this one is built out of Chinese people who are holding him up. There he stands, spread eagle atop a mountain of his countrymen. He is a be-Speedoed Christ figure bringing glory and honor to the host country as his duty commands. I wonder at the subconsious workings of a proclaimed atheistic culture. Religious symbolism is still heavily employed.

There is something about human nature.

T