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The 2012 Olympic Games in London were a unique opportunity for staging a favourable version of the British metropolis to a global audience. Looking at the representation of London in the light of recent strategies of city branding, this article will focus on the portrayal of London in the Olympic Opening Ceremony. It will investigate three particular segments of the TV broadcast: the introductory clip ‘Journey along the Thames,’ the short film ‘Happy and Glorious’ and the clip showing the arrival of the Olympic torch, ‘There is a Light that Never Goes Out.’ I will analyse how visual image, sound and the narrative approach of the BBC commentators work together to create an impression of the capital as a source of pleasurable spectacle and also how these representations can be regarded as hegemonic ways of ‘reading’ the city as a coherent entity, emulating the common strategies of city branding and its aim of creating a ‘unique’ brand. Finally, the article will show how all three clips together convey an image of the city that supports the accelerated international promotion of London as a ‘global city’ and that corresponds to the neoliberal mantra of the boundless circulation of capital, goods and labour.
The 2012 Olympic Games in London were a unique opportunity for staging a favourable version of the British metropolis to a global audience. Looking at the representation of London in the light of recent strategies of city branding, this article will focus on the portrayal of London in the Olympic Opening Ceremony. It will investigate three particular segments of the TV broadcast: the introductory clip ‘Journey along the Thames,’ the short film ‘Happy and Glorious’ and the clip showing the arrival of the Olympic torch, ‘There is a Light that Never Goes Out.’ I will analyse how visual image, sound and the narrative approach of the BBC commentators work together to create an impression of the capital as a source of pleasurable spectacle and also how these representations can be regarded as hegemonic ways of ‘reading’ the city as a coherent entity, emulating the common strategies of city branding and its aim of creating a ‘unique’ brand. Finally, the article will show how all three clips together convey an image of the city that supports the accelerated international promotion of London as a ‘global city’ and that corresponds to the neoliberal mantra of the boundless circulation of capital, goods and labour.
Abstract
In January 2013, a YouTube video of an alleged ‘Muslim Patrol’ on the streets of London’s East End stirred a heated debate on urban space and its nature. Studies on the existence and resistance of diasporic communities in the cities of the West have focused overwhelmingly on aspects of discrimination and institutional or outright racism. However, the relationship between these migrant communities and increasingly visible ‘sexual minorities’ in urban Britain as well as media representations of this relationship has not been explored so far. The paper aims to examine the representation of contested urban space in one of the videos by the self-acclaimed ‘Muslim Patrol’ and then focus on one prominent media response to the phenomenon of religious homophobia, a BBC clip featuring gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. Combining insights from postcolonial and from cultural studies, it will pay particular attention to the mediation of ethnic and sexual Otherness, to the role of web 2.0 in staging urban protest and reflect on the ambiguous, multi-faceted nature of the concept of ‘resistance’ in this context.
Abstract
In January 2013, a YouTube video of an alleged ‘Muslim Patrol’ on the streets of London’s East End stirred a heated debate on urban space and its nature. Studies on the existence and resistance of diasporic communities in the cities of the West have focused overwhelmingly on aspects of discrimination and institutional or outright racism. However, the relationship between these migrant communities and increasingly visible ‘sexual minorities’ in urban Britain as well as media representations of this relationship has not been explored so far. The paper aims to examine the representation of contested urban space in one of the videos by the self-acclaimed ‘Muslim Patrol’ and then focus on one prominent media response to the phenomenon of religious homophobia, a BBC clip featuring gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell. Combining insights from postcolonial and from cultural studies, it will pay particular attention to the mediation of ethnic and sexual Otherness, to the role of web 2.0 in staging urban protest and reflect on the ambiguous, multi-faceted nature of the concept of ‘resistance’ in this context.