Broadcaster suspended for calling “Imagine” a “vision of communism”

For better or worse, the Olympics opening ceremony was a topic of conversation… unless you’re the Polish broadcaster who was suspended for talking about it.

There was all sorts of nonsense at the opening ceremony. Sure, Gojira was great, but the Last Supper with drag queens? That was a bit much for the normal person’s taste.

However, Polish radio presenter Przemyslaw Babiarz had a problem with the inclusion of the John Lennon song “Imagine” – not only because the song was vastly overrated, but because, in his opinion, it was a “vision of communism”.

“Unfortunately, this is a vision of communism,” Babiarz said of the song, according to the Associated Press, and that immediately caused a stir in Poland, a country familiar with communism.

But… while I don’t think Lennon necessarily intended this, Babiarz seems to be right in some ways.

The opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris has proven to be extremely controversial for several reasons. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)

A cursory glance at the lyrics—things like “Nothing worth killing or dying for/And no religion, either” and “Imagine having no possessions”—sound like something any college sophomore immersing himself in Marxist ideologies to piss off Mom and Dad would be pretty excited about.

In fact, Lennon essentially confirmed this.

“‘Imagine’, which says ‘Imagine there were no more religion, no more country, no more politics’, is practically the ‘Communist Manifesto,'” Lennon was once quoted as saying in an essay by writer Kenneth Womack. “Even though I am not an outspoken communist and I do not belong to any movement.”

And although Poland is no longer under communist rule, Babiarz’s comments, broadcast by state-run TVP, certainly ended with him receiving a slightly authoritarian punishment for stating an apparent fact: no more Olympics.

“Mutual understanding, tolerance, reconciliation – these are not only the basic ideas of the Olympic Games, but they also form the basis of the standards that guide the new Polish television. There is no consent to violate them.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa… the Olympics are about “mutual understanding, tolerance and reconciliation,” right? Is that why they tried to alienate a very large portion of the global audience by making fun of the Last Supper and replacing Jesus and the apostles with a fat woman and drag performers?

Which principle was it: mutual understanding, tolerance or reconciliation?

I’m just wondering…

Babiarz said nothing wrong. Moreover, you would think that Polish broadcasters would have a better understanding of why someone who presumably grew up under communist rule would be concerned about this kind of ideology seeping into one of the world’s biggest events.

It was more of a moment of discussion, but not the right time to get him to pack his bags.