"... to celebrate the 'Breaking Bad' TV series.... Local politicians including Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller mixed with 'Breaking Bad' stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and director Vince Gilligan to help unveil the artwork, donated by Gilligan and Sony Pictures.... Gilligan said he recognized that the statues of 'two fictional, infamous meth dealers' won’t be universally cherished in New Mexico.
'In all seriousness, no doubt some folks are going to say, "Wow, just what our city needed." And I get that,' Gillian said. 'I see two of the finest actors America has ever produced. I see them, in character, as two larger-than-life tragic figures, cautionary tales.'... Republican state Rep. Rod Montoya of Farmington said... 'I’m glad New Mexico got the business, but really?... We’re going down the road of literally glorifying meth makers?'
He also questioned the logic of the tribute after Albuquerque in June 2020 removed a statue of Spanish conqueror Juan de Oñate.
Demonstrators tried to topple that bronze artwork in denunciation of Oñate’s brutal treatment of Native Americans roughly 500 years ago. A fight that broke out at the protest resulted in gunfire that injured one man."
It's questionable to put up a sculpture showing
fictional characters who were not virtuous. I'm trying to think of other public monuments to fictional characters. There's
the Rocky statue at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Various
Paul Bunyan statues. There's
Eleanor Rigby somewhere in Liverpool. They've got
Don Quixote at the Kennedy Center in Washington. These are more or less good guys. Nothing like meth dealers.
How different is a real historical figure?
What Oñate did actually happened (way back in 1599):
Following a dispute that led to the ambush and death of thirteen Spaniards at the hands of the Ácoma, including Oñate's nephew, Juan de Zaldívar, Oñate ordered a brutal retaliation against Acoma Pueblo. The Pueblo was destroyed. Around 800–1000 Ácoma were killed.
Of the 500 or so survivors, at a trial at Ohkay Owingeh, Oñate sentenced most to twenty years of forced "personal servitude" and additionally mandated that all men over the age of twenty-five have a foot cut off. Recent research has indicated that there is no evidence of this happening and that, at most, the prisoners lost some toes. This latter theory makes sense, for losing toes rather than a whole foot left the prisoners useful as servants.
In Oñate's personal journal, he specifically refers to the punishment of the Acoma warriors as cutting off "las puntas del pie" (the points of the foot, the toes). He was eventually banished from New Mexico and exiled from Mexico for five years, convicted by the Spanish government of using "excessive force" against the Acoma people....
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Whenever the anti-Christian bigot left mock Christians - remember this is a large reason why.
Worshiping actors. The left love to worship actors. Actors are the golden calves of the modern age.
Also the left: Removing history and replacing it with Hollywood trivia.
Watch any American TeeVee quiz show like Jeopardy --> there are hardly any questions about history anymore. It's all Hollywood trivia.
At least Liverpool didn't put up a statue to Mean Mr. Mustard or some such nonsensical character.
I take a back seat to few in my appreciation of the Beatles through Sgt. Pepper. After that, they believed their press clippings that they were artists with a capital A, and not just some guys in a supremely successful rock band. What followed was mostly dreck.
Pretty big fan of the show, both actors and Vince Gilligan. And the statues are a the convention center not a public park. But . . . . .. I don't think so.
Related, I just saw that Aaron Paul just put his home (pretty close to mine) in Boise up for sale.
"It's questionable to put up a sculpture showing fictional characters who were not virtuous."
When the nice center of American public opinion can do no better than saying "it's questionable," that means there's no serious opposition. What's virtue anyway? Who cares? Besides, all that matters who gets to decide.
But I do think Breaking Bad was very good, and by no means glorified evil.
"I see two of the finest actors America has ever produced"
That made me chuckle.
Meth is the worst drug of them all. No one ever recovers from that addiction. They are all tortured to death by it.
Its Albuquerque. This is all they have.
It's not surprising that in a society that regularly praises the bad, the nasty, the abnormal, while demonizing the good, the thoughtful, the historic leaders, they'd put up a statue of two actors, neither of whom are from that town, who happened to play meth cookers in a TV series fictionally placed in that town.
Granted, Breaking Bad was a great series (as is Better Call Saul), but a few years from now, who's going to think of it as Vince Gilligan tries to portray it? "I see two of the finest actors America has ever produced. I see them, in character, as two larger-than-life tragic figures, cautionary tales." No one. Not a one. People won't even remember who or what they were and somewhere down the line, those statues will be covered and pulled away because...white men. It'll happen.
If we're going to put up statues of fictional characters, let's at least put up statues that reflect the happier times of our lives. Big Boy.
Don't forget the 'bronze Fonz' in Milwaukee,
What else is Albuquerque famous for other than being the location of a left turn someone should have made?
"Don't forget the 'bronze Fonz' in Milwaukee..."
Made me think of the bronze Lucy that was so ugly they had to make another statue.
Copenhagen's Little Mermaid comes to mind. And Metropolis Illinois' Superman. You can do a web search for more, some of them also in Illinois for some reason. For some reason (something to do with Danny Kaye and a long ago UNICEF telethon) I thought the UN had a statue of the Bremen Town Musicians, but actually it's in Milwaukee.
The East Coast response to the Breaking Bad statues might be "That's what people do when they have no history," but a more accurate response would be "That's what you get when you throw out your history."
There's a Columbo statue in Budapest.
Bloomington Indiana has a statue to a murderer. Tuvix did nothing wrong. https://janewaystatue.com/
Santa Fe is laughing.
Hopefully there are no statues of the Sackler family anywhere - that would be way worse.
The closing credits to Netflix's current hyperviolemt, hyperexpensive, meganihilistic film Gray Man uses the conceit of displaying its characters as frosted silver statuary. A slick look.
How dare you say Paul Bunyan is fictional! His footprints made the Great Lakes. That's science!
There's an impressive statue of Sherman by Saint-Gaudens just outside Central Park. It's even gilded and has thus far escaped defacement or protest. Sherman was a resolute Indian fighter, but, more to his credit, the tactics he used against the Indians were tactics he learned during the Civil War. Such tactics are not genocidal if used against white Southerners, and that's what he's celebrated for......Great generals, when you think about it, have not done much to improve the lives of humanity, but a disproportionate number of statues are dedicated to them. There's not a lot to recommend Patton, but he did have one vital and important use: he protected us against the other guys' Patton.
Statues can be torn down.
No mention of Mary Tyler Moore in downtown Minneapolis? Well, it used to be there, I've avoided downtown for the last several years now.
So, just to Make Sure, that i'm on the right page..
Cops are Evil?
Meth dealers are AWESOME?
Loving Parents are THE THREAT TO AMERICA!!!
Trannie sex workers are Role Models for 5 year olds?
am i missing anything
Isn’t this more “white privilege”?
The woke must not be strong in New Mexico.
When I visited Albuquerque, a local took me on a tour of Breaking Bad sites. In defense of the statues, Breaking Bad isn't just any show--it's the best show television has yet produced. Given that, it doesn't seem terribly strange to put up statues of the characters. If they need a virtuous character, why not Hank?
There is the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen.
Pop culture is relentless in shaping the real world. I like this theme. That series was written to take place in Riverside County California but New Mexico gave a tax break to lure production to Albuquerque. So this qualifies as public art, a subject that interests me. I’m for more public art, regardless of kind as long as it’s well executed. And I prefer sculpture that emulates human form more than those abstract metal behemoths like the shiny bean in Chicago or the Watts towers.
Chester, Illinois has statues of most of the Popeye characters. Does anyone under 50 remember Popeye?
George "fentanyl" Floyd syndrome. Some, Select [Black] Lives Matter (SS[B]LM)
Make Way for Ducklings ducks are done in bronze at the Boston Garden. Cat in the Hat in Naperville, Illinois (which I could swear made an appearance last week in Instapundit) plus one of the Cat alongside Dr. Seuss in San Diego. Plus I suspect there are many such statues on the grounds of Disneyland/Disneyworld. Also, for some reason there is a statue of a giant pear in Dorchester.
As one who identifies as lawyer, I'm deeply offended. Saul Goodman is the real hero of the piece, representing his reprehensible clients to the best of his abilities, even unto laundering their (allegedly) ill-gotten gains.
And what's with celebrating two white meth cookers (one of them literally named White) ignoring the much greater contributions of the Mexican drug cartel who employed them, and moved their product? Why not Gus Fring, who for years supplied Greater Albuquerque with high quality meth and the best fast food chicken west of the Pecos? Or Don Eladio, the very embodiment of Mexican managerial skill?
pretty shocked that statues of white people are even allowed these days.
"It's questionable to put up a sculpture showing fictional characters who were not virtuous."
It is perfectly consistent with the regular behavior of The Not Virtuous Party.
"War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. [Evil is good.]" Orwell (Edit mine.)
Since the Biden Administration has come into power, our country’s decline into a modern day Sodom and Gamorrah has vastly accelerated in just 18 months. Glorifying drug dealers with statues is right up there with an open border (in reality, no southern border) where deadly fentynal and other illegal and dangerous drugs are flowing freely into the U.S., drag queen shows at Kindergarten classes through to high school school auditoriums, pushing homosexuality and transgenderism on to kids who have no freaking clue what that is at such a young age as well as vulnerable children going through puberty who are trying to figure out what their bodies are trying to tell them, criminals not only not being prosecuted but being protected by the government, victims and police being prosecuted for self-defense against these same criminals by our government, and a number of other immoral things that our country and culture have rejected as wrong in the past. God help us and save us, especially from these Regressives (TM) who want to destroy our government, our way of life, and most importantly, WE THE PEOPLE, in their quest for absolute power.
How could they be seen?
Were they in a broken-down RV?
A tented house being fumigated?
In all seriousness, the show was fantastic, but I'm not sure these statues are doing the town any favors...
Another instance of Great American Drama that I never watched. Take that back, I recall the early episode when they get lost and marooned(?) with the RV. Nothing about the show--the characters, the actors, the situation, the setting--interested us in the least.
We did like Cranston in MITM, though.
Taking down statues of real people who did shitty things, and erecting statues to fictional people who did shitty things. Deliciously late imperial.
The Juan de Oñate statue at Alcalde NM has been "temporarily" taken down - given the metaphorical boot.
New Mexico is a beautiful place, but it is seriously messed up as a culture. I think the Spanish / Mexican land grants play a role in that. In New Mexico you can safely drive way over the speed limit knowing that at any moment another driver is likely to fly past you much faster and obviously intoxicated. In Santa Fe the wealthy people drive Subarus and the blow-ins are in AMG Mercedez Benz. I like that part. It is the only place I have ever been where there are high dollar jewelry stores selling beautiful and tasteful items. Occasionaly, wealth does coexist with good aesthetic taste, see Brad Pitt's new house...
It's the only state with an official state question: "Green or red?" Chile that is.
Blogger traditionalguy said...
"Meth is the worst drug of them all. No one ever recovers from that addiction. They are all tortured to death by it."
Not true. I bow to no one in my hatred of what meth does, but many (some) recover. I speak from experience here.
Alice in Central Park.
Hank would be a better choice for a Breaking Bad character. A much better person than Walt, and not as stupid as you might think at first. Yes, it is questionable to try to make it in the DEA operations at the border while speaking no Spanish at all. Generally speaking, the "Anglo" characters in BB don't speak a word of Spanish, leaving this language to psychopathic members of drug cartels. One great thing about BB was that it showed people dealing with prolonged illness or recovery from injury with unusual realism--if anything about Walt the evil nerd is realistic. Hank had to recover from being shot, and he went a bit crazy being stuck in bed.
I did some research on statues, and came across Oñate. Racism? His revenge against a particular group of indigenous people was probably personal rather than racial, and it was not condoned by Spain. Spain sanctioned marriage between the Spanish and the so-called Indians. This led to what is arguably a more successful integration of Native Americans in the rest of New Mexican society than in many other parts of the Americas. Oñate himself was born in today’s north-central Mexico, descended from Spanish Jews on his mother’s side, most of whom converted to Christianity to avoid persecution—including several who served in the royal Court. His wife was the granddaughter of Hernán Cortés, the conqueror of the Triple Alliance, and the great-granddaughter of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. In Western Canada there have been Métis families with this kind of genealogy who were within the “Establishment,” but probably not this exotic.
Breaking Bad was about the only public educator on earth so stupid he couldn't even figure out how to use his gold-star health insurance to get radiation treatment, much cheaper than chemo, plus a bunch of Mexicans so violent they literally crawled on their stomachs like snakes on their way to chop people into pieces.
Great move, Albuquerque.
San Francisco should have a Star Trek statue if it doesn't already.
The Twilight Zone deserves a statue, but where would it go? Somewhere weird!
You can't put up a statue to the Pueblo people since they have their own land, government and museums. And you can't put up a statue to the Apaches and Navajos who attacked the pueblos. And you can't put up a statue to the Hispanics because they conquered the pueblos and exploited their labor. And you can't put up a statue to the Anglos because they defeated the Hispanics, Apaches and Navajos. And you can't put up a statue to the battle of Glorieta Pass which took place outside Santa Fe in March 1862. In this battle elements of the First New Mexico regiment, the regular US Army and some Colorado miners defeated the attempt by the Confederates to control the route to California and to the California and Colorado gold and silver fields. Had the Union lost, the loss would have changed history because, with control of all that gold and silver, the Confederacy would have had far, far more financial strength and unblockaded ports in California. But the Union won and so this battle which was a skirmish in terms of manpower is disregarded. So no statues.
At this period in our history, I think the right statue would show a circular firing squad and all day long one group representative could shoot down another while outside the ring a Russian and a Chinese figure inched closer.
So does this mean we'll be seeing a statue of Tony Soprano in Newark some time soon?
There is a statue of the actress Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stevens (Bewitched) in downtown Salem, MA. Recently it had red paint thrown on it though.
These kinds of pop culture public art don't really age well.
Writing from Albuquerque, I see Albuquerque’s civic establishment continuing to embrace movie-tv aura coolness with statues in the Convention Center of stars of the successful (and heavily subsidized) crystal meth-driven “Breaking Bad” television series. The honors come as Albuquerque is on a recording-setting murder pace (Four shot 7/29/22, two dead) and citizens try to cope with a homelessness scourge in neighborhoods. Instead of actor glory in a crime series, Albuquerque leaders should honor real world class individuals such as Nobel Prize physicist Murray Gell-Mann, rocket pioneer Robert Goddard, author Tony Hillerman, artist Georgia O’Keefe.
By the way, New Mexico’s two leading historians lay some uncertainty on the legend of the Spanish cutting off a foot from captured Acoma people. The Spanish, meticulous record keepers, documented the incident, but say nothing about the alleged amputation. The Acoma slaves disappeared from their captivity within a few years, suggesting two-footed mobility. Today, Acoma people stick to the story.
The Albuquerque civic establishment embracing the story of living in a meth capital is offensive. But, then, the movie biz is cool.
Is there any significant difference between methamphetamine and other amphetamines? In my rascally days back in the 60s,I used a fair amount of both. Pretty similar effects.
With all the kids taking amphetamines* these days, with school, parental and doctor blessing the statue seems appropriate to me.
*mainly Adderall
John LGBTQBNY Henry
This is not glorifying meth. It is a city saying, "this show put us on the map and gave viewers a chance to visit ABQ via tv for many hours." My main issue is that "Better Call Saul" is the better show - I really didn't think "Breaking Bad" could be topped. Where are they going to put the Saul Goodman statue????
I just moved to Eugene, Oregon. Nearby Springfield is covered in Simpson's images!
It's stories like these that remind me of the biggest drawback living in New England is the complete lack of high quality Mexican food.
There's a Flintstones house in Hillsborough, CA.
Statues of real people are erected to commemorate the stories about those people -- stories that often bear little resemblance to reality.
It's not that strange to make statues to commemorate openly fictional stories, if those stories are meaningful to people.
It is a bit weird to think of Breaking Bad in that role, though. I don't think ABQ is actually celebrating the tragic story, just the five-minutes-of-fame that the series brought to their town.
That seems like a very shallow and silly motivation to erect a statue, but our current culture seems to value attention over all else.
I thought the show was OK.
Not that great. I guess the bar is low for what we all consider good entertainment.
Violence is king.
John henry said...
Is there any significant difference between methamphetamine and other amphetamines?
yes, most meth has Lots of impurities in it, making it "sort of" like MDMA
I could not find any data on ABQ tourism, but my suspicion is that "Breaking Bad" may have increased tourism. The city has to compete with Santa Fe and Taos. Most people may have only seen ABQ as a place to fly into, rent a car, then drive somewhere else. "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul" may have changed that.
Not surprising, but still pathetic. Walter white wasn't a hero. He was an anti-hero. And he was a invention of a Hollywood screenwriter. He was placed in NM, but he just as easily could've been in Arz or Texas. There was nothing "New Mexico" about him. And get this: He doesn't exist.
This reminds me of a contempeous Kirk Douglas line from "Ace in Hole": "That's pretty Albuquerque - even for Albuquerque". Where's the statue for "Chuck Tatum"?
One of the many weird things about Libtards is they think fiction TV and movies are REAL.
I'll watch TV shows about the past and then read the IMDB reviewss or maybe listen to a podcast. And the liberal/leftists writers/podcasters actually think, "In the heat of night" or "Guess who's coming to Dinner" represents the REAL United states circa 1968.
Or they think that if "12 angry men" has no women, that's the way it was back in 1950s NYC. "No women jurors allowed". So, the Libtards in New Mexico probably think all meth dealers are former HS teachers who just wanted to leave $$ to their kids.
Really.
The theme of Breaking Bad was not that desperate people are forced into desperate circumstances. The theme was that damnation comes by small turnings, big and tiny choices little by little coupled with self-justifications, until you've finally remade yourself into a devil on earth. The fall of Walt was Shakespearean.
We are always going a bit one way or the other. All the goings add up to a destination.
I think the Red Chinese should pony up the dough to build a statue of Hunter Biden sharing a hot tub with a couple of Asian hookers.
Born in Albuquerque. Went to HS and got my undergrad degree there. Left in 1981 and returned to the area 7 years ago. Shocked at how bad it has become. NM has always had a ‘mañana’ vibe, but now it is just a feeling of entitlement. We bought a nice house N of the city and it is now our retirement home, but honestly we have considered moving. Sadly, Gunner is right. It is all they have.
I found two statues of Lady Macbeth with a quick search. The marble by Elisabet Ney looks good from the pictures. It's in the Smithsonian There is a bronze in Stratford Upon Avon.
Someone is trying to raise money for a statue of Rod Serling in Binghamton. I think Miami ought to have statues of Crockett & Tubbs - they were arresting drug dealers.
Shouldn't there be a statue of Vivian Vance in Albuquerque?
Here they're putting up statues and memorials to Great Women like Ida B. Wells; and about 20 years ago I helped the sculptor do research for a very dynamic statue of Tom Lee and one of the people he saved from drowning in the Mississippi, now in the eponymous park.
NBF, a great equestrian statue (1905-2016) and a goofy statue of Jeff Davis (1948?-2016) have been disappeared, along with a set of plaques from the 1990s explaining Memphis's importance in the ACWABAWS and giving an account of the unique river battle of June 6 1862. Also gone, a marker and memorial to Memphis journalist and Confederate veteran J. Harvey Mathes, author of The South's Old Guard in Grey.
The Davis and the historical plaques were in what was Confederate Park, and is now Fourth Bluff Park. The Davis was no loss really, but the history is.
The newspaper did a story about the new downtown, cleansed of Confederate memories, and reported that the old memorials had been harshing the vibe for the yoga yuppies who liked to spread their namastes in public.
There's a statute of Ignatius Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces in downtown New Orleans, near a now-defunct department store where the book begins.
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