Sixteen Years Ago Today

Kathy at Cake Eater Chronicles on the mystery man whose stance sixteen years ago today...

riveted our attention.

This whole incident has stayed with me for sixteen years, and I'm not likely ever to forget it. But there's always one thing above and beyond all the rest that I wonder about: why didn't he drop his shopping bags? Why did he get in front of the row of tanks with them still in his hands, and why did he leave with them still in his hands? One would think that when one is about to risk one's life and limb by stepping out in front of a column of approaching tanks that one would forget all about the everyday path that had brought him to that moment. Oh, fuck the groceries, I've got bigger fish to fry. But he didn't forget about them. I would like to think that he, quite simply, had a life to lead and that the Saturday marketing was just as much a part of that life as was stepping out in front of those tanks. That this is who he was: Schmo Joe, average citizen of Beijing. That may not be the case: he may have been as surprised as everyone else that he still had the bags in his hands when all was said and done. In his haste, he may have completely forgotten about them, which is probably the more likely reason, but still...

read the whole thing...

...and juxtapose it with this piece from today's Star/Tribune piece justifying the use of Mao Zhedong's image for the new Minneapolis Public Library ad campaign.

What's a librarian to do? Having weathered budget cuts, reduced hours and laid-off staff, the Minneapolis Public Library must have been heartened when the Andrews/Birt agency generously donated an ad campaign. And now, largely because some folks have gone ballistic after seeing one part of the campaign out of context, the whole campaign is being second-guessed.

The main complaint seems to be that one of the ads uses the image of someone who did some horrible things. As the writer of a May 25 letter to the editor said, "When you invoke Mao's name and image in hopes of creating a public "buzz," you summon the ghosts of Mao's evil deeds as well."

But one doesn't have to look far in our culture to see that some folks seem to think one can make specific use of icons. In fact, the notion that imperfection should result in banishment is derided by true conservatives. For example, Peter H. Gibbon -- author of "A Call to Heroism" and a speaker at the 2003 White House Forum on history, civics and service education -- opposes the current trend of not viewing imperfect people as heroes. Whereas others would blacklist Columbus, Jefferson and even Lincoln for their shortcomings, Gibbon reminds us that all humans are flawed and that we can still admire these men for their positive qualities and outstanding achievements. In short, we can invoke these individuals for specific reasons without endorsing everything they did or thought.

Mao was "imperfect". Not all that different than Jefferson, really. Honest.

Read the ad. Judge for yourself.

Juxtapose the images; a man who risked life and groceries to vainly defend his city from tyranny, versus a man whose moral obtuseness bids him to put Mao Zhedong and Thomas Jefferson in the same moral category.

Astounding.

And happy sixteenth anniversary, Grocery Guy, whoever, whereever and however you are.

Posted by Mitch at June 4, 2005 04:52 PM | TrackBack