Winston Churchill Sculpture

[madein1978]

Did anyone see the new sculpture of Winston Churchill in a strait jacket? I think this is a disgusting travesty of a truly great man who deserves better than to be mocked in this way. What has Tony Blair done or any of them to avoid having a rise taken out of them? Thoughts Please.

[Zen]

Perhaps you should read this to get the resoning behind the statue.
http://www.rethink.org/news+campaigns/press_releases/chu rchill.htm

[gary baldy]

Nobody is having 'the rise' taken out of them. Winston Churchill is well known for suffering from mental illness. This statue is designed to draw attention to the fact that just because you suffer from mental illness doesnt mean you cannot succeed in life and do great things.
I would hope Mr Churchill had the humour and common sense to place this statue in that context and approve of it (but he cant ... cos he's dead.... so there!)

[mightyWBA]

Can't wait for the "prophet mohammed in a straight jacket sculpture". Be proud we can tolerate such abuse,without acting like barbarians,

Rule Britannia!

[madein1978]

Ok, fair point, its about mental illness, but I still don't think its right that a promenant figure of our history should be remembered for having a mental illness, he should only be remembered for defending us against the Germans and WW2, millions of people looked up to him at one time and I don't think its appropriate. I like that comment about Mohammed!!

[spacechimp]

Well, I don't think he was an especially nice man.

[gary baldy]

Egotistical, self obssesed, arrogant, careerist, eugenicist, racist, xenophobe. Apart from that - nice fella.

[Lonnie]

I understand the reasoning behind it, but I think its a disgusting thing to do, he suffered from what he called. 'my Black Dog', Manic Depression, I don't think he personally posed a physical threat to anyone, so it was totally the wrong thing to do.

[noxlumos]

I think it's actually a thought provoking and inspiring piece and certainly not meant in a derogatory way at all.Yeah he should be remembered as being a great leader, but he was an even greater leader for being as effective as he was whilst suffering from depression/mental illness. The fact that he was never psychotically dangerous and therefore never in need of a straight jacket is niether here nor there, a straight jacket was used presumeably because everyone equates that with mental illness, so it gets it's point instantly across. That's the point of visual art... to project and idea or inspiration using visual media. I'm quite sure no-one would have got the gist of the mental illness angle if they'd just sculpted him looking a bit glum and it's clearly working to highlight the fact that great people can also suffer from mental illness because look how many of you didn't realise before this discussion was started. All in all a brilliant result.

[andy-hughes]

I can understand the concept, and entirely support the thinking behind it.

That said, the subtlety of the message will be lost on the vast majority of the population who think of Churchill as a great leader, and our salvation from the Nazis.

Yes, the concept of bi-polar depression needs to be acknowledged, addressed, and understood - this is not the way to go about it. Applying the Roy Walker 'Say what you see' approach simply shows a great British hero is a straightjacket - the thinking behind it is lost on visual impact. Great idea, wrong message.

[Drusilla1S]

I'm in two minds about this (excuse the pun.) I think it is thought provoking and could help people realise that suffering from a mental health disorder does not prevent a person achieving great things in life. However, there is an element of 'in ya face' sensationalism about the work and I suspect the artist was more than happy to earn a degree of infamy with the publicity and subsequent rise in artistic profile this work offers.

[madein1978]

Garybaldy- You are trying to tell me that all of that-bar xenophobe and racist- doesn't apply to Tony Blair? If you answer yes, then I would ask, whats the name of your guide dog?

[madein1978]

BTW, I know that mentally disabled people can be successful, look at Prof. Stephen Hawking, he is an inspiration, the man is very disabled and disfigured but it doesn't mask the genius of him.

[sp1814]

madein1978 - Prof Stephen Hawkings isn't mentally disabled. He's physically disabled, but still has a brilliant mind. I once tried reading 'A Brief History Of Time', but gave up after page 49 because I didn't understand a single thing he was talking about.

[spacechimp]

There is this obsession with comparing bad things to other bad things, as if in some crazy way, this makes them good.

[Loosehead]

Just typical lefties using the saftey created by people like Churchill to hate us from within. Why don't this scum move to a communist state, they crave it so much, I've heard Cuba is nice.

[jump79]

I wasn't aware Churchill had a mental illness and when I first thought the statue on the news, I thought it was a joke. I'm sure other people who don't know about his illness will probably think the same way... I don't find it particularly inspiring or very respectful of the man who was a great leader during the war and saved this country from the Nazis.

(Churchill's grandson finds the statue very offensive as well.)

[littleoldme]

Dear oh dear, another storm in a teacup. It's not an attack on Churchill - it's an attempt to raise awareness of mental illness (how exactly does that make anyone a "leftie"?). As mentioned, Churchill himself had a mental illness - the statue raises this by showing that it doesn't always turn you into a vegetable or a criminal as some people believe. The use of Churchill shows that someone can have such an illness and still do their job at the highest level (whatever your views on him as a leader, he did still do the job).

I'm afraid yet again the...erm..."righties" that own the gutter tabloid press have gone looking for offence where none is intended, in order to get their easily-led readership's collective knickers in an almighty twist.

[undercovers]

opening a discussion about mental illness... well it seems to be working doesn't it, people here are learning that mental and physical illness aren't the same thing (a very common assumption) and that the mentally disabled are not the stereotyped drooling mentalists as depicted in tv and film.

[spacechimp]

Stereotyped drooling mentalists do still exist you know and some mental illnesses cause physical disability.

[andy-hughes]

Indeed a lot of people won't know of Churchill's condition.

He was bi-polar, which used to be known as manic depression, and was symptomised by extreme mood swings. When Churchill was in a 'down'phase, he referred to it as his 'black dog' and he used to go outside and build a wal as his own way of coping withit.