Mr. Rogers is Now a Bird-Shit Target

November 6, 2009 7:12 AM

No, it isn't the Rock Biter from The NeverEnding Story. It's just a creepy-ass statue of Mr. Rogers. (Perhaps trying to steal some of Sesame Street's 40th Anniversary thunder?)
posted by jeremy b (46 comments total)

The statue's creepy as hell, but I have to admit I choked up a little on seeing Mr. McFeely in the crowd.
posted by EarBucket at 7:16 AM on November 6, 2009 [4 favorites]

Looks like the blast wave is about to come and blow him to dust a-la Terminator 2.
posted by autodidact at 7:18 AM on November 6, 2009

Mr Toothy
posted by stbalbach at 7:22 AM on November 6, 2009

Mr. Rogers needs to steal nobody's thunder.
posted by scrowdid at 7:27 AM on November 6, 2009 [2 favorites]

We are all bird shit targets. The good news: There is no bird shit target exactly like you.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:28 AM on November 6, 2009 [4 favorites]

Hey, if you're in the neighborhood of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood (that would be Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood), the local PBS station will be holding tours this weekend of the Land of Make-Believe. Mr. McFeely will be there. I'm planning on taking my kids tomorrow.
posted by chinston at 7:31 AM on November 6, 2009 [2 favorites]

Now, Rogers golem! Strike down those who have cheapened our discourse and polluted our airwaves! Make them pay!

...oh, okay, fine. Change your shoes first.
posted by kid ichorous at 7:39 AM on November 6, 2009 [28 favorites]

too creeped out to watch the entire video. It looks like it was made of dog poop.
posted by Neekee at 7:43 AM on November 6, 2009

How do MeFites reconcile their hatred of "special snowflakes" with their adoration of Mr. Rogers' "everyone's beautiful in their own way" message?

(I do it with booze)
posted by orville sash at 7:44 AM on November 6, 2009 [3 favorites]

I almost always hate that sketchy-chunky style of sculpture, and I'm afraid I'm unable to make an exception even for Mr. Rogers.
posted by echo target at 7:46 AM on November 6, 2009

It's by Robert Berks, the same sculptor as the Albert Einstein statue in DC. It's his second in Pittsburgh, we also have Mayor Swamp Thing on the steps of the City-County Building.
posted by octothorpe at 7:52 AM on November 6, 2009

Eh. I'm sure it's beautiful on the inside.
posted by Atom Eyes at 7:52 AM on November 6, 2009 [2 favorites]

Aw man Octothorpe, I love the Caliguri statue. I drive past it almost every day, and for some reason it makes me smile. Now it's going to make me snort and think of you instead.
posted by librarianamy at 7:57 AM on November 6, 2009

I didn't make that nickname up, I'm not sure who did. I've heard it for years. Similar to "The Tomb of the Unknown Bowler" at PPG Place.
posted by octothorpe at 8:03 AM on November 6, 2009

Lumpy, sculpted-with-shit style aside, it seems ridiculous to me to make a sculpture of Fred Rogers that huge. His greatest strength was that he was human, that he wasn't some looming monster of an adult for kids, but someone genuinely caring, approachable and safe. What kid is going to look at this hulking mass of metal and feel comforted? Berks deliberately misses the point so he can stick to his bizarre stylistic excesses.
posted by picea at 8:06 AM on November 6, 2009 [6 favorites]

What kid is going to look at this hulking mass of metal and feel comforted?

Not disagreeing with you, but at least Mrs. Rogers is happy:

"Mrs. Rogers envisions children crawling on the lap of the bronze statue..."
posted by librarianamy at 8:15 AM on November 6, 2009

I, for one, love it. A beautiful tribute to a beautiful man.
posted by ColdChef at 8:17 AM on November 6, 2009

i woulda put him on a charging steed, saber aloft above his tricorn hat
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:23 AM on November 6, 2009

You see, this is how you make a statue of a childhood icon. You want to hang out with it.

This Mister Rogers behemoth, on the other hand... well, remember the end of Ghostbusters, when Ray calls the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man into existence because he's trying to think of something innocent and harmless, but it goes horribly wrong? Yeah.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:26 AM on November 6, 2009 [5 favorites]

It's also not our first "scary" tribute to a great man. Several years ago Pittsburgh did something similar to Chicago's "Cows on Parade" only with dinosaurs. A T-Rex dressed in the sweater and sneakers, who looks like he's about to eat King Friday lives outside of the PBS station where they filmed the show.
posted by librarianamy at 8:33 AM on November 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

i love that T-rex.
posted by djduckie at 9:00 AM on November 6, 2009

The statue is kind of creepy looking. But even in the few moments I watched the video, a flood of warm fuzzy Mr. Rogers memories came like a flood, and left me a little misty-eyed. So I guess in that way, the statue really is a great tribute to a truly remarkable man.
posted by xedrik at 9:03 AM on November 6, 2009

I don't know much about art, but I know what I despise. That is one horrific tribute.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:09 AM on November 6, 2009

good lord, folks, get over it.... we get it, you don't like it... don't look at it.

sheesh...
posted by HuronBob at 9:18 AM on November 6, 2009

Sorry, one can't get a little peeved that the official memorial for someone you admired is less than one hoped it would be? We're grousing on the internet, not burning the sculptor's house down.
posted by picea at 9:31 AM on November 6, 2009

That style reminds me of Robert Arneson's George Moscone bust, except without the gun pressed into the base and the "BANG BANG BANG."
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:32 AM on November 6, 2009

That is really bad.
posted by everichon at 9:43 AM on November 6, 2009

What has aroused Einsteinophiles especially is a 12-ft.-high bronze statue of the physicist that will be unveiled in April by the National Academy of Sciences on Washington's Constitution Avenue. Critics have attacked Sculptor Robert Berks for his "bubble gum" style, -- TIME, 1979

I guess the artist is locally known

!!! Berks has been well known since the 1960s when he did cover art for TIME. I'm trying to determine if he was the sculptor for the former Playboy Music Hall of Fame as well (once upon a time they would put up an artist in various genres as an annual feature, with similarly-styled busts). Berks is internationally-known.

That said, I'm not sure that this was an appropriate subject for his style.
posted by dhartung at 9:47 AM on November 6, 2009

In fairness, the Rock Biter was based on Mr. Rogers.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:41 AM on November 6, 2009

Ohhh, that T-rex. Unintentional hilarity at its finest.
posted by eritain at 10:49 AM on November 6, 2009

Unintentional?
posted by darksasami at 11:01 AM on November 6, 2009

Faint of Butt, that Jim Henson/Kermit sculpture is just lovely. Thanks.
posted by not that girl at 11:06 AM on November 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

This is still better than Seattle's EMP.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:11 AM on November 6, 2009

You know, it's quite a strange thing. The single most common adjective applied to this Mister Rogers statue is the word 'creepy'...
posted by anazgnos at 11:20 AM on November 6, 2009

The statue looks like he had really bad sunburn and his skin is peeling. Do you think the artist was humming and thinking of this when he created it?
posted by stormpooper at 11:42 AM on November 6, 2009

Faint of Butt, that Jim Henson/Kermit sculpture is just lovely. Thanks.

It really is. I posted it glibly, but the more I think about it, the more I realize just how much it stands in contrast to the Mister Rogers statue and embodies everything that the latter fails to. Just look at it. For one thing, it's life-sized. (I've heard it called larger than life, but I think that's just because Jim Henson was really tall.) It's not bigger than a grown-up. It doesn't loom over you like some kind of awe-inspiring giant Buddha. You can approach it. In fact, the whole design was conceived with that in mind. See how Jim and Kermit only take up two-thirds of the bench. The remaining portion isn't empty or blank; it's there for you. It's got smooth surfaces, too, so you can feel comfortable while you're there. Three things in the design: Jim, Kermit and you.

The Mister Rogers statue is monolithic, gigantic and rough. It's not welcoming at all. His widow may dream of children playing in its lap, but I don't think they're going to want to.

Even though it's only an hour's drive away, I've never seen the Henson statue in person. I'm going to wait for a nice weekend afternoon, head down to UMD and chill with it for a while. Maybe I'll leave a brightly colored bouquet behind.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:55 AM on November 6, 2009

Oh, wow. Even before I saw the Jim Henson sculpture, I was thinking how lovely a sculpture of Mr. Rogers sitting on a bench to change his shoes would be. Now that I have seen the Henson sculpture it kind of makes me sad that Mr. Roger's statue isn't that inviting, because it should be. (Thanks, Faint of Butt.)
posted by EvaDestruction at 12:45 PM on November 6, 2009

Berks made the memorial bust of Kennedy at the Kennedy Center, too. Along with the statue in my favorite DC memorial - the Albert Einstein Memorial.

I guess I understand that they are shaggy/sketchy to a purpose, and they definitely don't feel sterile or cold. But they kind of go too far - they don't feel tactile and rich, they feel unsanitary, sometimes. We always called the Kennedy bust the Decomposing Kennedy.

I will give, though, that the giant-size Einstein is really fun to climb on. I bet the Fred Rogers statue is, too.
posted by peachfuzz at 12:50 PM on November 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Well, at least Pittsburgh will be safe from the Nothing. They look like big good strong hands.
posted by ALongDecember at 12:55 PM on November 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

The first line from librarianamy's link, "It was, in the end, a beautiful day in the neighborhood" made me tear up quite a bit.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 12:56 PM on November 6, 2009

The style works well for some subjects, but not really for Mr. Rogers. On the other hand, it can't be too much like the Jim Henson statue, lest you overdo the concept.
posted by TedW at 3:24 PM on November 6, 2009

How do MeFites reconcile their hatred of "special snowflakes" with their adoration of Mr. Rogers' "everyone's beautiful in their own way" message?

I don't hate people being special, but I often dislike people doing stupid things to make themselves feel special. Mr. Roger wanted to teach everyone they're implicitly special, such that no one would ever need to do anything, stupid or otherwise, to prove it.
posted by Zed at 3:37 PM on November 6, 2009 [3 favorites]

The T-Rex makes me happy every day on my way home from work. I am just going to keep enjoying him and try to forget about this creepy new statue.
posted by Stacey at 5:28 PM on November 6, 2009

> How do MeFites reconcile their hatred of "special snowflakes" with their adoration of Mr. Rogers' "everyone's beautiful in their own way" message?

How about: Everyone's beautiful in their own way, yet everyone can also be ugly in their own way, and some special snowflakes are unusually talented when it comes to bringing out the ugly?

I figure, Mr. Rogers' "everyone's beautiful in their own way" is a message of acceptance for both yourself and for others (gorgeous!), whereas special snowflakes tend to make a bigger fuss of accepting only themselves, to the exclusion and annoyance of everyone else (and that can get pretty ugly).
posted by cobwebberies at 10:33 PM on November 6, 2009

That is one ugly ass statue.
posted by Vindaloo at 6:27 AM on November 7, 2009

Heh, octothorpe, having not previously bothered to click through to the picture you linked of the Tomb of the Unknown, I didn't realize it was one of mine. Woo!
posted by alynnk at 8:09 AM on November 10, 2009