“Impressive. Most impressive.”

October 26, 2015 6:25 AM

Lenin Statue in Ukraine Turned Into Darth Vader [The New York Times]

A statue of Vladimir Lenin in Odessa, Ukraine, has been refashioned into Darth Vader. A Ukrainian artist, Alexander Milov, whose work appeared at Burning Man this year, transformed the statue in response to recent decommunization laws, which require the removal of Communist symbols in Ukraine. Lenin’s face has been covered by Darth Vader’s mask, and his coat has been turned into a cape. The helmet also reportedly serves as a Wi-Fi hot spot.

[Image] [Image 2]

Related:

Profile: The Man Who Turned Lenin into Darth Vader [BBC]

“I was born in the USSR, and I am a child of a country that doesn’t exist any more,” Ukrainian sculptor Alexander Milov tells BBC Culture over the phone from Odessa, via his English-speaking wife Margaret. “I wish to save the monuments of history. I’m trying to clean up the operating system and keep them on the hard drive of memory.” Margaret laughs at the metaphor.

posted by Fizz (18 comments total)

thank you for posting this.
posted by infini at 6:33 AM on October 26, 2015

Ironically, the star wars franchise has rewritten history to make anakin/vader the hero of the story.
posted by clvrmnky at 6:38 AM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]

NPR notes that such statue alterations following the decommunization laws also serve as a protest against Russian military aggression, and quotes the artist as saying (something like) Star Wars/pop culture has more staying power than communism (the piece is audio-only at the moment, the transcript will be posted later today).
posted by filthy light thief at 7:00 AM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]

“I wanted to make a symbol of American pop culture which appears to be more durable than the Soviet ideal.”

Lenin should have gone ahead with his plans to destroy Alderon.
posted by three blind mice at 7:29 AM on October 26, 2015

The Dude: It's like what Lenin said... you look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, uh...

Donny: Luke, I am your father.

The Dude: You know what I'm trying to say...

Donny: I am your father.

Walter: That fucking bitch...

The Dude: Oh yeah!

Donny: I am your father.

Walter: Shut the fuck up, Donny! V.I. Skywalker. Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov!

Donny: What the fuck is he talking about, Dude?
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 7:29 AM on October 26, 2015 [6 favorites]

And this just happened:

"Chewbacca arrested in Ukraine" https://t.co/OSCyqPQry8 pic.twitter.com/U6aIZbYBWY— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) October 26, 2015

posted by Fizz at 8:17 AM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

Chewbacca arrested in Ukraine

Well what else do you expect when you pal around with a wanted spice smuggler who drops their shipments at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser?

Not to mention the callous murder of an innocent Rodian for simply doing his job.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:30 AM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't have much skin in the game here, but there's something that has vaguely been bothering me about global willingness to get rid of remnants of the past we find collectively embarrassing.

Maybe people who survived the Soviet era are reminded constantly of their lived experience and oppression and just want to get rid of the damn thing. And the protest against current Russian expansionism is noted. But if we erase all evidence of [horrible thing], is it that much easier to sweep it under the table or de-emphasize its severity/ubiquity in the future?
posted by aspersioncast at 8:37 AM on October 26, 2015

Lukraine, I am your father!
posted by chavenet at 8:46 AM on October 26, 2015 [5 favorites]

The Executioner, flanked by two Star Destroyers moves into high orbit. A shirtless man appears in hologram before Vader.

"Mr. Putin, I would like to have a word with you about Crimea."
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:52 AM on October 26, 2015

Maybe people who survived the Soviet era are reminded constantly of their lived experience and oppression and just want to get rid of the damn thing. And the protest against current Russian expansionism is noted. But if we erase all evidence of [horrible thing], is it that much easier to sweep it under the table or de-emphasize its severity/ubiquity in the future?

It's so the people currently surviving (or not surviving) the capitalist era don't get the idea that an alternative is possible.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:24 AM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

I don't have much skin in the game here, but there's something that has vaguely been bothering me about global willingness to get rid of remnants of the past we find collectively embarrassing.

We'll always have "Triumph of the Will" and "Birth of a Nation".
posted by happyroach at 9:33 AM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's so the people currently surviving (or not surviving) the capitalist era don't get the idea that an alternative is possible.

If anything, it'd have the opposite effect. Take, for example, Poland, where there is essentially no political left; the left was something imposed at gunpoint by the Red Army, and thus the political spectrum runs from neo-Reaganite neoliberal managerialists to the paranoid ultra-Catholic conservatives who just took power. (There are a few leftist parties, but none of them polled over the threshold required to win parliamentary seats.) In parts of the former Eastern Bloc, it'll take a generation before American Capitalism doesn't smell like roses and mentioning the word “socialism” in any context other than condemnation isn't enough to classify someone as either a lunatic or a traitor. In that sense, Lenin will never be anything other than a Horrible Example there.
posted by acb at 9:55 AM on October 26, 2015 [2 favorites]

I'd say Ukrainians have valid reasons to remove all the Soviet symbols they like. Millions of reasons. Speaking of Poland, the Polish United Workers Party, which has dissolved after they utterly lost the first more or less free elections in 1989, returned to power under a new name barely a decade later in completely free and transparent elections. Alas, the fact that they remained left in name mostly has alienated their power base, and the real social democrats with no communist past are only starting to stage a comeback. I actually voted for the new hope of the Polish left, as did many of my friends, but they entered the race too late to raise enough support.
posted by hat_eater at 10:12 AM on October 26, 2015 [5 favorites]

yeah, I was way too glib there — apologies. It's in Ukraine, they should do whatever they want to it. I can't blame any Russian for thinking of Lenin as a hero, and likewise, I can't blame any Ukrainian for thinking of him as a total monster.

re: Poland, I know a couple of older Polish people (parents of Polish-American acquaintances) who occasionally express intense nostalgia and longing for the Soviet era. Seeing them talk on Facebook always make me think of a joke I remember hearing around the turn of the millennium:

Q: What could eight years of capitalism do that eighty years of communism couldn't?
A: Make communism look good.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:38 AM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]

Well what else do you expect when you pal around with a wanted spice smuggler who drops their shipments at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser?

Even Han gets boarded sometimes. Do you think he had a choice?
posted by entropicamericana at 10:39 AM on October 26, 2015 [3 favorites]

It's so the people currently surviving (or not surviving) the capitalist era don't get the idea that an alternative is possible.

If you want to convince people that capitalism is the best option available, you leave the statue of Lenin up.
posted by AdamCSnider at 8:51 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

The helmet also reportedly serves as a Wi-Fi hot spot.

These are not the Droids you're looking for.
posted by Wet Spot at 5:50 AM on October 27, 2015