Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Who Shot Van Gogh?

Did a couple of rich French teenaged boys with a borrowed revolver kill one of the most revered artists in history? This was significant in the larger context of the rarity in Europe of the handgun used, and the probable inspiration being a U.S. entertainer promoting a glamorized view of firearms. A little art history to bring some culture to the pro-gunners, who live on revisionist history.

From 60 Minutes:




4 comments:

  1. Yet unlike the murder of Theo van Gogh, we don't have to rely some author's dramatic conjecture.....

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  2. For those who don't get the reference, Hmn is referring to the great grandson, Theo van Gogh, of the 19th century Van Gogh, great grand-hephew of Vincent Van Gogh.

    An accomlished film producer /director/ actor / author who died November 2, 2004.

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  3. white wash,

    An accomlished film producer /director/ actor / author who {was murdered}died November 2, 2004.


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Gogh_%28film_director%29

    Mohammed Bouyeri murdered Van Gogh as he was cycling to work in the early morning of 2 November 2004, in front of the Amsterdam East borough office, on the corner of the Linnaeusstraat and Tweede Oosterparkstraat.

    The killer shot van Gogh eight times with an HS 2000 handgun, and Van Gogh died on the spot. The killer also tried to decapitate van Gogh with one knife, and stabbed him in the chest with another. The two knives were left implanted; one attached a five-page note to his body.


    And all this violence, because he made a movie.

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  4. And I doubt you would give a shit if Theo Van Gogh's killer had been just plain Dutch (instead of a Dutch muslim).

    Van Gogh's critical views and brusque approach also made him unpopular among a lot of people. According to a November 2, 2004 article in Expatica.com, businessman and broadcaster Harry Mens described Theo as “a bit of a ‘kamikaze,’ who expressed his views regardless of whom he might offend.” And offend he did. He harshly criticized Christianity and Judaism. However, the Muslim community bore the brunt of his irritation, which was evident when he likened Dutch Muslim immigrants to “goat f--kers.”

    Anger against Van Gogh reached its pinnacle on August 29, 2004 with the airing of the television film Submission on Dutch television, which was the creation of Van Gogh and controversial Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The film depicted four partially nude women in long, dark transparent veils, who had texts from the Koran written in calligraphy on their bare skin. Some of the women appeared to have reddened whip marks on their backs and legs, on which the texts were written that described the physical punishments, sanctioned by the Koran for disobedient women. Not surprisingly, the highly controversial 10-minute film sparked outrage from the Muslim community.

    Not long after the release of Submission, Theo began to receive death threats. Concerned for his welfare, his colleagues urged him to hire a bodyguard for protection – a suggestion which Theo initially entertained. Yet, eventually he brushed it off because he didn’t believe anyone would want to target him.

    The problem with Wikipedia is that it's a great starting point if you want a thumbnail sketch of a topic, but it doesn't give you any in-depth understanding.

    In fact, given Van Gogh's views on Christianity, I'm surprised you would bring it up. But since his killer was Muslim, it helps feed your ideology of hatred towards Muslims.

    They're great when they are fighting the Soviets, but when they use the same tactics against the US...

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