Blasphemy? Or merely bad taste?
To some, it's a poster advertising a jazz festival in the small French town of Viennes, nestled quietly in the Rhone-Alpes region. To others, it's a degrading and blashphemous visual insult to religious and moral principles. The rest of us are simply wondering what the hell the fuss is all about.
Although the festival is funded mostly by its audience, organiser Patrick Dussenne saw the move as an example of cultural censorship.
"People think what they like about the poster," Dussenne argued. "We never wanted to shock in any way."
But he added there was no question of withdrawing it.
The poster's creator, Bruno Thery, told the Paris daily Liberation it never crossed his mind to paint a "black virgin", as the far right described the mother figure.
I suppose the image depicted on the poster is the sort of thing where one can see whatever one chooses. Personally, I think it's bad art, but I see nothing particularly sinister about. Sure, perhaps it is in bad taste, but that is a matter of personal interpretation.
Of course, it IS good to know that the US is not the only country dealing with short-sighted, reactionary types. Perhaps ignorance and fear really ARE universal values....
