Banksy

[mjintrigue2012]

Hollywood couple Brad Pitt (R) and Angelina Jolie ride a motorbike around Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh City November 23, 2006. Pitt and Jolie doled out candies and toys during a surprise visit to an orphanage in southern Vietnam, a state-run newspaper said on Saturday.. Photo Credit: REUTERS/Trung Nghia/Tuoi Tre Newspaper

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pick up Banksy’s art that mocks Michael Jackson!
Angelina Jolie and partner Brad Pitt have bought a new painting by notorious artist Banksy in which he takes a pot-shot at the singer’s child abuse scandal.
Washington, Dec 2 (ANI): Angelina Jolie and partner Brad Pitt might no longer be in Michael Jackson’s good books, for they’ve just become the proud owners of a new painting by notorious artist Banksy in which he takes a pot-shot at the singer’s child abuse scandal.

The piece by Banksy, which features the dethroned king of pop standing in the doorway of a cottage trying to coax a young boy and girl into his house with sweets, is inspired by the classic fairytale Hansel and Gretel, and is apparently a reference to the child abuse scandal surrounding Jackson last year.

The painting is not the only one that will be on display at Brad and Ange’s home, for the couple also picked up several other pieces of the artist’s work when they visited his recent Los Angeles exhibition, according to The Post Chronicle.

However, for all his popularity, the artist - who began his career spray painting public walls - refuses to reveal his identity, for he will get into an awful lot of trouble with the law the moment he does.

His previous works have not only included a portrait of two policemen locked in a homosexual embrace, but he also infamously replaced hundreds of Paris Hilton’s debut music album CDs with his own remixes earlier this year.

And, to make matters worse, Banksy not only replaced song names with his own titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?, but also changed her picture on the CD sleeve, thanks to which Paris was left topless, with a dog's head. (ANI)

This article is from 2006. Brangelina paid big money for a number of Banksy pieces, INCLUDING the Michael/Hanzel and Gretel piece.  They are going to display this piece of art in their home full of children?  Does not make too much sense to me.  Thoughts?

[rag doll]

What I personally find very intriguing about it is the fact, that it doesn´t even show an offensive scene but obviously the first association a great number of adults make is still a bad one.
- Why?  What exactly do we see when we look at this picture?  

By "placing“ the beholder behind the kids`s back, Banksy virtually invites us to take their perspective on this scene.  I see a secluded cottage with a lonely looking MJ who reaches out and offers a candy cane to two kids, who seem to be lost and alone theirselves in this dark inhospitable landscape. The bright colors of the candy distinctly stands out against the dull background. Somehow it appears to be the only promising object within the gloom of this motif. (Maybe the candy symbolizes a pure kind of joy or happiness within a dark world?)

The depicted gesture of M. doesn`t appear threatening to me, more the opposite. He bends down to the kids height and I see something very accomodating in his posture, humbleness and also gratitude, almost as if he was much obliged that someone finally found his/her way through the dark to visit him.

We don´t see the children´s facial expressions but judging from their body language, they appear to be rather curious and attentive than anxious. All these things considered, I see the encounter of three lonesome characters who seem to be happy that they´ve found each other in a hostile environment.

Btw it would be quite interesting to hear the opinion of a child on this picture.
Possibly a first reaction could be: „There´s no Gingerbread house, no witch – this isn`t Hansel & Gretel“. Just a thought...  :geek:

[mjintrigue2012]

Thankyou for your reply @ragdoll. I agree with you 100% that the Banksy picture is open to interpretation. Does one see the picture in a negative or a positive light? Brangelina are humanitarians. It makes no sense to me that people with the level of compassion that I believe them to have, would buy such a picture IF they were "mocking" Michael, as this article states they are doing.  The humanitarian/mocking-another-human-being thing just does not ring true for me. And, IF they bought this picture with the intent of "mocking" Michael, and display it proudly in their home, what would they tell their children, who would more than certainly be intrigued by the scene. I have a feeling that Brangelina are not afraid of a little controversy, and will stand up for a cause that they believe in, whatever that cause might be.

[MJonmind]

It kind of reminds me of Ghost, where MJ supposedly the 'weirdo' isn't wanted in the nice town. Though the kids are somewhat frightened they go against the wisdom of the mayor (perhaps media and general public), and they find out they are incredibly entertained and liking this mysterious figure (MJ). Sometimes in real life, people thought of as villians can turn out to be heroes instead and vica versa, depending on whose perspective is telling the story. Also in this painting case we don't know exactly how Banksy wanted people to think as he liked to raise controversy, modern fairy-story versions can have a twist or unexpected ending.