Boris Johnson compares George Clooney to Hitler as Mayor of London wades in on Elgin Marbles row

I didn't see that anywhere else but if this is a duplicate then I'm sorry. I hope it is not. Pls feel free to merge. Anyway, this issue with the Marble goes a long way....


Boris Johnson compares George Clooney to Hitler as Mayor of London wades in on Elgin Marbles row

First he describes Nick Clegg as David Cameron’s ‘condom’.

Now Boris Johnson has waded in on therow over the Elgin Marbles, and compared affable Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney to one of history’s evilest men.
His wildly exaggerated differentiation comes after the actor voiced his opinion on the sculptures, which were taken to Britain from the Parthenon in Greece in the 19th century, during a press conference to promote his new film, The Monuments Men.
Set in World War II, the movie, which Clooney has directed, written and stars in, is about a platoon of soldiers on a mission to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners.
“Even in England the polling is in favour of returning the marbles from the Pantheon [sic], the Pantheon marbles,” he said.

He went on to add that parts of the Parthenon has been given back by the Vatican already, and that returning the pieces displayed at the British Museum was “probably the right thing to do”.


Johnson has since leapt to London’s defence, saying: “Someone urgently needs to restore George Clooney’s marbles.
”Here he is plugging a film about looted Nazi art without realising that Goring himself had plans to plunder the British Museum.
“And where were the Nazis going to send the Elgin marbles? To Athens! This Clooney is advocating nothing less than the Hitlerian agenda for London’s cultural treasures,” he told the Telegraph. “He should stuff the Hollywood script and stick to history.”
But Clooney’s claims did not go unsupported.

Enter co-star Bill Murray: “There’s plenty of room in Greece,” he said. “England could take the lead on this.”
Murray said that if the Marbles were reunited in Athens, he felt sure that Greece would “loan it back every once in a while”.
Clooney was asked if he planned to go to the British Museum, where the sculptures are kept, but said they had to head to France to “insult the Parisians” with “something about the Mona Lisa and Italy”.

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thanks for posting Nicky......this guys seems like a piece of work....

And to think this all started with a comment along the lines of 'that would be nice' in response to the Greek Reporter!

Unfortunately for His Nibs, Boris is a respected historian who has made several impressive documentaries, was the editor of The Spectator before his present job, and not a bad orator.......


Love the last paragraph of the article - very neat!

Yes, but Boris Johnson's counter-argument comparing Clooney to Hermann Goering is ludicrous!
It's Johnson who makes a spectacle of himself as spiteful & ignorant.
If Goering wanted to place back some sculptures of a frieze that belong to an ancient monument, erect for thousands of years, then that was wise of him. He wasn't profiting from that idea.

Lord Elgin took the sculptures in an opportunistic mercenary act from an invading nation who subjugated many countries in Europe at the time. The Nazis also invaded countries and looted art.
Similar parallel to what Lord Elgin allegedly was given permission to do. LOOT ART then sell it to the British Museum for £35,000 when he was broke in 1816. By 1825, Greece won it's war of independence against the Ottoman Empire.

So it's evident that the Parthenon Marbles belong to the country from which they were stolen. They were never even part of the British Empire.

Boris Johnson sounds offensive, uncouth and disrespectful in his statement.

Oh, for heavens sakes!  The repatriation of the Elgin marbles has been a topic for decades (if not centuries).  George is by no means the first to bring it up, so no reason to drag him through the mud.

Clooney was asked if he planned to go to the British Museum, where the sculptures are kept, but said they had to head to France to “insult the Parisians” with “something about the Mona Lisa and Italy”

ROTFLMAO!!!!

phys major wrote:Clooney was asked if he planned to go to the British Museum, where the sculptures are kept, but said they had to head to France to “insult the Parisians” with “something about the Mona Lisa and Italy”

ROTFLMAO!!!!

Me too. Think poor George has had enough with this tour, no matter what he says it's a hemorrhage. xxx

LMFAO!! That comment about going to Paris was hysterical!

Yes I do think it's hysterical that something that was stolen from Greece is now a British treasure. Give the damn marbles back. Geesh.

if they give the marbles back to greece than there are other countries that are gone ask there sculptures back , from other museums over the world .

an avalance

George responded:

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George Clooney rejects Boris Johnson comments over Parthenon marbles

George Clooney has dismissed comments made about him by the London mayor, Boris Johnson, as "too much hyperbole washed down with a few whiskies".
The actor spoke out after Johnson criticised him for suggesting Britain should return the Parthenon marbles to Greece.
Accusing Clooney of losing his own marbles, Johnson claimed the actor was "advocating nothing less than the Hitlerian agenda for London's cultural treasures".
But Clooney said: "I'm a great fan of the mayor, and I'm sure my right honourable friend had no real intention of comparing me to Hitler. I'd chalk it up to a little too much hyperbole washed down with a few whiskies. I've found myself in the same spot a time or two so I hold no ill will.
"When it comes to real facts, not imagined history, you need only to look at the Unesco rulings that have been agreed to by all parties. An occupying nation can't sell off the national heritage of the country it occupies.
"More relevant is the fact that the Parthenon marbles were chipped away from the Parthenon by the occupying Turks and sold. It was a single monument broken into bits. It would be as if the statue of David's head were sold to England, his arm to the Vatican and his torso to the Met."
He added: "There are many pieces in nearly every country that this conversation should take place. The best place to start would be at the most obvious object. When polled the British people are overwhelmingly in favour of their return. The rest of the world follows suit. If you want to deal in facts. Those are the facts. But maybe it's just easier to compare me to Hitler."
The row began when Clooney was asked about the sculptures, taken to Britain from the Parthenon in the 19th century, during a press conference to promote his new film The Monuments Men, inspired by the true story of a team of soldiers on a mission to rescue valuable artwork stolen by the Nazis during the invasion of Europe.
The British Museum has rejected repeated requests to send the marbles home, countering that it legally owns the collection and that it is displayed free of charge in an international cultural context.

He has clearly done his homework....

Agree, his response now sounds much better

bravo !    

I totally agree with his sentiments, but the logistics would be a nightmare - especially for pieces of art that are publicly displayed (ie. the Elgin marbles or the Mona Lisa). At least these artworks can be viewed by the public, albeit not in their home country, so the present "owners" have the argument that they are available to the whole world to see.

It is a lot more difficult to justify holding on to pieces in private collections. How do you get private collectors to give back works they have bought, possibly legally? Who really owns them after all this time? Its a real mess!