Churchill in straightjacket

The fact that people are so insulted & angry about it is a sad a reflection on society, where mental illness is still so stigmatised & kept hidden.
At least people are now talking about it openly.

It perhaps makees one think or at least ask the question, if Blair, Brown or Cameron suffered from depression and this were made public, would they still be PM, Chencellor and Leader of the Opposition?? Esp considering how highly Churchill is still regarded…

I didn’t agree with it, even though Chruchhill suffered with depression

The statue has now been removed

statue removed

I think it works – in a subtle kind of way but it’s not for public display outdoors – put it in a gallery and give it a proper setting.

Churchill is a great hero of mine. I was aghast to start with….it has made people think. I find it disgusting that the tabloid press label anyone with the slight mental illness (which depression is) as a ‘nutter’ or ‘mad’, witness poor old Frank Bruno. It does not take much to provoke depression…..bereavement, stress, divorce, etc take your pick.

Getting the stigma taken out of depression is a great idea….however, a statue is a semi permanent item so this will be open to misinterpretation…more so in the future.

The statue looks weird.

The very fact that we are talking about this Statue proves that it works on one level and maybe has helped increase awareness of this illness.
I am not so sure on the Staue as a piece of art but as a statement it works i think.
It does not shame Churchill in my view, He will always be a hero and his place in History can never be denied. Depression is a terrible thing and people like Churchill and Spike Milligan are great examples of what you can achieve in your life with this illness, Its something else to overcome another wall to climb.
Its also intresting to note that History has many geniuses and great people had depression, It makes them no less great i think, And also is good inspiration for anybody who suffers with this illness.

Evidence that the senior management of the mental heath system also has bouts of mental illness or at the very least moments of poor judgement.

Sauron

The statue is a demonstrative, expressionist and thought provoking piece of art, not a literal depiction or insult to the man, gedditt ??? 😉

The point is to show us that anyone can suffer from mental illnesses and those mental illnesses should not hold us back from having successful lives or indeed perhaps becoming prime ministers. A bloody good point, well made.

It’s not going to be stuck on plinth on Whitehall folks, it’s just a marketing tool to raise awareness of a health issue, that a whole lot of people appear to be in denial of, or are afraid to broach the subject. 😮

(Speaking from personal experience). :p

I’m sorry i don’t like it or the idea that Churchill’s illness was a strait jacket to him. There must have been other ways of showing Churchill suffered with depression,the use of imagination springs to mind.As for not taking art too literally i would say the same if the statue predicted a beloved spike milligan or other well known sufferers.

Churchill made no bones about his depression, referring to it as his “Black Dog”.

His sporadic bouts of mental illness don’t diminish his historical greatness as a leader; quite the reverse, in fact.

Having said this, I’m unsure about the statue.

I think it makes a good visual statement about mental illness and depression in particular. A subject many people would rarther see brushed under the carpet to be honest.

The critics should maybe attempt to interpret the sculpture less literally ?