Walking the Monuments
Sep. 25th, 2004 12:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
saavedra77I managed to get down to Washington, DC to sightsee a little one night during my recent Bethesda trip. The sun was already going down by the time I reached the National Mall, so I decided to walk out along the Tidal Basin to see the monuments--which I think are more impressive at night, anyway. Looking up at the Jefferson Memorial's spiralling quotation, "I HAVE SWORN UPON THE ALTAR OF GOD ETERNAL HOSTILITY AGAINST EVERY FORM OF TYRANNY OVER THE MIND OF MAN", reminded me uncomfortably of certain recent tyrannies over the minds of my contemporaries (&, not coincidentally, of the tracking shot of those same bold words seen in closing minutes of Tim Robbins' "Bob Roberts"). Further on, Lincoln's memorial suggested all the solemn layers of history associated with that legacy, from the 1860s to the 1960s (&, more recently, the scene of Anthony Hopkins' Nixon clumsily trying to communicate with antiwar protestors in the Oliver Stone movie).
In between these two awe-inspiring marble temples, the FDR memorial is more of a sculpture garden, with smaller, mostly life-size figures--FDR, Eleanor, people in breadlines, most of them coppery-green, amid rough stone slabs and flowing water. One giant, iconic FDR in the center approaches the monumentality of Jefferson & Lincoln: seated, caped, the FDR of Yalta. Yet, just in case you're tempted take the world-conquering four-term president too seriously, there's an outsize sculpture of FDR's lapdog Fala sitting alongside him.
Personally, though, I was most drawn to the lifesize bronze FDR toward the beginning of the memorial, in his homemade wheelchair. This human scale FDR is completely approachable: there's no barrier, you can put your arm around him, kids can even sit on his lap. More importantly, the figure beams with the irresistible confidence that I think drew people to Roosevelt in the first place, during those hard times. And the inclusion of the wheelchair adds to the sense of approachability and humanity--even though the exposure of this disability during his lifetime might ironically have undercut that confident public image and people's willingness to follow him.
In between these two awe-inspiring marble temples, the FDR memorial is more of a sculpture garden, with smaller, mostly life-size figures--FDR, Eleanor, people in breadlines, most of them coppery-green, amid rough stone slabs and flowing water. One giant, iconic FDR in the center approaches the monumentality of Jefferson & Lincoln: seated, caped, the FDR of Yalta. Yet, just in case you're tempted take the world-conquering four-term president too seriously, there's an outsize sculpture of FDR's lapdog Fala sitting alongside him.
Personally, though, I was most drawn to the lifesize bronze FDR toward the beginning of the memorial, in his homemade wheelchair. This human scale FDR is completely approachable: there's no barrier, you can put your arm around him, kids can even sit on his lap. More importantly, the figure beams with the irresistible confidence that I think drew people to Roosevelt in the first place, during those hard times. And the inclusion of the wheelchair adds to the sense of approachability and humanity--even though the exposure of this disability during his lifetime might ironically have undercut that confident public image and people's willingness to follow him.
