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SOME SAY TELEVISION is experiencing a new golden era, and America’s museums are putting those highly acclaimed shows on display, showcasing popular culture in their prestigious spaces in hopes of attracting younger and more diverse visitors.
In the US capital Washington, the National Portrait Gallery houses the likenesses of all of the country’s great leaders — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and…. Francis Underwood?
Underwood, Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey’s cunning fictional president on the powerhouse Netflix series House of Cards, sits cross-legged at a desk — his Oval Office, of course.
The work made its debut last week and will be on display until October. The display coincides with Friday’s release of the fourth season of the political drama.
“I’m one step closer to convincing the rest of the country that I am the president,” Spacey joked the day the portrait was unveiled.
But why would a museum feature a fictional TV character?
“Not only does it reflect the impact of popular contemporary culture on America’s story, but it also exemplifies the fine art tradition of actors portrayed in their roles,” explained Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery.
The National Museum of American History, also in Washington, gave a similar explanation when it added iconic objects from the cult TV series Breaking Bad to its collection last November.
The yellow hazmat suit and the black porkpie hat worn by Walter White, a meek chemistry teacher who becomes a drug kingpin, won’t be on public display until a planned 2018 exhibit on American culture.
But fans who can’t wait that long can visit a new exhibit at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas that features the protective suit and mask that White, played by Emmy winner Bryan Cranston, wore while cooking meth.
Other small screen sensations featured by American museums include early 20th century clothing worn by the aristocratic characters and their household staff on Downton Abbey at Chicago’s Driehaus Museum, on display until 8 May.
There was also last year’s Mad Men exhibit at New York’s Museum of the Moving Image, which coincided with the final episodes of the acclaimed show about a narcissistic advertising executive’s professional and family life in the 1960s.
‘New, younger, more diverse’
“There is nothing surprising about seeing the influence of television” in American museums, said Dustin Kidd, a sociologist at Temple University in Pennsylvania.
Kidd, the author of Pop Culture Freaks, says the US has numerous museums dedicated to film and television, adding that “the influence of television on American art is as old as television itself”.
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Wonderful news! Common sense prevails. Rare but very very welcome.
This is great. If the kids with down Syndrome receive and are given the opportunity of a decent education then they will be fairly independent in later life.
They can hold down jobs and live a full and contribute to society.
Unfortunately the journal are jumping the gun on this one,while the bill will go uncontested,Minister Quinn have pulled the rug from under our feet,his new ‘special needs’ plan will precede all the that Finian McGrath has worked for and our kids will be at the bottom of the pile again,
cheers Ruairi,karma will win this one,I have no doubt!!!!
Seriously Nichola? That is a horrible thing for government to do.
That’s a start lets wait and see what Quinn has in store though. It would be really lovely if we as parents didn’t have to meet with the department inspectors to argue the case for keeping our child’s special needs assistant too.
Some good news :)
While this is very good news for children with Down’s syndrome and welcome, why is this only being offered to children with this specific diagnosis? There are many children who do not have an SNA or adequate resource hours at school because they “only” have mild intellectual disability.
The only reason for it coming up it is due to the very hard work of a group of parents and Down Syndrome Ireland supporters .
If this comes to into place then it points the way to all other interested groups. Everybody wants what’s best for every child no matter what their needs are.
The reason this is aimed at children with Down Syndrome was because Down Syndrome was not classified as a low incident disability and so resource hours were not guaranteed. This has now changed. Psychological assessments are used also in order to allocated resource hours presently. It’s true that you need a lobby group to enforce change but there are lots of groups out there who include all disabilities who could lobby on behalf of other children.
I am totally in favour of any resources being made available for people with disabilities but surely it would make more sense to provide resources to people depending on their level of intellectual disability rather than what disability they have i.e down syndrome. What about every other child who are born in this country with an intellectual disability that is an unknown syndrome or disorder. Surely more resources should be made available for them too. They should be passing a bill for mainstream schooling for people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, so every child is giving the chance not just down syndrome specific
Great news for those waiting for many years BUT ELECTION IS ON ITS WAY,,,
have your say