BBC News reports that a new John Lennon exhibition in New York will feature a paper bag containing the bloody clothes from the night he was murdered.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex display also features the piano from his apartment and handwritten lyrics.
His widow Yoko Ono, who has created the display, said the clothes were “hard to include” and she feared she “might be criticised as well” for including them.
Ono apparently “received the items from the medical examiner after Lennon’s death.” I know a lot of people will give her shit about this, but she’s never tried to hide the graphic horror of her husband’s death. John Lennon was shot and killed, and if we try to shy away from that fact, how can we ever expect to honestly deal with issues of violence in our society? I applaud Yoko for her idealistic efforts toward working against gun violence. I don’t see much evidence that we’ve gotten any closer to that goal since 1980, but hey, more power to her.
rock angle – check. got it with lennon.
political angle – check. got it with gun control.
i could go both ways on this.
yoko, it’s her right to do what she wants with the estate of john lennon. she’s his wife and his confidant.
on gun control, i find it crass and exploitive. violence is a problem in our society, though i can’t just mark it up to guns. with chapman, if you’re going to go after guns, you might as well be all in for burning all the copies of catcher in the rye. hell, why not be pro-lobotomy for anyone who is clinically depressed. probably not. still, there’s a lot that led up to the tragedy. it’s a sad story. though, if guns weren’t present, it may have been something else.
but as you said, more power to her.
Sure, it probably makes more sense to try to tackle mental illness in a realistic way, but that doesn’t quite have the same “give peace a chance” vibe…
There have been a number of steps taken to make it more difficult for criminals and some dangerous people to legally get guns, especially handguns and assault rifles (recently sunset). Chapman, who had a history of mental illness and documented threats against others, flew from Hawaii to New York City where he stalked and eventually killed John Lennon with a gun he legally (at the time) obtained in Honolulu. Today, given his history, Chapman would have a harder time buying that gun. Not to say he couldn’t get it at all, but it would be harder and sometimes a barrier is all it takes to prevent a violent act.
Good to know. I was basing my assertion that things haven’t gotten much better entirely on the first thing I found after I googled “gun crime statistics.”
Ugh…
“with chapman, if you’re going to go after guns, you might as well be all in for burning all the copies of catcher in the rye.”
Wha? Perhaps you’d have a good point if Chapman’s original plan — to make Lennon hold really still while Chapman paper-cut him to death over the course of an evening — had worked out. Instead, he just went the quickie route with five bullets fired in a couple of seconds at close range. Other than that, though, totally the same.
yeah, i didn’t think i’d have to spell it out but… there were many militating factors that lead chapman to act out. just because he had access to a gun isn’t the end all be all to why lennon died. jesus, holden caufield, and opportunity had just as much to do with it as the gun. so, all i’m saying is that all things added up to one sad situation. and if you think you can solve it all by just taking away the gun by itself, you’re sorely mistaken.
You’ve gotta admit though that a gun is way more efficient than standing on a balcony with an anvil and waiting for your target to walk underneath you!
And I thought I did address the fact that even if all guns were rounded up and melted we wouldn’t end murder. The point is to make these types of crimes more difficult to execute. Sensible gun control is one way to do that–and I fully realize the potential to debate “sensible.”
Another reason guns are bad is that if someone harms your kid and you shoot them–the criminal may die without suffering too nuch. That’s why I’m a big fan of waiting periods for guns. It gives you the time to stew over it. Then you hit the degnerate in the head with a pipe, drag him down your basement and give him the 7 to 10 day punishment he deserves before he starves to death. .
my comments were more directed to amyc in regards to catcher in the rye. yeah, i know her comment was in jest, but still…
i’m with you derek on sensible gun control. though, i would never like to see guns outlawed. i’m all for a waiting period. while i personally don’t own a gun and have no plans on attaining one, i believe strongly in the second amendment.
Five days? But I’m mad NOW!
As incredibly horrific his death was, it is part of Lennon’s history. It’s reality.
Its her right to do whatever she wants, BUT on a side note, whoever still believes chapman killed him is a fucking moron, complete stupid ass, just look at the police sketch for one and you can see if you have a brain thta the angle of the bullets is wrong from where chapman was standing, because the door to the office had holes in it, that is the smoking gun (no pun intended), first time I saw it, it stood out like a sore thumb, he was shut up for being to loud, pur and simple………
Of course, because “Watching the Wheels,” “Woman,” and “Just Like Starting Over” were just about to mobilize the revolution.
There’s a conspiracy theory about the shooter? I never knew. Is that fairly widespread? Or is this just made up by Tommy Boy?