File this under: You can’t make this stuff up.
Okay, the setting: There’s a 400-year-old giant chalk outline of a pagan fertility god in a field in England. Sensing a publicity moment, Fox hired the field next to the pagan god and put a giant painting of Homer Simpson (in his undewear) brandishing a donut.
The pagans are not amused.
Pagans have pledged to perform “rain magic” to wash away cartoon character Homer Simpson after he was painted next to their famous fertility symbol – the Cerne Abbas giant.
The 17th century chalk outline of the naked, sexually aroused, club-wielding giant is believed by many to be a symbol of ancient spirituality.
Many couples also believe the 180ft giant, which is carved in the hillside above Cerne Abbas, Dorset, is an aid to fertility.
[…] A giant 180ft Homer Simpson brandishing a doughnut was painted next to the well-endowed figure in a publicity stunt to promote The Simpsons Movie released later this month.
It has been painted with water-based biodegradable paint which will wash away as soon as it rains.
Ann Bryn-Evans, joint Wessex district manager for The Pagan Federation, said: “It’s very disrespectful and not at all aesthetically pleasing.
“We were hoping for some dry weather but I think I have changed my mind. We’ll be doing some rain magic to bring the rain and wash it away.”
But this is the capstone of quotes:
She added: “I’m amazed they got permission to do something so ridiculous. It’s an area of scientific interest.”
Okay. Let’s stop a moment and compare: 180-foot giant naked pagan, not ridiculous. 180-foot giant seminaked Homer, ridiculous.
Who says pagans have no sense of humor? Okay, well, besides everybody.
Update: Here’s a bigger picture. And here’s the Wikipedia entry explaining the giant’s origin.
Where can I get a high-resolution photo of that to use as my desktop wallpaper? :)
Thank you, Meryl, this is the fourth time I’ve seen the photo, and the first time I got the joke! That’s hilarious! Oh, for those that haven’t got it yet? Think “ring-toss…”
Robert
No doubt it will take the intervention of the Pagans’ deities to bring rain to wash away the offending image of Homer. I mean, who ever heard of rain in England?
Being a European pagan in the 21st Century seems hardly less ridiculous than a 180 foot image of Homer Simpson. And they have a “Pagan Federation”? Maybe they’ll start getting outraged by everything the way the Muslims do.
Of course the Archbishop of Canturbury is also a Druid. I expect the Christians of Africa will soon send missionaries to evangelize the Dark Continent of Europe. A religion that believes in eternal moral truths will come as a shock to contemporary Euros.
The last bunch of Euros to embrace paganism was the Nazis. This fact gives me a bad feeling about the present bunch.
Robert, of course the ring-toss is onto the club. Right?
:-)
I think that I side with the Pagans on this one. :)
If that thing’s only 400 years old, that means it was made in 1607, in the time of the puritans. How could a bunch of pagans manage to do something that big without being arrested, burned at the stake, and the drawing obliterated????. I wonder if it’s either much older or much younger.
Updated the story with a link to the Wikipedia entry, which says that it was created on private property. Which would explain a lot. Lords had a lot of latitude in the 17th century, regardless of what the Church of England had to say.
“Update: Here’s a bigger picture.”
That’s The Sun. On Page Three of that er publication is a picture of a woman wearing about as much as Homer is, though she is in better physical condition.
“Donuts: what can’t they do?”