Yes its a pretty picture, I get it, I know what its about.
Rich folk like them, of course, deserve worship because of what they are (better than everybody else).
So what? The accident that some folk got to run roughshod over everybody else is quite an un-American viewpoint (we abolished the monarchy here). I understand if others still ascribe to these antique notions. I just have decided, after decades of being drenched in rich-and-powerful hero-worship in media and art, that I would opt out.
Keep all the superior feelings to yourself, thank you. I have none. Kind of my whole point.
I get your feeling, but that's a mistake to placate it on that painting. Napoleon probably abolished more monarchies than anyone else in Europe.
The moment it captures is when Napoleon (who took power, he was not born into it) broke the supremacy of the church over European leaders. A definite moment for secularism.
It does mimic the crowning ceremony of kings, but it actually breaks the supremacy of the church.
Whitewashing Napoleon, another power-hungry European absolute dictator who killed thousands, is disingenuous. He took the thrones of those he deposed. Not a hero.
Rich folk like them, of course, deserve worship because of what they are (better than everybody else).
So what? The accident that some folk got to run roughshod over everybody else is quite an un-American viewpoint (we abolished the monarchy here). I understand if others still ascribe to these antique notions. I just have decided, after decades of being drenched in rich-and-powerful hero-worship in media and art, that I would opt out.
Keep all the superior feelings to yourself, thank you. I have none. Kind of my whole point.