A statue of Daniel Kaluuya in his hit film Get Out has been unveiled in London’s Leicester Square but has already sparked a debate about the choice of moment being represented from the horror movie.
Kaluuya, was chosen from a poll of 5,000 British film fans as the actor people would most like to see recognised with a new statue in Leicester Square, winning one fifth of the vote.
The Judas and the Black Messiah actor will join a collection of figures, including Harry Potter, Batman, Mr Bean, Wonder Woman, Mary Poppins and Gene Kelly as part of the “Scenes in the Square” trail.
Despite the obvious prestige of a young Black British actor being acknowledged in such a manner, the actual choice of scene from the 2017 Oscar winning film has raised eyebrows.
The scene depicted is when Kaluuya’s character Chris is hypnotised and figuratively falls into a dark void called the "sunken place". Although the moment is visually stunning, it is arguably not as well remembered an image as when Chris is sitting in an armchair with tears running down his face.
...
Some were slightly more complimentary with one person joking: “Good for him. Getting honoured next to Paddington and Mr Bean is about the most an Englishman can hope to do in the arts these days.”
