I am not totally thrilled about this, I understand the intention behind it, but at the same this is such a private and powerful picture. On Wednesday, Yoko Ono twitted John Lennon’s glasses covered with blood, a picture taken on December 8th 1980, the day he was murdered.
Yoko Ono has always been bold and controversial and she posted the picture to bring attention on gun violence with a series of tweets:
‘Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on 8 Dec 1980.’
‘31,537 people are killed by guns in the USA every year. We are turning this beautiful country into a war zone.’
‘The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience. After 33 years our son Sean and I still miss him.’
Of course, March 20th was a meaningful date as it was the 44th anniversary of Ono and Lennon's wedding.
‘We decided that if we were going to do anything like get married that we would dedicate it to peace’ she also tweeted with a few pictures of their wedding and a 1971 interview in which the couple was protesting for peace,… and I have no problem with that!
I don’t remember where I read it, but there was someone comparing Yoko’s tweet to people posting pictures of aborted fetuses to protest against abortion… I would not go that far, the comparison is a little ridiculous, but there is nevertheless a certain chock value factor and the same fighting-violence-with-violent-images attitude.
This is certainly not the first time Yoko Ono is using Lennon’s corpse, in 2009, a Lennon exhibit was also featuring a small canvas bag from New York’s St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center containing the clothes he was wearing when he was shot. The problem is, will it help her cause? I guess not much, gun worshipers will not always think that Lennon was a liberal anarchist who deserves to be dead, Yoko haters will make fun of her again and fans will cry one more time; but sorry Yoko, this is not going to change anyone’s opinion on gun control.