February 8, 2003
WHO IS THE BROKEN MAN?:
Graffiti puzzle's 'broken man' speaks, but message still a mystery (Kirsty Needham, February 8 2003, Sydney Morning Herald)By night, up to 100 chalked messages are appearing on footpaths from Chinatown to Oxford Street, asking: "Who is the brokenman.net?"The internet address leads to a website that asks: "Can you picture ... A terrorist-free world? A drug-free environment? People valuing freedom of speech? Peace in a war-free earth?"
The site promises "something unbelievable" is "coming soon".
The puzzle, which involves fake crime scenes, has attracted police attention as the city remains on a terrorism alert.
Lucas Jackson, a young man in dark glasses who has adopted the name of Paul Newman's character in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, said yesterday that he was the broken man.
Mr Jackson said he was neither a religious zealot nor marketer, and that he was creating the graffiti alone.
What we have here is a failure to communicate... Posted by Orrin Judd at February 8, 2003 6:16 AM
Ugh. A horrible misuse of a great film.
Posted by: Buttercup at February 8, 2003 10:36 AMWhat we have here is a toleration of self-indulgent narcissism masquerading as profundity.
And I wonder if he realizes that, unlike "Easy Rider", "Cool Hand Luke" did not have a happy ending.
Cripes, what a loser. He can't even develop his own personality, he has to steal a fictional one.
Posted by: Mike Orris at February 8, 2003 2:02 PMRaoul:
I don't know about that. Luke is a Christ-figure, so he has to die, but he lives on at least in the Gospels of his fellow inmates and offers them a beacon of hope and freedom.
I suppose its much more entertaining to critisise someone rather than give them a warm smile and be happy for them that they may be doing something really special.
Could it be at all possible that this guy is doing something important either for himself and/or for the public and at the same time paying a tribute in his own way to a movie that he might actually hold dear to him, without going through the usual marketing bullshit.
what is so self-indulgent about wanting to give something of yourself to others anyway. Is it just because he used that name, if so what if it really does relate to his cause, which we don't even know about yet.
I think what we really have here is a failure to be more open minded sheesh....
Who has the time and energy to do something like this? I don't think many people could. I'll have to say good work brokenman!!
Posted by: susannadesilva at March 6, 2003 12:46 PM