MovieChat Forums > San wa (2005) Discussion > Who else agrees with Jacky that...

Who else agrees with Jacky that...


the British Museum should return relics from other nations because they were not found in the UK?

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[deleted]

I agree, UK should give those artifacts back.

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I agree.

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Ya because at the time when they were taken the countries were taking such good care of them. The only reason we have alot of the relects we have today is because they were removed. The Parthenon and the Eglin Marble's probably being the best example.

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THEY BELONG IN A MUSEUM!!!!!

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Well, Eglin claimed he just wanted to save the Parthenon. But some say he just robbed the Greeks while they were at war with the Ottomans.
I would say if you're at war, you are very busy with fighting and protecting your citizens than protecting Big Ben. Maybe it's just me, and you tell me the Greeks should just have instantly given up fighting for their independence and run to the Parthenon as soon as they hear that Eglin was cutting it into pieces.. that is if they should hear about such news at war times.

So maybe it's the fault of the Egyptians that they worshipped their pyramids as much as a final resting place and don't want it explored.. probably as much as people don't want others to undig their family members' grave and open the coffins because they threw all the gold and blingbling the dead man owned into it.
Since the British people don't care about all this and dig and find relicts, they all belongs rightfully to their Museum or to the private collectors they sold to finance their diggings.

And maybe the people of the (former) British colonies or war opponents, who just waved the white flag, should grab their weapons again and fight to death for their relicts, even though they already surrendered because they knew they were weaker and didn't want their folk to be erased.

Preying on people because they are weaker than you or distracted is not right. It's called bully or theft.

In the case of China: First, offering opium (a drug, something unknown to the Chinese, as well as the consequences of drug abuse) to make people addicted to it and valuing it more than everything else in their lives; and then rip them off everything they have for the white powder because the UK cannot offer anything else China remotely wanted in exchange for their artifacts is.. plain evil.. and shows that you care nothing about humans (looking different than you), but value things over people.

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Well said. Hold up while my ancestors go protect architecture instead of our fellow countrymen...

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because they were not found in the UK>>>>>
I think you kinda switched the concept here,
they were ROBBED by the british!


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It's been a long time since I watched this movie. As far as I can remember, he answered this in an interview after the credits. Or maybe he said it as the character he was playing. I think I just repeated what he said. I doubt he used such harsh words since it would reflect badly on the movie either way.

Maybe I'm wrong about this, and I just tried to say it as diplomatic as possible to start a discussion to hear both sides.

If you wanna know my personal opinion, you can read it in the reply to ClassicKatarn.

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i live in china, and i have to say, even to today the chinese seem not to take care of artifacts in the same way we do in the west.
i have personally witnessed someone touching ancient paintings with thier hands in a museum whilst the curator/guard looked on as if it were perfectly normal.
maybe its the right of other nations to destroy thier own relics, i don't know... or maybe they belong to the world as a whole and should be protected.
china tends to view its history as something to sell. it costs an arm and a leg to go see any of chinas history but in england it is usually free.

"I've seen your light. It burns bright forever. No more blue tomorrows... you on high now."

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I think most archeologists/historians/anthropologists around the world are agree on the fact that the relics should return to the place they belong, where they have not only a touristic value nor they are a mere "evidence" of the power of the conquering nations. All those relics should return to the place they belong where they have an immeasurable historical and cultural value.

They shouldn't be "exhibited" as the spoils of a invasion or conquest neither as the product of some "trade" with another similar institution or even worse: "acquired" in the black market or in some dubious auction.

BTW The British Museum is not the only offender. TBM plus Louvre and The Metroploitan Museum of Art in NYC are perhaps the most infamous examples. But practically every other museum on any major city of the 1st world have aquired "legally" or illegally relics from the culturally richest countries of the world: Egypt, Irak (Mesopotamia), Mexico, India, Peru, China, Guatemala, Cambodia, Iran (Persia), and so on and so forth.

The sad thing is that the return of the relics never will happen: The obelisk that you can see in La place de la Concorde in Paris never will return to Luxor, where it belongs. Neither the obelisk that everybody can see in Central Park, NY. which was erected in honor of Thutmosis III, nor the obelisk today located in Westminster, UK.

They all and thousands (millions?) of relics more have been stolen, "bought", or received as "presents" from the puppet dictators in turn, etc.

BTW if you think they are better preserved in first world countries, that's not necessarily true. The Obelisk of Central Park resisted over 3000 years in the dry desert of Egypt, but in less than 150 years most of its inscriptions have disappeared or are heavily damaged due to the humidity and acid rain so common of NYC.

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It's called Conquest and expansion of Empires. The Mongolians looted the world from China to the Europe at the height of their power.

Grow up. Be thankful they are in a place where they will be protected for centuries to come.

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Not an easy question. In some cases the host country wasn't that bothered about trying to keep them at the time. In some cases they were gifts. But if the british Museum is to return all its artifacts (and I do think some should be returned), then other countries should look at their own war spoils as well...

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