Statues of fictional characters - inspirational? Huh?

[kranky]

Minneapolis will be putting up a statue of Mary Richards (the character played by Mary Tyler Moore on the MTM show) which is being commissioned by Viacom, the parent company of the TVLand cable network. It will depict Richards tossing her hat into the air, a scene in the show's opening credits.

Minneapolis mayor Sharon Sayles Belton says she is thrilled: "Mary Richards inspired millions of women to dare to break through the glass ceiling. The show also portrayed Minneapolis as a great place to live and work to viewers across the country."

Let's get real. In what way is a fictional character inspiring, or someone to be admired? Are there no actual heroes to be honored in such a way?

[edit] fixed typo [/edit]

 

[AaronP]

hey, Viacom is paying for the damn thing, so let em build it.

 

[IJump]

The mayor said the show portrayed Minneapolis as a great place to live, does he mean that it really isn't a great place to live?

 

[Mikal]

I'd like to see a statue of Vinny Barbarino in Brooklyn as an inspiration to slackers everywhere!

 

[loup garou]

hmm...

/me plans a statue of Ignatius Reilly from Confederacy of Dunces as New Orleans' spokes-statue.

...hmm...maybe not.

 

[Mikal]

Hmmm, perhaps a statue of Milo Minderbinder from "Catch 22?"

 

[Linflas]

There was a big brouhaha in Philladelphia when they wanted to remove the Rocky statue from the spot it was placed in for the movies. If I recall correctly they ended up moving it to another site.

Edit: Found a link about this. Rocky statue.

 

[kranky]

What's the difference between a TV character and a cartoon character? The cartoon Underdog was set in Pittsburgh, maybe he was an inspiration to crime-fighters and should get a statue also.

I'd like them to come up with some people who would publicly say Mary Richards inspired them. Yeah, Mary! You pulled your weight in the formerly all-male newsroom! Oh, sure, that's because the scriptwriters wrote it that way, but still!