Brian Damage
03-01-2011, 11:04 PM
Even if the efforts of Detroit film fans to erect a Robocop statue fail, their actions are inspiring residents of other cities to honor their local pop culture icons.
Case in point: Two Kansas City disc jockeys are lobbying local leaders to honor "Mama" -- the character played by Vicki Lawrence on "The Carol Burnett Show" and the syndicated spin-off "Mama's Family" -- with a statue of her own.
Their names are Slim-Fast and Lazlo, co-hosts of the "Church of Lazlo" show on KRBZ -- a modern rock station known locally as "The Buzz."
Fittingly, Slim-Fast says once he heard the buzz surrounding the proposed Robocop statue in Motown, he wanted to do something similarly reflective of his area's local culture.
So why Mama?
Well, the series was set in Raytown, a Kansas City suburb of around 28,000 people.
"It practically butts up against Kansas City," Slim-Fast said helpfully.
Again ... Why Mama?
"Well, to be honest, we don't have the luxury of lots of celebrities to choose from," Slim-Fast admitted. "[Jazz pioneer] Charlie Parker is probably the biggest. We had to dig deep, but even the people who weren't familiar with the character are all for it."
The campaign has been going for three weeks -- ever since Detroit Mayor Dave Bing's social media manager answered a Twitter query about a possible statue by saying, "There are not any plans to erect a statue to Robocop. Thank you for the suggestion."
Since then, the "Robostatue" has inspired a firestorm of online commentary, including from Kansas City area residents.
But while Mayor Bing remains skeptical about the value of a statue honoring the Robocop character, Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser is reportedly much more supportive.
"In fact, he said that he's friends with [Raytown Mayor David Bower] and would talk with him about finding a good place to put it," Slim-Fast said. "As far as we know, Bower supports it."
Funkhouser's spokesman Kendrick Blackwood says the mayor does indeed support the statue, but doesn't know if his thumbs-up will help the cause since he just lost his re-election bid.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/27/kansas-city-residents-lobby-for-vicki-lawrence-mama-statue/
http://o.aolcdn.com/photo-hub/news_gallery/7/0/706320/1298078654225.JPEG
Case in point: Two Kansas City disc jockeys are lobbying local leaders to honor "Mama" -- the character played by Vicki Lawrence on "The Carol Burnett Show" and the syndicated spin-off "Mama's Family" -- with a statue of her own.
Their names are Slim-Fast and Lazlo, co-hosts of the "Church of Lazlo" show on KRBZ -- a modern rock station known locally as "The Buzz."
Fittingly, Slim-Fast says once he heard the buzz surrounding the proposed Robocop statue in Motown, he wanted to do something similarly reflective of his area's local culture.
So why Mama?
Well, the series was set in Raytown, a Kansas City suburb of around 28,000 people.
"It practically butts up against Kansas City," Slim-Fast said helpfully.
Again ... Why Mama?
"Well, to be honest, we don't have the luxury of lots of celebrities to choose from," Slim-Fast admitted. "[Jazz pioneer] Charlie Parker is probably the biggest. We had to dig deep, but even the people who weren't familiar with the character are all for it."
The campaign has been going for three weeks -- ever since Detroit Mayor Dave Bing's social media manager answered a Twitter query about a possible statue by saying, "There are not any plans to erect a statue to Robocop. Thank you for the suggestion."
Since then, the "Robostatue" has inspired a firestorm of online commentary, including from Kansas City area residents.
But while Mayor Bing remains skeptical about the value of a statue honoring the Robocop character, Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser is reportedly much more supportive.
"In fact, he said that he's friends with [Raytown Mayor David Bower] and would talk with him about finding a good place to put it," Slim-Fast said. "As far as we know, Bower supports it."
Funkhouser's spokesman Kendrick Blackwood says the mayor does indeed support the statue, but doesn't know if his thumbs-up will help the cause since he just lost his re-election bid.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/27/kansas-city-residents-lobby-for-vicki-lawrence-mama-statue/
http://o.aolcdn.com/photo-hub/news_gallery/7/0/706320/1298078654225.JPEG