Just Stop Oil: Is it Effective?
By: Maggie Reef
As you may or may not have heard, this past October two people threw tomato soup on Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting. The two people are members of a movement called “Just Stop Oil.” Their goal is to stop the development and production of fossil fuels, however, their acts of protest might be doing more harm to the cause. At the National Gallery in London two activists threw tomato soup onto the painting and glued their hands to the wall. They proceeded to ask the question “What is worth more, art or life?” Similar to this event, other protesters have thrown mashed potatoes onto one famous painting, and spray painted “NO NEW OIL” under another. These protests have been received very harshly by the public, so much so that these acts might have caused a loss of respect for the movement.
A large number of people see this event in the media and immediately write it off as vandalism. Those who decide to look into the issue and learn about the cause develop more of an understanding for the protesters, but the vast majority see the event on social media and get angry or annoyed. This is an issue of the “Protester’s Dilemma.” Every protester has to walk the fine line between small movements that gain no traction, and extreme movements that gain negative attention. The painting protests have crossed over this line for a lot of people. This raises the question as to whether or not disliking the protesters actually affects the cause. Oftentimes those who are upset with the protesters are the same people who wouldn’t take action either way. Those who are part of the movement themselves think that they are getting more support than hate at this time and that hate is inevitable in any sort of resistance movement.
Although all of the art was protected somehow and not actually damaged, the acts of throwing food onto incredibly valuable paintings ignited a lot of anger. However, this anger brought widespread media attention to issues of climate change, so as some might say “there is no such thing as bad press.”
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/just-stop-oil-protests-the-conversation/index.html