The village of Celoron, New York, is not only the hometown of Lucille Ball—it's also the site of one scary-ass statue.
The bronze monster was intended to serve as a touching tribute to the beloved comedienne, though something seems to have gone horribly awry: Residents are disturbed by the 400-pound ogre lurking in their midst, with Lucy's toothy maw and dead-eyed gaze more closely resembling a creature from the deep than a woman who was genuinely beautiful in life.
"It looks like a monster," one local told the Daily News. “It not only does not look like Lucy, it doesn’t look human. And at nighttime it’s even scarier."
Scary Lucy has been haunting Celoron since 2009, but the recent creation of a Facebook page called "We Love Lucy! Get Rid of this Statue" has attracted a flood of media attention in recent days.
The artist, Dave Poulin, has since apologized for creeping out the town, and has even offered to redo the thing at his own expense:
I take full responsibility for 'Scary Lucy,' though by no means was that my intent or did I wish to disparage in any way the memories of the iconic Lucy image.
From the day of its installation I have shared my disappointment in the final outcome and have always believed it to be by far my most unsettling sculpture, not befitting of Lucy’s beauty or my ability as a sculptor. Yes, in retrospect, it should have never been cast in bronze and made public, and I take complete ownership of that poor decision.
I am willing to put my time and money into redoing the Lucy sculpture and feel confident after ten years I can do a much better job.
It's hard not to feel sorry for Poulin, who erred not by unleashing Undead Lucy on an otherwise innocent town, but because he should never have admitted to any wrongdoing. Remember Ecce Mono? Now that was a fuck up, but you didn't hear Cecilia Giménez apologizing for turning Our Lord and Savior into a zoo animal, now did you. On the contrary, she demanded a hefty cut of the considerable profits raked in by this otherwise out-of-the-way Spanish church—profits it would never have had if not for her...contribution.
Take heart, Poulin. Before Maneater Lucy, no one cared about Celoron, New York. Your creation has brought national attention to an otherwise indistinct town, and with that attention, thousands of dollars in outside capital just waiting to be squandered in its borders. Just be sure to get in on those tote bag profits before it's too late.
