{"id":10801,"date":"2013-10-07T14:00:21","date_gmt":"2013-10-07T19:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=10801"},"modified":"2016-05-04T11:39:11","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T16:39:11","slug":"jaime-garzon-an-unlikely-seriously-funny-colombian-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/10\/jaime-garzon-an-unlikely-seriously-funny-colombian-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaime Garzon: An Unlikely, Seriously Funny Colombian Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

The biggest piece of graffiti on Bogota\u00b4s giant art gallery on 26th Street<\/a>\u00a0is of a weedy, bespectacled young man with a smart, somewhat ironic expression. Not really the profile of your traditional Colombian hero.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A more likely Colombian hero.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your usual brand of hero – both here in Colombia and in the world more generally – is like the statue in the above photo. Uniformed, athletic, with an impassive bearing expressing\u00a0dignity, pride, and righteousness<\/strong>. Or, if you want to put it another way: a majestic lack of humour<\/strong>. Simon Bolivar, the man of a thousand statues, is the prototype. Generally, for national heroes, bravery is favoured over irony<\/strong>; stoicism over wit; determination over humour. In most cases you could think of, national heroes aren\u00b4t particularly funny.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jaime Garzon was hilarious.\u00a0<\/strong>A popular figure on Colombian television during the nineties, he was more Rafael Pombo than Jose Asuncion<\/a>;\u00a0more El Pibe than Falcao;<\/strong> more court jester than The Liberator. Whether he was darting incisive comments at authority<\/strong> as a humble shoe-black; or delivering caustic criticism of future president Uribe through ironic praise, Jaime was ever the clown.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Even when striking the usual heroic pose, there\u00b4s still something about the body language of this figure that expresses his irrepressible sense of humour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anyone that was forced to study Shakespeare’s\u00a0King Lear<\/em> at school will probably remember that the figure of the court jester is a complicated one. There\u00b4s something about the social position of the clown that allows them to use humour and irony to tell the truth to power<\/strong>; in a way that others can\u00b4t. Bizarrely, there\u00b4s something close to sanctity – to invulnerability – that attaches itself to people in this role. This makes the fact that Jaime Garzon was gunned down in cold blood<\/strong>, not that long ago, and not far away from that giant mural, so gut-wrenching. That makes it even more chilling that still, nobody has been brought to justice for his murder.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The unavoidable reality of Garzon\u00b4s death coldly emphasises that this unlikely hero was no simple clown<\/strong>. Educated, politically engaged, and brave; he was untiring in his efforts of communicating to indigenous people what their constitutional rights were; fearless in his work negotiating the release of hostages<\/strong>; and ever-incisive in his identification of Colombia\u00b4s most pressing problems and contradictions. This completely serious work was done with his tireless, spirited sense of humour, always attuned to irony and a sense of paradox. His character, Heriberto of the Streets, came to be something like Colombia\u00b4s conscience<\/strong> due to this dual nature. Serious political criticism and insight was delivered with such comic timing and cheek that it somehow came across as innocuous.<\/p>\n

Two kinds of hero<\/strong>: the stern, stoic military figure; or the humble shoe-shine with that annoying laugh. For me with my gringo point of view, it is the latter that seems to ring truer about what I know of Colombian people. Garzon\u00b4s bravery and humour, his idealism and irony,<\/strong> and the ultimate price he paid for expressing his love and hope for society, is a unique and important example for us all. Today, as Colombia continues to leap forward in bold bounds<\/strong>, it\u00b4s important to remember what steps still need to be taken. A point of view like Jaime\u00b4s would help.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paul G<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The biggest piece of graffiti on Bogota\u00b4s giant art gallery on 26th Street\u00a0is of a weedy, bespectacled young man with a smart, somewhat ironic expression. Not really the profile of your traditional Colombian hero.     Your usual brand of hero – both here in Colombia and in the world more generally – is like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":10447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1423,115,1255,4,66],"tags":[58,797,345],"yoast_head":"\nJaime Garzon: An Unlikely, Seriously Funny Colombian Hero - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/10\/jaime-garzon-an-unlikely-seriously-funny-colombian-hero\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jaime Garzon: An Unlikely, Seriously Funny Colombian Hero\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The biggest piece of graffiti on Bogota\u00b4s giant art gallery on 26th Street\u00a0is of a weedy, bespectacled young man with a smart, somewhat ironic expression. 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