Decrease Suck for Cecilia Gimenez? (The lady behind "Potato Jesus")

[Kat]

So that painting and article have been making the rounds around the internet: a lady took it upon herself to restore a badly-damaged fresco painting, and the results were...less than stellar. I'm sure that it's a source of a bit of amusement and maybe also bewilderment for many people: why did she do it? Did she do it like that on purpose? How did she do it? The questions seem neverending.

Did you know that this poor woman feels so much shame and anxiety over her mistake that she has completely retreated from the rest of the world? Her family told newspapers that she is hiding in a "blanket nest of shame" and that they have to make sure that she eats.

I don't think it's fair. Sure, it's a pretty big mistake, but everybody makes mistakes--and sometimes even really big ones. She didn't hurt anyone, didn't kill anyone, didn't make any racist or sexist or any kind of -ist remarks in public. She did what she thought was right--putting in an effort to repair a piece of art history that had, up until now, gone completely ignored and unpreserved. 

I created a petition on Change.org. I know, I know: petitions don't usually do a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. It was just the simplest way I could think of that we could try to show her that the entire world is not laughing at her. I don't know if it'll ever reach her area of the world, or if it'll get big enough to even matter, but I had to put in the effort.

This is the link to the petition. Please, could you sign it? You don't even have to write any kind of long and heartfelt note with your signature: just the fact that you're adding your name to the list of people who don't hate her is enough. If you could share it with your friends, well...so much the better, but no one can force you to do that. 

I know that this is very very small compared to world hunger and cancer and war and all of those terrible things that add way too much suck to the world, but think about how this woman must feel. I think her world sucks a lot right now.

[Kat]

Wow! Already the number of signatures on this petition has more than doubled. Granted, it just went from having 19 to 41, but that's still amazing! 

When I start getting even larger numbers of signatures, does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can try to spread the word all the way to Spain? Maybe I could send an email or the link to the petition to El Mundo? My Spanish is a bit rusty, but I think I could type up a decent explanation for them--plus I'm sure there are staff members who speak English?

[The Gamer (hansbrolo)]

See, this is what I think nerdfighteria is about. It's not always about decreasing big sources of suck-age, but about making a difference to people. That difference was what brought this community together in the first place, and I think that we need to focus on the small things too in order to remember that.

[Kat]

Absolutely! I was hoping that people would see it this way too. :) Thank you for your thoughtful words: they really resonate with me. :)

[Kat]

Right now, we're standing at a giggle-inducing 69 signatures. That is a solid 50 more than we had yesterday. I think the goal for today should be to get up over 100. I'm not sure how many we'll need in order to get the kind of attention that will help this petition reach Sra. Gimenez, but right now I've got the goal set at 1000. Every little bit helps, Nerdfighters! Please share this petition with your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter?

[Katie Caughlan]

Agreed! I think it's honestly sad that she is being ridiculed in such a way for trying to accomplish something. I hope that more people realize that she's human and humans make mistakes! Also as for how to get the petition publicized/to her, you can probably find someone on here who is more fluent in Spanish If you ask around.

[Kat]

Aah just 12 signatures until we hit 100. We can do this!

[Vanille (Captain, please)]

Hi!

I just signed, the petition is up to 105 now. I think you're absolutely right. I'd never heard about this until today (word hasn't reached France yet), but I agree that people shouldn't have to hide away in shame because of the mistakes they make. And I don't see what all the fuss is about, since the painting wasn't a masterpiece, and nobody'd heard of it until she renovated it. Seriously, it's not like she destroyed the Mona Lisa :)

[riley morrison]

i would love to send a handwritten message as well!

[riley morrison]

i joined nerdfighers just to say that i signed the petition and i hope you get it to her! it made me really sad to hear about how upset Cecilia is, especially because she is an elderly woman and had the best of intentions. i truly hope she can come to see a silver lining with this whole debacle and maybe even laugh at it eventually. 

[Carrie (Sister Ishtar)]

Signed. You know, aside from the fact that people are making fun of her, I was thinking there is likely another dimension of shame in this for Señora Gimenez. I am not religious- in fact I personally think that the dogma and stigma of religion can be very damaging. I also do not know if Señora Gimenez is religious, either, but I am assuming that she is- after all, she took it on herself to restore an image of Christ that she clearly cared about, to rescue it from the poor state in which she found it. How horrid must all of this mocking seem? Not only did she, in the eyes of the world, paint badly- but this attention may have the further effect of making her feel this: What may have been for her an act of devotion, made from a place of love for both the work and the subject-Christ- is not good enough and is something to be ashamed of. THAT IS AWFUL. I cannot FATHOM how much more hurtful that shame must be than merely painting poorly. My heart goes out to her, I wish profoundly that we had some solid way of contacting her personally to express our support. I especially dislike this horrid sensationalism in the news directed at someone her age. FFS, I want very badly to have someone tell her that the world is not completely filled with mocking, uncaring people and that we see what she was doing, we see her efforts, and that we appreciate that she was going afte something to improve the world she lived in. Who gives a damn if it didn't come out perfectly. I don't think any of us could handle it if the world came down on us everytime we didn't live up to someone's expectations.

[Simon Andrew Eric Sharda]

Hi! I just signed it & I wanted to say how much I support this. I spent all summer in France & I hadn't heard of this story til I found the petition tonight. But... really, I can't believe how willingly people mock & hurt others. Especially when it's over a mistake someone made when they trying to do something good. That's awful & sad.

Thank you so much for posting this, hopefully this petition will lift her spirits & help her to not forget to be awesome. :)

[Ode [Forums Ningmaster]]

Hey, just wanted to say- you should publish it in a place more well... popular than the ning. As much as I like it, I think that posting it on Reddit or Tumblr or even 9gag can get it so much higher. BTW, signed. [=