Give Peace a Chance!

This afternoon I went to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the exhibition, Imagine, that was prepared to celebrate the 40th John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s famous Bed-in in Montreal in 1969. They did this performance during their honeymoon. Expecting intensive media attention, they wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to promote world peace, so they began this Bed-in performance in Amsterdam for a week. Then, they planned to go to New York, but Lennon’s entry was denied because of his drug conviction record, so flew to Bahamas. After spending one night in the heat, they flew again to Montreal. So, it seems that they happened to have the second Bed-in performance in Montreal by chance.

It appeared that they received sufficient media attention. I wonder whether the media was disappointed that they were wearing pajamas all the time in their bed. This performance, in particular, was done after their sensational nude album jacket was released and Ono’s groundbreaking conceptual art had drawn much media attention. Probably the media groups were expecting another shocking performance, but it didn’t happen.

I appreciate their deep thought and sacrificing their private moments for public good. But I feel uneasy with the performance. If I had watched that performance for two weeks when they were talking and playing in a luxurious hotel room, I might have been nauseated. Did it really call for the peace in the world? Obviously this peace was meant against the Vietnam War. I wonder whether this performance impacted any and if so, how. Can peace be obtained that easily? I can’t get away from the idea of media game in thinking of the Bed-in performance.

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