With so many issues and wars around the world, watching a modern day heist go down has a refreshing spirit to it. Recently, the Louvre in Paris was robbed in broad daylight. About $102 million dollars worth of French crown jewels were stolen by 4 suspects dressed as construction workers. It’s honestly impressive how efficient they were as they were in and out in 7 minutes as soon as the museum opened. One would think that a museum holding such valuable pieces of history would have greater security measures but this heist said otherwise.
This reminds me of the Netflix original series “Lupin.” The series is inspired by the Lupin novels where the main character pulls off a similar heist in the Louvre in the first episode. The show definitely romanticizes art thieves and glamorizes the lifestyle which could be a problem on its own but nonetheless it made for a great TV series in my opinion.
This event has created many memes on social media including people praising the thieves and calling the heist ‘chic’. Because a heist sounds so outdated people have also made their own videos interpreting how it went down. There’s also been memes of people comparing this to cartoon villains like Balthazar Bratt from Despicable Me 4.
Many speculate that the thieves were hired for an inside job or was done so by organized crime groups. Not only was this theft, it was also a heritage crime. These jewels don’t just have monetary value they have cultural value as well. It raises the question of how France plans to recover from this burglary as they have just lost monumental pieces of history.
Despite the cultural loss from this event, I think many people were relieved when hearing about this crime in their news network. It was almost like a nice break from all the overwhelming news that has been coming out in the recent months. All this to say, I don’t think this case should just be dismissed as valuable items are lost and who knows if we’re ever going to see these pieces again.
I feel as though heists have been almost romanticized in recent decades from pop culture, especially in TVs and movies. However, the Louvre heist makes me think of the centuries-long discourse on who really owns or deserves ownership of the items showcased in museums and archives across the world, and the lengths people will go to take them. The main example I think of is the British Museum and all of the artifacts it has from around the world and from every part of history. While it is one of the most revered and visited museums in the world, countries, cultures, and people think that many of their items do not belong there and should be returned to the original place they were crafted or discovered. Even so, these items are in these places for a reason and they should be respected, whether that means keeping them in a high-volume location or returning them.
Heists have always been a large part of pop culture, from cop and robber books to movies, to even board games. I think something I found interesting going off of this post was also the effect of the internet in the “chic-fying” of the Louvre heist. People went as the robbers for Halloween, made memes out of it, and it almost felt like a joke we were all in on. The effect of social media deeming something as “chic” or a “trendy” is really powerful and I think that is a large factor in contributing to the heist becoming something chic. The heist became something that brought people together over the baffling amount of power that museums hold. It allowed people to recognize how easy it was to take from the rich, and how the power they hold for us only really exists if you’re willing to accept it.
I think a lot of crimes like this one can be glamorized by society, especially by the media, as people obsess over the story. TV shows and movies that stream content about crimes like the Louvre heist definitely don’t help the case, as they romanticize stunts like this one, which, as you said, can be harmful in the long run but good for entertainment. With growing social media platforms, people tend to fixate on stories and crimes such as this, analyzing every detail and questioning the simplicity of the crime. When it involves cultural artifacts such as the crowns and jewels, it does kind of surprise me how no one seemed to necessarily care that they were stolen, but rather cared about how the thieves were able to do it.
Calling a heist chic is such an intriuging shift in the way society views crime. While many people on social media mourned the loss of the stolen items, the overwhelming message received online was one of excitement and interest in the heist. Online platforms became fascinated in how simplistic this crime was and with heists becoming evermore rare, it just felt so “Hollywood.” I think many people found solace in the message the thieves sent of just how easy it is to take from the wealthy, even easier than most people think. I think in a way this crime demonstrates how society has slightly lost the plot regarding historic goods, in celebrating a piece of history being stolen and likely resold for a high price. However, it is easy to understand how this reaction would take place with rising wealth gaps and increasing poverty.