Focus on this artwork and explain the Reactions.
Shortly after the unveiling in 1998, BlueShoe Nashville noted that newspaper coverage showed that support for and dismay against the statue generally followed racial lines. It also critiqued the statue's quality, remarking that "Anyone seeing the crazed, pop-eyed look on the statue's face might wonder if the memorial is a homage, or a savage put-down."In 2006, local blogger Brent K. Moore wrote that Forrest "has an expression that one makes after sitting on a thumb tack."In 2015, The Washington Post called it "the weirdest Confederate statue in existence" and found the statue to have "a cartoonish and inadvertently satirical tone, incorporating elements of fiberglass and foil-candy wrapper coloring". The Post called the horse a "golden steed that looks like it was ripped from a merry-go-round for giants."In June 2015 Gawker described the "alarming" statue as being created by a "fierce racist... for another bad man. The statue is so hilariously stupid that we should keep it forever" for it "perfectly honors the Confederacy."A November 2015 Vibe.com article entitled 7 Controversial & Offensive Tourist Attractions In The U.S.  described the installation as the "ugliest" statue of Forrest and noted it is "surrounded by an overwhelmingly large display of numerous Confederate flags"Rachel Maddow on MSNBC described it as having "terrifying marble blue eyes" and a "mouth like a circular saw".Comedian Stephen Colbert first quoted President Trump's tweets about "preserving the beautiful monuments" in the wake of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia then immediately mocked this statue by saying "apparently the Confederacy was founded by skirt-wearing nutcrackers riding wet lizards" and by mimicking the pose, shooting invisible soldiers following Forrest and riding an imaginary horse around the stage. Similarly, comedian John Oliver referred to the statue as being "objectively terrifying regardless of context", describing the statue's face as looking "like if a nickel did cocaine".
In 2017 Slate called the statue the "Confederacy's Dumbest Monument."Atlas Obscura called it "One Confederate statue that accurately reflects the ugliness of its subject."In an article titled The 10 Most Terrifying Public Statues Artnet news wrote the "statue (is) alarmingly racist, to say that it is also poorly done is a gross understatement", while Shareart led The 10 Most Bizarre Public Sculptures with this effort.Salon described the statue as something "fashioned by someone who's had a human described to him but has never actually seen one in real life."The Independent went with a simple "stupid, racist statue" and called for its removal.Canada's National Post called the monument a "towering eyesore" and described it as "one of the most vile Confederate monuments in the great state of Tennessee."In late December 2017, the statue was vandalized with pink paint. In October 2020, it was vandalized again by spray painting "Monster" along its side.
Atlas Obscura The Washington Post Stephen Colbert thumb Salon John Oliver Statue Rachel Maddow The Independent Slate Confederate Unite the Right rally Gawker Charlottesville, Virginia National Post MSNBC