Live, Laugh, Louvre
By Eleanor Anderson
“But we’re the greatest; they’ll hang us in the Louvre (down the back, but who cares, still the Louvre).” - Lorde (The Louvre, “Melodrama”, 2017)
The Louvre is arguably the most famous museum in the world, housing irreplaceable works of art and historical artifacts. One would think the security at such an esteemed attraction would be top-notch. Recent events, however, have shown that all it takes to steal $102 million worth of jewelry is a glass cutter and some scooters. This heist is just another instance of crumbling social norms, so why do I find myself rooting for the thieves?
For those who haven’t been stalking the international news, on Oct. 19, four men dressed as construction workers pulled up to the Louvre around 10 am10am in a van with an electric ladder (like we would expect to see on top of a firetruck, but apparently that’s commonplace in Paris). They used a glass cutter to break into a second-floorsecond floor exhibit and stole 8 items worth over $100 million belonging to the French Crown Jewels before escaping on scooters (no, not Razor scooters as I was first hoping; something closer to a combination between a motorcycle and a Vvespa). The men wore all black underneath the neon orange construction vests, threatened security guards with the chainsaws, drills, and angle grinders used to break through the glass, then proceeded to leave behind helmets, gloves, gasoline, and other DNA-containing items in the exhibit. Despite these items (and video recordings of the heist), the French police took over 48 hours to arrest the first 2 suspects, and the other two remain at large with no sign of the crown jewels.
If you’re anything like me, you have a lot of questions. What kind of thieves plan this whole thing out and then leave evidence at the scene? (Bad ones - several of them have been caught stealing jewelry from less extravagant locations in the past.) Why are the security guards not armed with any way to stop robbers? (Their job is to prioritize the safety of museum patrons and call the police to do the dirty work.) Why did it take so long to find these guys? (The French police blame outdated security tech.) Where are the jewels? Unfortunately, only time will tell if there is more to this story or these questions.
Interestingly, I find myself and those around me rooting for the thieves to pull off the heist. Society likes to root for the little guy, and in this scenario, the thieves are quite the underdogsunderdog. They are not exactly the textbook David-and-Goliath, good-hearted, morally justmorally-just underdog that we stereotypically support, but there is still something compelling about a group of guys defying the odds (especially since I don’t much care what happens to the French crown jewels). Besides, in America, it’s practically unfathomable that a security agent wouldn’t have a loaded gun on their hip, or at least be able to outnumber 4 dudes with tools I could find in my garage. I think there is something to be said for the cultural shock of it all as a faraway viewer. Maybe if I were a French citizen, I would care more about the safe return of the artifacts. Maybe if there were more direct victims ofto the crime, I would find it easier to hold the men accountable for their actions. Instead, I choose to believe that the thieves found and exploited a hole in the system and shouldn’t be blamed for taking advantage of a fatal flaw that should have been addressed already. So, while many news headlines are grim and depressing, I find immense amusement in this continuing story, and encourage others to follow future developments, for the sake of the underdog.
