Diego Rivera's Frozen Assets painting reminds of the phrase "the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor". For me, the top section showing the skyscrapers, represented a land of opportunity where supposedly anyone can make something out of nothing. The middle section with the guard watching over the sleeping people gave me a sense of overpowering control. The guard is acting as the government making sure the people who struggle are kept comfortable enough so they won't have the desire to climb the social ladder. The bottom section emulates the same government protecting the rich by securing their position on the social ladder through banks which protect their money. Even though the painting refers to the Great Depression during the 1930’s, I think it still applies in 2011. This Rivera painting relates to events currently running around the world, for example the Occupy Movement. Even though our time isn’t in as bad of shape like the 1930’s, there is still social inequality occurring. Do not forget the Oscar Grant case in which his murderer, a police department official, only got a maximum of three years and was out in one and a half, after shooting and killing a handcuffed, defenseless, urban male. Michael Vick, an NFL football player, got the same sentence for dog fighting. If that isn’t recognized as social inequality then I don’t know what is. These kind of situations take place right in our face but are inevitable because a position of power and money control all.
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