MXO ‘The Arts Unplugged:’ Paris Museum Fixes The Rock’s Wax Figure—And It’s Still A Mess!
TheRoot.com, By Stephanie Holland, Posted November 10th 2023
Grévin Museum in Paris updates Dwayne Johnson’s much maligned wax figure, and the internet is still not impressed.
Dwayne Johnson is one of the most popular movie stars in the world. It feels like creating an accurate wax figure of him shouldn’t be that hard. However, the Grévin Museum in Paris has found itself mired in hot water since revealing its figure of the Black Adam actor. Its first attempt at recreating The Rock was soundly bashed by the internet and the man himself. The main point of contention was the skin color, which made him look white.
After all the criticism and jokes made the rounds, the Young Rock star reacted to the figure on Instagram, writing, “I’m going to have my team reach out to our friends at Grevin Museum, in Paris France so we can work at ‘updating’ my wax figure here with some important details and improvements-starting with my skin color.”
It looks like the museum has heard everyone loud and clear, as it has fixed Johnson’s figure. According to Variety, artists used oil paints to give it “a slightly darker skin tone.” The museum’s head of PR, Veronique Berecz, explained that since they didn’t have direct access to the actor, the staff had to use photos, which led to the figure to be “whiter than it should have been.” For future reference, I would like the Grévin Museum to know that photos will never accurately present all the subtle nuances of beautiful Black skin. It does not work that way. Yet despite the changes, the figure still doesn’t quite resemble The Rock.
If I’m being honest, it looks like they had one of his Fast & Furious co-star Vin Diesel and tried to repurpose it as Johnson. I’m not saying that’s what they did, but that’s definitely how it looks. And just in case you’re wondering, the new version didn’t fare any better with fans on social media.
Here’s the thing to remember as we all have fun with this ridiculous story: The whole point of a big reveal like this is to drum up business for the exhibit. Good or bad, the Grévin Museum has had its name in the news all week. Plus, the Central Intelligence star has offered to come have a drink with his replica. I’m sure some people have bought tickets just to see the botched figure in person, so as far as the museum is concerned, this is a win-win situation.
