Modern Family actress Sofia Vergara's newly-unveiled hometown statue has made quite an impression on fans.
Best recognised on TV for her comedy work as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett in the sitcom, as well as judging America's Got Talent since 2020, the 53-year-old was rewarded with her very own sculpture on the Gran Malecón of Barranquilla, Columbia this month, although she did not attend the ceremony.
Standing at over 5 feet and weighing more than 5 tonnes, this bronze rendering took seven months to complete and required as many as 35 people to get the job done, including students.
It was sculpted by local artist Yino Márquez, who'd previously done one for Barranquilla's other famous daughter Shakira, yet some of the online reactions have been less than complimentary.
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Over on Reddit, one person wrote: "As Shakira and Sofia I also share the same place of birth as them. And let me tell you they need to stop making these statues they are horrendous I've seen the one for Shakira and it looks nothing like her."
"Who approved this?!?!" asked somebody else, clearly underwhelmed by its likeliness to Vergara.
"Can we get some people who know how to do faces when making statues?" read a third response, while a fourth person pointed out: "Looks like someone with a big foot fetish made that statue."
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"If it gets struck by lightning and comes to life, may God have mercy on us all," was a joke probably aimed at fans of The Simpsons - relating to the Treehouse of Horror episode where Springfield's monuments start killing everyone in sight.
Almost inevitably, another comment lined up Vergara's statue against the one dedicated to footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, which was displayed at Madeira Airport to much derision back in 2017.
"She could do worse..." they noted.
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Meanwhile, one Reddit message took a wholly different approach to the statue discourse.
"All my life I've walked past statues of writers like Herman Hesse, who were, in their day, also just famous people. I've never thought twice about it. Of course there's a statue of this guy, or this poet. Yet it feels so odd to see statues made of living people," they shared.
"Anyone else feel the same way? I imagine it makes perfect sense to have statues of people like Meryl Streep, yet despite her illustrious career I would feel odd knowing she still walks the earth while a statue of hers stands somewhere. I guess I feel like statues made of the living just feels wrong somehow."
During the statue's big reveal, Barranquilla mayor Alejandro Char had a few kind words to say on the star, even though she was reportedly on holiday in Sardinia at the time with her family and friends.
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"Barranquilla surrenders at your feet, telling the whole world: thank you for being who you are, thank you for being a Barranquillera," he began. "What better way to celebrate Sofía's birthday than by honouring her with this beautiful work that represents her joy, charisma, authenticity, and unique spirit."
Topics: Celebrity, Sofía Vergara, Art, Social Media, Reddit, Viral, Film and TV
Dan Seddon