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Balkans clamor for Hollywood hero statues

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ZITISTE, Serbia, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A statue of Rocky Balboa towers over a Balkans farm town and Tarzan is coming as the former war-torn region embraces Hollywood heroes.

What gives? One visual artist told The New York Times the statues were "a dangerous joke." But others say pop-culture heroes are an inspiration in the former Yugoslavia, where 1990s warring left 125,000 dead.

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"My generation can't find role models so we have to look elsewhere. Hollywood can provide an answer," Bojan Marceta, 28, told the Times. Marceta raised about $7,300 to commission the Rocky statue.

Rocky's statue in Zitiste, Serbia, will be joined by a Tarzan monument in Medja, a farming village near the Romanian border. Talk continues in Cacack, Serbia, about a statue of British singer Samantha Fox, a former topless model who once performed there. A Bruce Lee statue in Mostar, Bosnia,was placed in storage after its weapons were vandalized, the Times said.

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