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Meme-morialized

Empty lockers become repurposed for shrines
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  • The first locker to be “meme-morialized” is in the junior hallway and dedicated to the actor of ‘National Treasure’ fame.

  • Martinez’s shrine of Devito is located in locker 1801.

  • The shrine of singer-songwriter, Beyonce, can be found in the health hallway girls’ locker room.

    Photo Courtesy: Anna Gardner

The quantity of empty lockers around NCHS has resulted in students using them to make mock shrines of actors who are not dead.

Prior to the start of each school year, the school administration surveys the students regarding their preference for a locker. This has since resulted in a numerous amount of empty lockers around the school.

Junior Elinor Cash chose to have a locker, but decided to convert her locker into a shrine after finding herself never using it.

“I’ve realized I have this habit of sometimes when I’m walking down the hallway, I’ll open random empty lockers hoping to find something,” Cash said. “(I wondered), what if they found something weird in one of them?”

The shrine consists of a framed picture of actor Nicholas Cage (who had lead roles in the films Con Air and National Treasure), surrounded by faux flowers and candles on a cardboard pedestal. Red construction paper lines the locker, accompanied by more pictures of Cage.

“He’s someone that everybody knows,” Cash said, “or at least recognizes a picture of. He’s an interesting character. He’s a good actor, but he’s also a really bad actor at the same time, and we all just appreciate that about him.”

Following its creation, students have offered Cash their lockers so she can continue to make shrines. Some students, however, have taken it upon themselves to create more shrines.

Senior Johnny Martinez constructed a shrine of Danny Devito – most known for his roles in the television shows It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Taxi –  in his locker, which he made shortly after Cash made her shrine of Cage.

“I saw the Nick Cage shrine, and thought, ‘I can do better than that,’” Martinez said .

Similar to Cash’s shrine, Martinez also framed a picture of Devito, surrounding it with artificial candles, flowers, and more pictures of the actor.

Neither Cash nor Martinez have plans on taking their shrines down in the near future.

Shrines continue to be created throughout the school, with the most recent being a shrine of Beyoncé in one of the girls’ locker rooms.

“I want the shrines to spread,” Mr. Chris Belt,  English teacher, said. “Please keep making shrines out of the empty lockers.”

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About the Contributor
Abby Kimball, Staff Reporter
Abby Kimball is a senior at Normal Community High School and is a member of the Theatre program and the Thespians Society. She is a Staff Reporter for Inkspot. My all-time dream is to become a staff writer for Saturday Night Live. One random fact about me is that I can play five different instruments fluently. I like to travel, perform, and make people laugh.
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