After escaping Philadelphia’s unbelievably protracted battle about whether the statue from Rocky III qualified as art so it could be put back on the city’s art museum steps (the museum called it a movie prop, but it’s back anyway), we take great delight in seeing that the tiny Serbian village of Zitiste doesn’t see what the big deal is.

The village, 35 miles north of Belgrade, unveiled a 10-foot-tall statue of the fictional boxer (created by Croatian artist Boris Staparac) over the weekend in its town square in the hopes to change perceptions about the area, which is known for floods and landslides.

“Our idea has really stirred the public,” said local official Zoran Kasalovic. “Now, no one in Serbia can say they don’t know about Zitiste.” Whether people know about Philly is a different story.

[Photo: Guys in chicken suits herald the new statue. AP]

And while we're on Rocky III, let's pay tribute to the greatest thespian of our age, Mr. T: