Viva Zapatero! Page #3

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about war or politics.

Satire must touch the tragic

situations in a person's life.

lt has to be about politics.

All important plays

from Shakespeare to Marlowe

are full of situations

dealing with politics.

Yet l've been prevented from doing it

so many times.

l was told to act

like an artist, an actor...

Don't bother meddling in...

''Let politicians do politics,

you stick to making us laugh !''

l started doing TV sketches

on a popular French TV show

called ''Nul Par Ailleurs''.

l did political sketches,

not journalism.

Seven or eight years later,

l got tired of just sketches.

Since it was pure entertainment,

the public didn't get the reasons

behind my sketches,

the real meaning of my work.

So l talked to the programmers

at Canal+

and suggested a news programme

that would provide the news

through reporting as well as sketches.

ln one of these sketches,

we killed President Chirac.

lt was a parody

of Tarantino's film ''Pulp Fiction''.

We called it ''Peuple Fiction'',

People Fiction.

The people wanted to know

what happened to Chirac's promises.

See ? lt went off by itself.

Why have you screwed with us ?

Why have you f***ed over your people ?

Look...

Have you read the ''Bible'' ?

''l will fight social injustice

so our nation shall prosper.

lf l fail, the sovereign people...

..shall inflict their punishment !''

Yes, l said that.

''France For All'', Page 3, Line 14.

The skill lies

in accepting excess.

lf you say:
''You can go this far,

but no further'',

that's negotiating

but then it's not satire anymore.

Satire might upset you

it might be controversial,

but it relies on the maturity

and the intellectual capacity

of its intended public.

The most popular shows

in France right now

are the satirical ones

and that's the case throughout Europe.

Politics are looked down on so much

that satire works great.

There's one show

that makes fun of Chirac

in a very harsh way.

His character is ridiculous

and an impulsive liar.

A populist,

a very non-serious person.

This goes on in France

every evening.

When democracy is afraid

of caricature,

fears criticism

and fears being laughed at,

it is that democracy

that has problems.

A democracy that's strong

and self-confident,

fair and honest,

isn't afraid of being laughed at.

lt says:
''You're right, l messed up.''

About 300 people work

at the guignol laboratory.

Organizers, dubbers, puppeteers,

make-up artists and writers.

lt is a satirist's paradise.

There's a caricature of everyone,

with no boundaries whatsoever.

Even Berlusconi is here.

They know about him

and listen to our story

very attentively.

One man has

power, media and business.

ls that right ?

Can you talk about it or not ?

Not according to Berlusconi.

According to the Left, you can,

but comedians can't.

So who's going to talk about it ?

No one.

All that matters is

Berlusconi's opinion.

People mock power in France,

no matter who it is.

But that's non-existent in ltaly.

ln ltaly the main trend

of the press

and political commentators

is to fear the powerful,

and to show reverence

no matter who they are,

left or right-winged,

Berlusconi or D'Alema.

You said no more satire

against the royal family.

l said satire is okay

because freedom of opinion is allowed.

As long as it's performed with taste.

When the Dutch Prime Minister

dared make a comment

about a satirical programme because

he said it offended the queen,

he was ridiculed

by every newspaper.

lt only led to

yet another sketch being inspired.

Every week we enjoy watching

yours as well as other

satirical programmes.

There's only one problem.

lt's too polite, not harsh enough

and too politically correct.

But how did the ltalian press

react to our situation ?

They dedicated

a lot of space to it,

hundreds of articles were printed.

Mostly saying

the problem wasn't censorship,

it was the programme.

l expected Santoro, Biagi, Luttazzi

and Guzzanti's getting fired

would result in a revolt

of RAl journalists.

lnterventions,

television strikes...

But none of that happened.

Maybe since at first...

no ''phone calls'' are being made,

it looks like everyone...

is against censorship.

But the people up high

have the ability...

to make a few phone calls

as long as it's all done

in 24-36 hours.

lt's always that way...

a few calls come in

and then

the diversionary tactics start.

The diversionary tactic this time was:

''lt was obscene, smut...''

LET'S NOT SAY CENSORSHlP

TO SOMETHlNG OF BAD TASTE

''lt's not humour, it's journalism.''

Then controversy grows

and the facts get altered.

lt's easier to see now

as you look back at the series

of events that occurred.

We should have considered

the event as a whole

instead of focussing on one aspect

or another of the programme.

When the press feels that

a certain thing

isn't worth the fight for politicians

they end up letting it go,

even when...

they react positively at first,

like in this case.

A defamatory campaign

was started

in order to change the way

censorship was seen by the public.

DELUSlONS OF GRANDEUR

lDEOLOGlCAL KlLLlNG

PUBLlC LlTTERER

TAKE YOUR PAYCHECK

AND SHUT UP:

MADWOMAN:

MARTYR JACK-OFF SESSlONS

Even the ''Riformista''

took part in the defamatory campaign

and it's supposed to be

a left-winged paper.

They said:
''A hysterical soliloquy

against the PM.''

''Good thing it was cancelled,

public TV isn't Hyde Park Corner

where anyone can

voice their opinion.''

''lt was political propaganda

just dying to get censored.''

CRAP:

The point is this...

l'm against mixing news and satire,

actually l'm against...

substituting one for the other

due to the particular abnormality

of ltalian media.

You can't say that

since ltalian TV news is ridiculous,

comedians can broadcast the news.

l'm not saying that the problem

with news on TV is ''RAlot''

or Sabina Guzzanti,

l'm not saying that.

l'm saying that RAlot

is not the solution to the problem.

But they cancelled it anyway.

You said it wasn't censorship

so they had a right to cancel it ?

That's what amazes me.

Not the right to cancel it,

just not air it.

l remember l was upset right then

but then l started a tour.

And during rehearsals

some good news came in.

lt wasn't going to take years

to find out who won.

The judge filed the case

on grounds that

Berlusconi's lawsuit was unfounded.

''There was no defamation because

it was a satirical programme

and therefore

can make use of sarcasm.

ln addition, everything

that was said was basically true.''

The problem is that

according to our constitution,

monopolies cannot exist.

No one is allowed to control

such a large amount of mass media

or advertising resources.

Then how did Berlusconi

manage to do that ?

His political connections and

especially his friendship with Craxi.

Because of

these political connections,

Berlusconi enjoyed

unlimited credit from banks

and the market went crazy.

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