whitebeard

Don't curse the darkness, light a candle.

COMEDIAN BEPPE GRILLO MAY BE BANNED FROM TV, BUT HE HASN’T LET THAT STIFLE HIS UNIQUE POLITICAL HUMOR
Maybe Beppe Grillo should have been a state auditor instead of a comedian. Back in December 2003, Italy was rocked by the Parmalat scandal, in which the Italian dairy conglomerate imploded in a vacuum of debt and deception that became the largest bankruptcy in European history. But Grillo had seen it coming. As early as 2001, he had a whole routine built around the Parma-based firm’s dubious balance sheet—noting that even as a multibillion-euro debt was piling up, Parmalat was expanding its product line to include a new milk that contained the fish-based supplement Omega-3. Grillo would walk through the crowd dunking a dead fish in a glass of milk, looking for a taste tester: “Drink it. Drink it. What’s the problem? It’s Omega-3!” It’s the quintessential Grillo tragicomic formula: use a touch of over-the-top humor to probe the serious social issues that leaders don’t want to touch.

...
He’s also started a blog that, not yet a year old, is already the most-trafficked in Italy. His favorite target these days is Bank of Italy governor Antonio Fazio, whose resignation has been widely demanded because of allegations of conflict of interest. Sometimes, when body politic is sick, laughter is the best medicine.

Found here

posted by: Whitebeard at 22:39 | link | comments |