Berlusconi, Gramsci’s Best Disciple | the television

He remembers Jeremy Dawber In his wonderful article Jewish humor, recently published in Spain, this television was originally almost elitist entertainment: very few had a receiver and, compared to radio, could hardly be considered a “mass” medium. For this reason, Jewish humorists (such as Woody Allen) felt tremendous freedom. When the invention became popular, distress arrived: swearing and hooliganism were prohibited. Sarcasm and contents that were not p…

He remembers Jeremy Dawber In his wonderful article Jewish humor, recently published in Spain, this television was originally almost elitist entertainment: very few had a receiver and, compared to radio, could hardly be considered a “mass” medium. For this reason, Jewish humorists (such as Woody Allen) felt tremendous freedom. When the invention became popular, distress arrived: swearing and hooliganism were prohibited. Satire and content that wasn’t for all audiences only returned with cable TV.

Silvio Berlusconi also broke, in his own way, the idea of ​​a flat TV with lots of sugar, but in a way opposite to the idea of ​​HBO. Perhaps without reading it, the founder of Mediaset was the greatest disciple of Antonio Gramsci, who put into practice the idea of ​​cultural hegemony: domination of a country’s popular scene is tantamount to domination of the country. Berlusconi unleashed the monsters that the big chains hid behind smug presenters, wise presentation and a taste of bad taste. His slogan was to shock the bourgeoisie and inspire contempt for senior officials, and with it the foundations of contemporary populism and set the tone for an era.

Popular culture in the West today is measured by the criterion invented by Berlusconi: the only way to oppose him is to throw himself into the mountain of elitism, as it was staged one afternoon a few years ago in Save me. Kiko Matamoros, in one of his literary bows, recommended a book to me, and Belén Esteban’s voice, without being shot, exclaimed, “The cult is out. You won’t be very cultured when you sit here with us.” Few times has the success of Berlusconi’s demagogic model been so well expressed: with or against the people. You read or watch TV. Both things, no.

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