Imagine if a comedian like Ben Elton or Bill Bailey created a blog that got hundreds of thousands of people on to the streets to protest against government corruption. Imagine if Matt Lucas or Paul Merton used the internet to create a network of campaigners rallying against organised crime, environmental exploitation and workplace deaths. Well, meet Beppe Grillo.
Grillo is arguably Italy’s most famous comic but he’s angry. He has created a fantastic blog (also available in perfect English) that proves that the Internet can be a political force.
Recent entries:
- A celebration that he is being sued by a Government minister
- A trip to Strasbourg where he pleads with Euro officials to cut off funding to Italy as the politicos steal all the money
- A piece where he argues that more people die at work in Italy than US soldiers die in Iraq
He is leftish and maverick, so he campaigns for withdrawal from Iraq but in favour of British-style controls on immigration. His blog is full of good journalism with lots of video and linking and plenty of sources and references for what he talks about. He also spends a lot of time out and about seeing things for himself. But what makes his blog really different is that he is getting people to take action themselves.
His V Day campaign climaxed on September 9th when hundreds of thousands of Italians heeded his call to Meet Up across the nation. It’s like the pioneering MoveOn campaign in America but with typical Italian colour.
Of course, Italian politics is not like Britain’s. We would never sell peerages or seek to keep innocent people in custody for 56 days. And, anyway, all our comedians are already in Parliament.
A positive image about Grillo is drawn here, at least concerning his activism in national public affairs and commitment for a more participative ‘public sphere’.
I agree with your point of view especially when you speak about the innovation that he launched. Nevertheless, it could be interesting to point out some widespread concerns on this popular comic actor.
Many observers (among whom Eugenio Scalfari, the editor of La Repubblica – one of the most important National Newspaper) argue that Grillo is exploiting in a very negative way the already strong anti-political feeling which seems to be so fashionable in Italy (and elsewhere) in these times. He is accused of being populist. Many people are scared of Grillo’s charismatic figure as a threat to ‘real politicians’. He is actively making politics but –since he is not a politician but a comic actor – he does not have to respect any code of conduct and can utilise politically incorrect epithets to whom he does not agree with, to whom who tries to comment on his method and to whom who sees a dangerously populist content in his actions. At least in part the fears of these observers were confirmed the day in which Grillo claimed he would have allowed some local candidates to bear his name in their logo as a symbol for integrity in politics (even though just for city-council elections).
to read the article that probably most strongluy critiqued Grillo see (unfortunately only in Italian)
http://www.repubblica.it/2007/08/sezioni/cronaca/grillo-v-day/invasione-grillo/invasione-grillo.html