«Ah, you come from Italy! Pizza, Berlusconi, Bunga bunga! ». For twenty years, generations of Italians have heard this maxim, around the world: there are those who exploded in laughter, proud of the international fame of their premier, and those who were ashamed of the passport he had in his pocket. Silvio Berlusconi was certainly a divisive personality (you could not expect anything different from the father of extreme bipolarism); the derby atmosphere between pro-flags at half-mast and partisans of the #notinmyname of these days, is yet another and last demonstration. Unanimous, however, is the judgment of the foreign press on the work of the President, although each newspaper wanted to deepen an aspect of his life.
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The portrait that emerges from El País is that of an illusionist, a snake charmer who has bewitched an entire country for over twenty years. Father of the first party-enterprise, founded on the dis-values of nepotism and clientelism (compadreo), proposed to Italians an exitosa bebida, a successful cocktail with a few simple ingredients: politics, advertising and sport, the secular religion of Italy. He garnishes the promise to apply his model of success to public affairs and a whole nation has found itself at his feet.
Forza Italia, his political creature is described as a colorful legion of “Fininvest employees, opportunists, former members of the Christian Democrats, comedians and presenters of Canale 5”: not quite the portrait of the perfect ruling class.
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Among the international newspapers stands the German Der Spiegel. that has deepened more than all the figure, bad figures, of the former premier, remembered as “the most dangerous canzonetta of Italy”, the inventor of the Italian trash and the architect of modern populism. Despite the past time, Germany does not forget phrases like “I will propose her for the role of kapò” or the fake news of the “culona inchiavabile”, so it dusts off the top 10 of the unhappy releases of the President. We find:
- February 2002: the horns to the Spanish Foreign Minister during a representative photo.
- June 2005: He boasted of his seductive art with which he had convinced the President of Finland to assign a European agency to Italy.
- November 2008: After Obama’s election, he called him “young, handsome and tanned”.
- April 2009: he advised the thousands of displaced persons from the earthquake in L'Aquila to take their stay in the tents as a “weekend camping”.
- December 2022: the promise of a "slut bus" in case Monza beat Juventus in a football match.
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The tones become sharper going to France, where Le Figaro speaks of “giant of the Italian right”and scandaleux Cavaliere. Even the cousins from across the Alps wonder about the legacy he will leave, about the image that history will remember of him: “that of a kind golden boy, of the histrionic always ready to joke and make multiple gaffes, of a Vert-galant that did not spare any jokes”? That of the democratic Caudillo capable of mixing politics and business, accustomed to the conflict of interests and who, once in power, has always been concerned to protect only his assets? The friend of dictators? The inventor of world populism? They are spoiled for choice: it is certain that the French do not have a beatification scheduled.
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Overseas, home of aplomb, they remembered the President’s style falls: Mr. Obamaaaa! shouted in the presence of the Queen at the G20 in 2009, is crystallized in the minds of English subjects. The Times, after reporting the news of the death of Italy’s scandalous celebrity Prime Minister, focuses on the economic implications of the disappearance of Berlusconi: the first article suggested on the homepage of the British newspaper in fact reads “which of Berlusconi’s five heirs will take over his empire?”. The next day, however, he opted for the satirical approach, retracing the “scandalous life of Silvio Berlusconi in cartoon”, thanks to the cartoons of Peter Brookes. Burlesque-oni is the title of one of these: every description is superfluous, imagination is enough.
From the columns of the Washington Post thunder judgments on the political incapacity of the Knight, a “small colossus that ruled the Italian peninsula for thirty years, monopolizing the media and powers”. Under his “distracted gaze”, Italy slipped into social malaise and economic disaster: the crisis of 2008 was not his direct fault, but his beloved free market did not believe in his entrepreneurial skills applied to public affairs. The American newspaper jokes about his physical appearance, describing him as “pudgy in build, creative in hairline and tangerine in complexion”; adds to the package accusations of fraud and misogyny: talk about our former president or theirs? Perhaps the United States, more than anyone, has another reason to despise the work of the archetype of Donald Trump.
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The stories from the world of sport are out of place: many newspapers celebrate his presidency at Milan FC, that of the revelation of Sacchi, the Dutch trio Rijkaard-Van Basten-Gullit and the five Champions League won. A real Rossoneri miracle, which helped bring the Milanese club back to the roof of Europe: the French. L'Equipe opts for romance and recounts the longue histoire d’amour between the team and the President, through a photo gallery of the most iconic moments. The Spanish Mundo deportivo says adìos to the constructor de un Milan de leyenda, reporting yes the moments of glory, citing all twenty-nine trophies won in the Berlusconi era, but also the shadows of Calciopoli that severely penalized the club. The Brazilian Folha de S. Paulo reports the social condolences of coaches and players who have crossed, along their path, the inesquecível Berlusconi (unforgettable, n.d.r.).
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The shared memory does not exist and before it can sprout a timid bud, time will pass. On the other hand, we are the folk who think that LVI has also done the right things, that has not yet digested the Unity of Italy, that probably, below, a little continues to cheer for the Pope, a little for the Emperor. There was no country more divided where the Knight could be born and prosper.
Illustration by Gloria Dozio - Acrimònia Studios
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