talkpolitics | The two-brained Putin

The totalitarian regimes have no sense of humor, nor do they show mercy to those who ridicule the authority. The millionth proof for that is a recent political satire that was meant to be put in theaters. Actually it was put in the theaters of two countries, but the different reactions it got in the two places tells a lot about democracy and freedom of speech.

See, both the former Italian prime-minister Berlusconi (famous for his outrageous actions and constant scandals) and the Russian now-president, then-prime-minister, then-president-again Putin (who's so fond of showing his biceps and abs next to wild beasts) seem to be made for the political show. Or do they? Well, they like being in the center of attention, that's for sure. So the theatrical play of the Italian satirist Dario Fo (Nobel Prize winner for literature, btw) "L anomalo bicefalo" (The Abnormal Double Brain) is about both politicians. In the story, they're attacked by terrorists.

First of all, there are two versions of this satire. One for Italian consumption, the other for the Russian public. In the original version Putin dies and Berlusconi survives. He gets Putin's brain transplanted to him, actually just one half of his brain. In the Russian version that was shown in Moscow under the name "BerlusPutin", Putin wakes up with a new brain half, transplanted from Berlusconi who's been shot.

Obviously there's a lot of room for improvisations and political satire in this play. For instance in the Russian version, Putin smoothens his wrinkles using botox, he proudly marches around the scene, while his wife Ludmila disappears in a monastery. Meanwhile the spectators hear a song called "Our madhouse votes for Putin", which became a big hit during the parliamentary elections in Russia. In both Italy and Moscow the play had a great success, but in Putin's home town St. Petersburg the troupe never found a theater who'd be willing to host them, and the play was eventually banned. On a side note, in the light of the recent local legislation against the LGBT community, St. Petersburg seems to be taking the prize of the Biggest Douche City in Europe these days.

It's a fact that good political satire in Russia is almost threatened of extinction in recent years. You can't see such things on the TV. Although people still like telling spicy anecdotes about Putin and Medvedev between themseles, publicly mocking the powers that be is a taboo.

The satirical program "Citizens poets" of Dmitry Bikov and Oleg Efremov became one of the biggest Russian hits on Youtube during the elections. However the youth TV channel "Rain" which is considered the standard-carrier of modern satire in Russia, decided to suddenly interrupt their show, after in one of the episodes the authors mocked the then president Medvedev.

In this respect Russia has still a lot to learn from Silvio's country. We might be hearing about his media empire and the way he wanted to silence his critics through subtle censorship on the media market that he dominates (the RAI network). But in Italy, public mocking of politicians is not just allowed, it's considered part of the game, and is a must. An election campaign without all those lulz is a boring thing, and if there's one thing Italians hate the most, it's boredom. A good healthy dose of satire doesn't bother them. And the fact that "the Eternal Silvio" was forced to step down from power, while the "Eternal Vladimir" is still clinging to it after the presidential election, tells us a lot about who's who in this comparison.

Russia has genius satirists and humorists. Has always had. They could have been the voice of their people's conscience, as is the jester's role in a society. But alas, it's a thankless job being a jester in King Putin's court.