“Likecrazia”: a realistic approach, without snobbery, to today’s political communication
In “Likecrazia. The political show in times of peace and coronavirus " ( Piemme editions), Daniele Capezzone takes us to discover the world of talk shows , those strange programs in which more or less famous guests, and chosen on the basis of sometimes mysterious criteria, speak basically everything. Or better: they speak of everything, but with reference to a specific theme when there are dramatic events to deal with.
It goes without saying that the pandemic is one of them, and this explains why, for many months now, the Chinese virus has occupied the undisputed scene in programs of this type. Then there will be the showman conductor who makes a real show of it, perhaps grinding his teeth in front of the camera as if he wanted to swallow it. The serious conductor who throws it on the cultural level. The presenter who uses her charm to ask indiscreet questions. And finally the conductor who proclaims himself – he alone – a friend of ordinary people and always willing to listen to them.
There are also other types on the market, but I think that those mentioned above are sufficient to give an idea. Capezzone is very experienced in the world of talk shows and knows all its secrets. It is therefore no coincidence that it is a very present protagonist in this type of programs. With this volume of limited dimensions, but full of contents, he offers us a very enjoyable panorama of the phenomenon using a light language that is understandable to all.
Moreover, it clarifies from the beginning that talk shows are liked precisely because – at least in theory – they allow ordinary people to approach the world of politics by grasping, albeit partially, the arcana. If so, they would play a valuable role, even if the undersigned has some doubts about it. The author is in fact convinced that unlike the old political tribunes , where party leaders talked to each other carelessly to be understood, the opposite happens in talk shows . Here too there is no shortage of trombones and self-referentials and, in this regard, Capezzone provides a few simple rules to facilitate listening by users.
I would place the author in the great current of political realism. We need to accept the always imperfect reality that surrounds us and deal with it in the best possible way. You may not like it, but the real politics is more like that discussed on talk shows than the swampy version offered in university textbooks. What counts above all is that people who see politics from the outside understand better its internal mechanisms, ending it once and for all with politicians intent on talking only to each other.
And if, as happens in these times, science also has to do with it, so much the better! The incredible spectacle of virologists who fight each other, armed against each other, reveals another mystery to the man in the street. Science does not agree with certainty or with perfection. It is a very precious undertaking, but totally human (and as such, by definition imperfect). Scientists are human beings like everyone else, even more vain than average, and they love the limelight and popularity.
They struggle to admit that they have not understood one accident of the Chinese virus and to ignore the best way to contain its spread. Be careful though. It is not a characteristic of Italian virologists, because a relative ignorance unites them all. So much so that the spread of the infection was worse in other countries than ours. Only the Chinese, after having infected the whole world, are now virtuosos and boast of having solved the problem (even if the writer absolutely does not believe their words).
So on talk shows you can see presumptuous but clumsy politicians, and scientists who find it hard to admit their ignorance about a certain phenomenon. This leads precisely to a rapprochement between politics, science and ordinary people. The negative side of the coin is to see very often chicken coop fights, where screams prevail over reasoning and no one provides plausible and decent conclusions. Capezzone proves to be a realist on this aspect as well. For example, he realizes that the notorious fake news has been part of human history since its origins. The important thing is to have tools to keep them under control, as happens in liberal democratic systems, and not to impose them as genuine truths as happens in authoritarian regimes.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the author has written a book that, in addition to being fun and clear, can also be studied with profit in university classrooms. I confess that, personally, I have always had bias towards talk shows . In fact, I find them too noisy and almost always fake. Reading the pages of Capezzone made me change my mind. We live in the world of the internet, of sudden and drumming information. Maybe a bit of annoyance remains, but combined with the awareness that this is today's reality, not perfect but – in any case – it can be improved.
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This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL http://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/recensioni/likecrazia-un-approccio-realista-senza-snobismi-alla-comunicazione-politica-di-oggi/ on Wed, 04 Nov 2020 03:32:00 +0000.