The Awl http://www.theawl.com/ Be Less Stupid Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:10:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 Hot Chicks Explained, Again http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/hot-chicks-explained-again http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/hot-chicks-explained-again#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:10:56 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/hot-chicks-explained-again Here's a pretty good primer on Silvio Berlusconi and the world he created: "The velina has become more than a mainstay of Italian television; she is the rock on which Berlusconi built his political career. In the 15 years since he began dominating Italian politics, Berlusconi has created a seamless weave of entertainment and power. The Taliban may use the virtue of their country's women as a rallying cry; Berlusconi has used Italian women's beauty. Americans should invest in Italy, he once told a Wall Street audience, because it had the comeliest secretaries."

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]]> Here's a pretty good primer on Silvio Berlusconi and the world he created: "The velina has become more than a mainstay of Italian television; she is the rock on which Berlusconi built his political career. In the 15 years since he began dominating Italian politics, Berlusconi has created a seamless weave of entertainment and power. The Taliban may use the virtue of their country's women as a rallying cry; Berlusconi has used Italian women's beauty. Americans should invest in Italy, he once told a Wall Street audience, because it had the comeliest secretaries."

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/hot-chicks-explained-again/feed 1 Italy: The Intellectuals Against The Showgirls http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/italy-the-intellectuals-against-the-showgirls http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/italy-the-intellectuals-against-the-showgirls#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:15:36 +0000 Alex Balk http://www.theawl.com/2009/09/italy-the-intellectuals-against-the-showgirls Among the velineOne of the major contentions of Alexander Stille's excellent The Sack of Rome is that Silvio Berlusconi, through his control of the country's most popular television networks, created an electorate which would happily vote for someone like him. Berlusconi was aided immeasurably by the massive corruption of both the left and the right, but it was only through his channels' steady diet of crappy American nightime soaps like Dallas and game shows featuring scantily clad young women that Berlusconi was able to coarsen the culture to the extent that a ridiculous figure such as himself could be viewed as a plausible candidate for high office.

So it is difficult to see how a campaign by public intellectuals such as Umberto Eco and Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo in response to the premier's attempt to silence his critics in the press will have much effect on Berlusconi's actions or popularity. More damaging is the recent conflict with the Catholic Church; Berlusconi allies are so concerned about it that they are attempting to negotiate directly with the Vatican to repair relations. Perhaps the combination of religious pressure and intellectual disgust might help to bring the man down, but in a country where "recent research demonstrated that the most popular ambition among female teenagers is to become a velina" (a scantily-clad game show jiggler), it's going to be something of a struggle.

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]]> Among the velineOne of the major contentions of Alexander Stille's excellent The Sack of Rome is that Silvio Berlusconi, through his control of the country's most popular television networks, created an electorate which would happily vote for someone like him. Berlusconi was aided immeasurably by the massive corruption of both the left and the right, but it was only through his channels' steady diet of crappy American nightime soaps like Dallas and game shows featuring scantily clad young women that Berlusconi was able to coarsen the culture to the extent that a ridiculous figure such as himself could be viewed as a plausible candidate for high office.

So it is difficult to see how a campaign by public intellectuals such as Umberto Eco and Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo in response to the premier's attempt to silence his critics in the press will have much effect on Berlusconi's actions or popularity. More damaging is the recent conflict with the Catholic Church; Berlusconi allies are so concerned about it that they are attempting to negotiate directly with the Vatican to repair relations. Perhaps the combination of religious pressure and intellectual disgust might help to bring the man down, but in a country where "recent research demonstrated that the most popular ambition among female teenagers is to become a velina" (a scantily-clad game show jiggler), it's going to be something of a struggle.

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