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The [Anti]Mafias and Us |
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| 13/12/2012 |
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In the second day of this year’s conference, the event moderated by Gaetano Savatteri moved from “good guys” to “bad guys.”
Schematically, from how the Mafia has been portrayed to those who opposed it. And as in the first part of the event entitled Mafias and Us stereotypes, the speakers emphasized the risk of homologation and creating stereotypes that do not represent the reality of organized crime. Or the anti-Mafia, where doubts were raised over stories that tend towards hagiography and the sanctification of heroes that seemed destined to eternal defeat.
Protagonists in real life and in fiction, Giovanni Falcone, Paolo Borsellino and before them, Giuseppe Impastato, to cite some of the best-known names, have become symbols often devoid of meaning, “flags” exhibited on important occasions, such as the anniversaries of their deaths.
The first to speak was historian Salvatore Lupo: “The numerous and important victories against the Mafia have not been well elaborated, there has almost been a refusal to recognize them. The emphasis placed on the Mafia’s power is superior to the results, of which there have been many, achieved by those who in opposing the Mafia are determined to bring morality to a inherently sick society.”
Overestimating the work of the Anti-Mafia and, at the same time, turning judges and police officers into flags, leads to a homologation that lumps together those who genuinely oppose crime with those who use their position as façade behind which to hide their complicity and connivance. Marcello Fois dryly summed up the concept: “The bad guy is easier to depict, not so the good guy. Also because happiness and the triumph of good can be outcomes of a story, but not the heart of the story itself.” The writer also reminded everyone that people must be good readers before good storytellers even. “If we read the underlying novels of our culture,” he said, “like The Bethrothed (I promessi sposi), we will be equipped to fight the Mafia. The classics already contain everything.”
Naturally, it’s not only a question of what stories the storytellers have told, but also that which writers, journalists and directors cannot say because of external obstacles. Maurizio Torrealta touched upon one of the sore spots that was discussed at the Festival, not only during the first day of the conference, but also during the discussions on Italian noir cinema. The various degrees of crisis and censorship within the national media hinder the possibility of broadening the horizon towards stories that end up being totally eclipsed. Torrealta spoke of certain episodes that simply cannot surface. “Only if we talk about those who have been forgotten,” he said, “ the good and bad guys, perhaps we’ll be able to find out more. The Anti-mafia regards all those who have opposed the Mafia, including those who were initially part of it but whose testimony could reveal many unsolved mysteries.”
The remaining participants - from vice president of Education at Confindustria, Ivanhoe Lo Bello, to journalists Lirio Abbate and Giacomo Di Girolamo - reiterated the need to return to a more authentic story, one that adheres to reality, that goes beyond spectacle and stereotypes that lead down the wrong path.
Thus, Pietro Grasso’s reference to a detail regarding Bernardo Provenzano’s arrest is an admonition, a call to a greater sense of responsibility. Says the Anti-Mafia Chief Prosecutor: “The way the national news programs presented Provenzano’s home at the moment of his arrest is a historic falsehood. He lived in the villa next door and they all filmed the stall, making the Mafia seem like a modest, old-fashioned man.”
Now that this two-day conference is over, the ball is back in the writers’ court. |
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