Italian comics mix it up with pols and prosecutors

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on September 11th, 2008

The (UK) TimesOnline has an item on Sabina Guzzanti, a comedian and daughter of an Italian MP who said some naughty things about the Pope at a recent political rally on the Piazza Novona. She imagined the Pope in hell, being buggered by spunky gay devils.

Giovanni Ferrara, the Rome prosecutor, said that he had asked Angelino Alfano, the Minister of Justice, for permission to proceed with a prosecution.

The 1929 Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Vatican lays down that an insult to the Pope carries the same penalty as an insult to the Italian President. Prosecution however requires authorisation from the Ministry of Justice.

Of course, no one really plans on prosecuting Guzzanti (or another comedian-activist who spoke at the same rally, Beppe Grillo).

On the Guzzanti dustup, Grillo said it was, “only a cover for a more general suppression of satire under Berlusconi.” Publicly threatening a comedian with five years in the slammer is “only a cover?” Perhaps something was lost in the translation.

This much is true: What is considered a “comedian” in Italy seems to be, in some cases, merely an activist with a sense of humor. Grillo and others imagine themselves heirs to such folks as Dante Alighieri, Aristophanes and Rabelais. (All three are cited at one point or another in the article!)

Trust us– no one is spending a single night in the penitenziario over this. But you can bet that swollen ticket sales and books deals will follow. Heck, the folks who were supposedly offended are already in eye-rolling mode:

Father Bartolomeo Sorge, a Jesuit scholar, told La Repubblica that the move to prosecute Ms Guzzanzi was incomprehensible. “I cannot understand it,” he said. “We Christians put up with many insults, it is part of being a Christian, as is forgiveness. I feel sure the Pope has already forgiven those who insulted him on Piazza Navona”.

The Italians have a rather odd way of dealing with satire.

Here in America, a comedian from another country, hosting an awards show, appears on TV in front of 8.43 million viewers, calls our president “a retarded cowboy,” and he’s invited back to host the same event the following year. As Yakov Smirnoff would say, “What a country!”

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