A more recent politico-artistico-philosophical scandal, far more interesting to me but, apparently, less interesting to the Romanian public, is the open conflict between Andrei Plesu, my favourite philosesseist, and the PSD cultural wing.
In summary, Beligan, who has a history of licking Ceausescu, sent a congratulatory message to Victor Ponta. In an open letter, Plesu expressed his “infinite sadness” and a few entertainers counter-attacked, in return, Plesu.
- At the aforementioned pharaonic celebration, Radu Beligan, possibly the oldest Romanian actor, sent Ponta a message that read:
”I support Victor Ponta, because this country needs a young and energetic President! I believe in youngsters, ladies and gentlemen! They are our most valuable capital. We must use this capital from the bottom level to the very top!”
He concluded with “Dixi et salvavi animam meam”, meaning “I said it and saved my soul.”
He is not the only one to congratulate “Little Titulescu” now renamed “Little Ceausescu”: Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s Vice-chancellor, Helmut Duckadam (a famous goalie from Steaua Bucharest) as well as the PMs of Czech, Belgium, Georgia, Slovakia and Serbia have done the same. - Andrei Plesu, my favourite philosessaist, penned an open letter in “The Truth” (adv-plesu2beligan) where he quotes some of the letters Beligan had sent to Ceausescu, as well as the rather embarrassing episode when he sent a letter to the Securitate in an attempt to impose a play directed by him against one directed by Liviu Ciulei. Plesu is stating in his open letter that Beligan’s congratulatory letters to Ceausescu went above and beyond what was required from contemporary intellectuals in order to keep their place in the cultural scene. As Minister of Culture, Plesu fired Beligan in 1990 from his position of director of the National Theatre, following the request of several actors.
Plesu concluded with “I can only be sad, infinitely sad, that you understand to exit the stage with a remark so trivial, so lowly devoted to circumstances. Your calibre deserved a more noble context.” - A number of older actors and singers raises to Beligan’s defense. Among them: Dida Dragan (Stau pe o margine de luna, copacii infloriti, deschideti poarta soarelui), Angela Similea (Casa Mea – first mentioned in property taxes), Marin Moraru (see him with Radu Beligan), Adrian Daminescu (Alaturi de Tine). They wrote:
”We are profoundly worried by the unjust attack Plesu launched toward Master Radu Beligan, only because our great actor dared to publicly express an opinion and political option different from that of Mr Plesu. We feel that we live in a democratic society where freedom of expression is guaranteed and that nobody should be placed in front of a firing squad for simply expressing points of view (..).” - Victor Ponta expresses his “surplus of gratitude” toward Beligan via Facebook.
He mentions he did not expect it.
- Bendeac, whom I covered before in the top of Romanian obsessions (I and II) made a parody video and posted it on Facebook.
My view is that the “artists” who got back to Plesu were somewhat misled and may have signed their letter without really having read Plesu’s. The latter is quite measured in his criticism and in the end, all he does is express disappointment; he’s not insulting, censoring or beating down on anyone, making their letter rather unnecessary and an overreaction. Then again, what they’re all doing is fulfilling an ancient Romanian tradition:
Barbatii de bine fac adeziuni,
Obicei pastrat la noi din strabuni:
Colaci, coliva... si adeziuni !
(Citeşte mai multe la: Iliescu, banii si ouale)“Good people” engage in expressions of solidarity,
Custom kept from our ancestors:
Bagels, koliva ... and “letters of solidarity”! [song]
Alexandru Andries has “painted” this reality (the need to kiss politicians ass) in another song, the free press ballad, published in 1990’s Azi (Today) LP. I mentioned it in a number of articles, such as influenza. Here’s the last fragment:
Trei ziarişti îşi zîmbesc, parcă-parcă-au mai scăpat din jug,
Concurenţa s-a mai înmuiat, hîrtie acum din belşug;
Uite însă că scapă un articol despre noi şi marile puteri:
Ziariştii, ca prin farmec, rămîn doar doi, fiindcă-n strofă apar mineri !Doi ziarişti au ajuns la cuţite, se bat în cuvinte tăioase,
Îşi dau peste ochi, îşi dau peste gură, îşi dau reciproc la oase,
Se fac presiuni, se luptă la sînge, e permis orice fel de atac
Şi-aşa se face că un ziarist e chemat la domnul Chiţac.Un ziarist e-n sfîrşit fericit, are zece ziare de făcut,
Ce dacă toate arată la fel ? Asta am mai avut !
Chiar ne place aşa, dacă vreţi să ştiţi, cînd oare o să ne-nvăţăm minte ?
Pe prima pagină, Preşedintelui ţării, Omagiu fierbinte !Uraaaaaa! Uraaaa! Uraaaa !
translating the last one:
A journalist is finally happy, he has 10 newspapers to make [after all the others were eliminated],
So what if they all look the same? We’ve had this before!
We actually like it that way, if you really want to know. When will we ever learn?
On the first page, to the President of the country, Heartfelt Congratulations!
HURRAAAY! HURRRAY! HURRRAY!
Readers of this blog might know by now that I have a strong interest in theatre (summarized last in UNITER prizes 2014). That’s mostly because I have an actress in my family, I love theatre (except for security theater) and I even played a role or two in front of hundreds of people (photos below, in the encrypted part). But before getting there, it’s worth noting that Bendeac himself had his own little war with the old artist faction.
About a year ago, Bendeac was declaring war on his TV station and editorial team, constantly pushing them to accept his artistic choices. Bendeac’s humour is over-the-top and so are his conflicts, especially with Stela Popescu and Arsinel (dcn-bendeac, pdm-arsinel, lib-bendeacmama, click-bendeac). There seems to be “friendly match” even with Mircea Badea: Bendeac Imitation, Bendeac v Badea, no culture, defense, igp, filmulet.
One last issue must be addressed. It is worth remembering that in the interview with Turcescu, Basescu talked about Matt Browne (a3-mattbrowne), Ponta’s new advisor next to Bogdan Teodorescu and Dan Sultanescu, referring to his advice as “disastrous” – this was before Ponta’s show at Roman Arenae. He stated that American data is good, but they’re terrible at interpreting it and American analysts will never understand how Romanians think. It’s hard to tell if he was talking about the idea of the upcoming show and if so, if he was dispensing free advice or was simply envious that Ponta was doing the right thing and was celebrating himself in a manner he, Basescu, did not dare to. The question is to what extent the voters will be energized by such a display of idiocy, as it happens elsewhere, even in the Western world, or they will be put off by the similarities with Ceausescu or Kim Ir Sen.
In any event, all this tongue bathing fits greatly with the European Tongue Day, celebrated on September 26.
Sources / More info: fb-bendeac, fb-NatTh, pute-beli, adv-plesu2beligan, wiki-beligan, wiki-ciulei, ponta-beligan, a3-mattbrowne, agp-limbi, pdm-arsinel, dcn-bendeac, lib-bendeacmama, click-bendeac, andries-presalibera
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cultura (),
dezbate (),
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fun (),
lucrand la fatada (),
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