AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL TELEVISION MYTH

What could possibly be the connection between images of blood marks
on the ground, a children’s choir, a trial, a TV game, demonstrations, a
political address, etc.? The answer is all of them were produced by a local
television company based in Catania, Sicily, between 1991 and 1994, a time
preceding Berlusconi’s rise to power, and marked by Judges Falcone and
Borsellino assassinations in 1992. The editing’s sharp cuts and unpredictable
collages that link all the pieces together, following an absolute non-linear
logic, are even more conclusive. Thus reorganised, the split rushes, derived
from scraps of news coverage bound to be discarded, reveal a double action.
They first question the history of the province and its inhabitants who
form an isolated community. Then, they break up the representation terms
involved in conventional television narratives, which – as we know – are less
concerned with reporting events than shaping our opinion.
The anthropological myth advertised in the title is thus examined through
the potential for beauty involved in these images. Once the ideological part
is revealed, this very potential comes up as a surprising addition, emphasised
by the furtive moments that constitute numerous holes in the narrative
fabric they overflow. This is a tribute to the ever possible utopia of a media
world that could unveil the bare evidence of a truly popular practice, at the
very moment collective action is taking a very different turn. (NF)