Videocracy
“The Shame of Europe”
In a country where bella figura is a national pastime, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is the maestro of media manipulation. Having risen to political primacy with the aid of his Mediaset empire, he now controls 90% of the bel paese’s television channels including the state-run RAI network. Quantity, it seems, does not equal quality. Fed on a diet of semi-naked dancing girls, inane competitions and rickety reality shows built around the most ridiculous of premises, is it any wonder that Italians are becoming a nation of fame-hungry wannabes?
This documentary feels like a sharp, critical dissection of a nation's psyche warped by relentless media saturation. It's a provocative, unsettling look at how image and fame can overshadow substance, leaving viewers with a cynical aftertaste.
