Italy

Italy does this, Italy do that – it’s high time the stereotyping of Italians ends but unfortunately it seems to never go away. The best Europeans at diving, spitting, cheating, corruption, mafia etc etc etc etc ad nauseum. Then again a new character of ‘Italianism’ has yet to be born has it?

What do you say about the Italy of today? We’re not talking modernistic here. Italy seems fragile these days. Non-caring yet desperate for a change or a coup, just something please. Statistics say otherwise. Italians are too loyal, and then there’s a mistress or two. The Italian Republic is made up of cul-de-sacs of people. What do you expect when you jut out of the Mediterranean Sea and for 3000 years people have dropped in on your terrain. You name it; they’ve been there – migrations of Germanic, Frankish, Sabine’s, Latin’s, and Etruscans, Byzantine Greek, Saracen, Norman, Moors, Albanians, American celebrities and men with mullets. It is extremely difficult to describe Italy’s history without acknowledging the whole footprint the country has left on the world. It has deeply influenced many countries, none more so than America and Australia. The USA will play Italy and Australia may also get the chance. But earlier than this the Romans left their mark all over Europe and West Asia. They also dramatise the religion of Catholicism in Rome, are handy in the arts and central to the sciences. Italy seems linked to both the tragic and heroic in its history and that seems to come part and parcel with the National team.

In a nutshell, they had the Latin’s; Rome was the centre of power. The islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily fell. A media magnate mad e Milan the centre of power – the media, financial system and AC Milan fell, The Italian way centres around power – but no longer at the authoritarian level but through money and gold-digger super-models. Some massive figures played their part in Rome and Italy’s path – Constantine, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Joe Dolce, Marcus Aurelius, Russell Crowe and Justinian. And little known figure Pontius Pilate should have had Christ scram out of the holy land before the miracle of the resurrection occurred – the rest as they say is the Papacy. Charlemagne was the main-man for this as the Holy Roman Empire took aim up to the 13th century. Politics and Religion were the supreme beings of power.

The renaissance was a period of great art and wealth where the grandest of artists took pleasure in ripping off the authorities – Michelangelo, Botticelli, Raphael, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Piero Manzoni, Leonardo da Vinci caught-codeless, Caravaggio, Giotto, Dante, Megan Gale and Federico Fellini. However up to the 15th century Italian cities were warring away their bountiful qualities, which also led to the opening of wars against France and Spain. Sardinia eventually falling to France. Napoleon had a stint as King of Italy. Regions of Italy fell and were resurrected into Italian power through the dogmatic efforts of Mazzini, Victor Emmanuel II, Count Camillo Carvour and Italy’s number one hero – Giuseppe Garibaldi who is now honoured as a sausage manufactured in Australia – go figure.

By 1870 Italy was a republic. But party politics was the new uncertainty in Italy. Umberto I was assassinated. The monarchy, republican ideas, socialist ideas and bad Italian cinema was spontaneously mixing together into a volatile liqueur. Italy had trouble over Tunisia with France in 1888 so they flipped to the German-Austrian alliance – a bad move by the time WWI came along, as Italy changed sides. Italy advanced into Africa – one wonders what types of atrocities occurred. .After WWI the Fascist Party over ran all parties with its devout right-wing advice and threats. Out of the darkness came the Black-shirts and Benito Mussolini whose inventions of lies were more useful than truth. His terror tactics worked – Italy gave rise to Il Duce’s power. A new leader was born. The Vatican rode on the back of Mussolini’s terror. The Fascists supported Franco in Spain and ensured Italy won its own World Cup in 1934 and over in France in 1938, the last before WWII. By June 1940 Italy was fighting with Germany, the 1936 axis with Hitler ensured this. Sadly for Italy the psyche of defeat led to defeats in Greece and across Europe – Italians are lovers not fighters as Michael Jackson would so eloquently say in a hit song about his baby being mine, this girl is mine etc. Mussolini ended up hanged by piano wires but no where near the Vatican City – his execution in front of the pontiff would have been far more profound in the Piazza del Santo Pietro.

By the time WWII was over, any party links to fascism would be disbanded and only at the San Remo song contest could you sing about Italians crying, celebrating and then rejoicing that the war was over. Italy felt pain but had prayer, gelato and roasted chestnuts to console themselves with. From the 1950’s Italy has almost annually been gripped by resignation of Prime Ministers and corruption. Communism was the greatest threat to Italy’s loyalty to the papacy; extraordinary lengths were made to stop the spread of communism. Italy decided to hand land over to the US for defence bases. It took until the 1960s for Italy to entangle itself into industrial alliances with the rest of the big European countries even though Italy was still predominantly a rural economic status. The north got filthy rich (and corrupt), whilst in the south the Mafia got rich and no one was corrupt!

Urban terrorism left its mark deeply in the murder of Aldo Moro, Italy’s kidnapped Prime Minister in 1978. Neo-Fascist left a bomb in Bologna in 1980 that killed 84 people. The last 25 years have remained virtually sedentarily in terms of political abuses of power, then again power abuse today is far more subtle and costly to billionaire businessmen-big- wigs of no hair like Silvio Berlusconi. The Mafia is never too far way though, resurrecting conflict in the south with the death of judges and TV hosts – you’d want to kill these TV hosts if you saw Italian TV as well. Corruption has now been replaced by controversy and indifference of the Italian public. History in Italy is like the unclothing of a new mistress until you notice that her armpits are unshaved, but nevertheless one carries on until the next cup of coffee and art gallery visit. Italy even went non-party where Lamberto Dini a technocrat took office – stability was maintained due to Italy’s greatest talent – indifference. Today Italy is always behind UN peacekeeping initiatives, quelling the mafia’s influence by granting them legitimate business and controlling the media into stupidity. Italy as of 2006 has banished military service. Italy is summarised nicely by the brutal killing of a protestor in Genoa 2001 during an anti-globalisation demonstration – this one death is the death that Jorge Luis Borges speaks about in one of his poems. Only one man has died, protesting and complaining about the world.

Speaking of complaints and how corruption has been replaced by controversy, it seems to follow the national team of late. In Korea the controversial Ecuador referee (whose name no one remembers) sent off Totti for faking a dive. At Euro 04 the final ‘fixed’ match between Sweden and Denmark. Italy must arrive at a new beginning of football. More guts than complaints. More fire than fireworks. There’s a pain inside of every Italian soul that believes Italian football is the best, alas there was a time where two types of people existed – Italians and those people who wanted to be Italians – those days are gone. Expect the three draws and another controversial moment or two at this World Cup.

The future? Ok so they have Totti back, Luca Toni the European golden boot winner ready to fire and all the best intentions in the World to win this one. They just have to knock over Ghana at the start. A disastrous start will allow the USA to skittle them and then a final sudden death match against Czech Republic may come too late. The hunger must come before the lions enter the Coliseum.

Bottomless pit ranking? So what does Italy have to fear in the future? Italy’s biggest problem today is racism – pure and simple. Football corruption even without the recent Juventus fiasco continues to plague the administrators of today. Betting rings, organised crime and badly made porn are the hurdles required to jump if Italy wants to remain the most loyal of subjects to sovereign football. Forza Italia is becoming a lesson of the past.