More than on the things said, the reflection is on the place chosen to say things . A few days before the summer break, in a red-hot political climate not only because of the heat but because of what is being said and not said both inside and outside the majority, Giorgia Meloni chooses Chi for an interview that is more private but inevitably contains public messages.
First of all, the premier chooses Chi, the historic gossip magazine of the Mondadori house, hence the Berlusconi family. Marina and Piersilvio? No controversy, we esteem and respect them. This in the saying of the interview but also in the unspoken of the choice itself. Hand outstretched no doubt to Silvio’s pawing heirs, first Marina saying that on rights she feels closer to certain leftists, then Pier criticizing Forza Italia for being unattractive to moderates. And then the persistent rumors of the current Mediaset Ad’s own descent into the field. In short, a world in motion with which one has to be in balance.
Then of course the vacation news, with her daughter but also with Gianbruno, very good father indeed the best father there could have been for little Ginevra. And then however the fatigue of a political leader with government responsibilities in managing commitments and affections. A confession on the state of Italian women in short, much still needs to be done for them to be fully realized mothers and women, especially if single. Controversy returned to sender about the daughter brought with her during the visit to China. Rightly so. But also fearful of the constant and increasingly nasty controversy about her, every day, about everything. An ugly climate that reminds Giorgia of the social division pushed to the point of paranoia that marked Silvio’s political history.
In short, putting aside the quarrels over the Algerian boxer and the delicate ones over the Bologna massacre, the Prime Minister greets Italians on vacation, and those who read Chi because they cannot go, in softer and more popular tones. Between one love and another, strictly VIP. After all, like it or not, his is also still a love affair with the Italians, his party defying the heat with a good almost 29 percent. But autumn will be tough … and she knows it!
The article Summer Melons comes from TheNewyorker.
