Vivaio Letterario - Che denti lunghi che hai. Quando la risata diventa nera

As a child, I watched the Batman TV shows from the Sixties, and among his enemies, none was as likable to me as the Joker. He was a harmless and colorful prankster who gave you a jolt by shaking your hand. However, I then saw him turn bitter with each subsequent incarnation, all the way to the films by Christopher Nolan and Todd Phillips.

My Joker had become a terrorist. Had he changed, or had I changed? Neither: the times had changed. For over half a century – the golden age of mainstream TV – we thought that comedy and fun served to bring us all together: dumbed down but happy. In recent years, however, something unexpected has happened.

Ours is still a society of entertainment, but comedy is no longer just a harmless, hilarious gas: it is the weapon with which political duels to the death and fierce cultural wars are fought. A cynical and sarcastic humor has taken over public discourse. The king and his jester continuously swap places: political leaders adopt a stand-up comedy style while comedians unexpectedly start political careers. A fringe of the American left has unleashed a moralizing war on jokes, and comedy is shifting to the right. Escaped, after decades, from the gilded cage of television hegemony, the Joker has mingled with the identity bands of social networks, which tear each other apart with laughter. There are even rumors that he has become the President of the United States.Guido Vitiello

We will be wisely welcomed by Chiara Alpago Novello at 9:30 for a breakfast with coffee, tea, all the good things needed to start the day well: cookies made with organic flour baked in a wood-fired oven, local yogurt and cheeses, garden fruit jams, and whatever the awakening and the season inspire (for example, chiffon). At 12:30, a light lunch, greetings, and toasts. In between, conversations, questions, beautiful ideas. As much as you want.