On Tolkien Nerds, Melons and Italy

Or, La Rondi Writes About La Meloni

I’ve been lucky in the past decade, getting to spend two to three months nearly every year in Italy. My partner is Italian, I am fluent in the language and I have been combining study and expat life with tourism on my trips there. During my studies – I was happily ensconced in a medieval university town - most of my mornings went something like this: leave apartment, stop at newsstand to buy paper and bottled water. Inwardly cringe at the Mussolini calendar on sale; continue on my way, walking past a building with a plaque on the side featuring the fascio littorio, the fascist symbol, and ANNO XI, meaning fascist year 11 (i.e. 1933), engraved on the side; walk into university’s main lecture hall which features a painting by Futurist artist Gerardo Dottori, La Luce dell’Antica Madre. The picture shows shirtless men carrying cinder blocks. One of the men has clearly been tampered with – he was Benito Mussolini, but after the war the university got someone to replace his face with that of a generic Italian man. A place of learning and debate having Mussolini’s face peering out at visitors? Awkward!

[Things That Make You Go, “ICK!” Photo: Rondi Adamson]

One weekend, an open-air antique fair had a bust of Mussolini on display for purchase. Ugh. Most markets had tables selling more calendars, CDs of fascist songs, lighters emblazoned with swastikas, and wine with Mussolini labels. The company that produces the latter, Lunardelli, is, thankfully, promising to cease with what they call their “historical line” in 2023. A misnomer if ever there were one, the “historical” should be replaced with “dictator” or “bad guy,” as the line includes bottles featuring Stalin and Hitler, in case you would like some Chateau Adolf or Domaine Joe to offer as a hostess gift. It is not as though the “historical” line features Martin Luther King, Florence Nightingale or Thomas More.

You get the picture. Italians swim in this stuff. For North Americans, myself included, the reaction is one of revulsion. I asked many of my Italian friends and professors if it bothered them and the answer was usually a variation on, “Yes, but we just ignore it. It’s embarrassing. And it is history and we have so much of it that we can’t begin to tackle the matter.” Or, “Nah, we barely pay it any mind.” The city where I studied – Perugia – is where the March on Rome began, but I have travelled up and down the boot and seen the same phenomenon. There are numerous monuments throughout the country that date from the fascist era, including an obelisk in Rome with the dictator’s name engraved for all to see. (A good New Yorker article about the matter can be found here.)

What I take away from these experiences is that Italians, like Judge Potter Stewart with pornography, know real fascism - versus tastelessness and provocation - when they see it. And most know that Giorgia Meloni, their new prime minister, is not a fascist. Whatever unpleasant things she has said (and there are plenty of examples), she was elected democratically and her government - a coalition that is hardly robust - could crumble in a flash. Italy’s 1947 constitution was specifically designed to prevent another Mussolini, with checks and balances so effective they prevent almost anything from changing or being accomplished. “Sclerotic” is a tame word to describe the grinding gears of the multi-layered Italian parliamentary system, far from the centralization of authority required in a fascist state.

This is not the March on Rome, Part Due.

That said, I would rather that Mario Draghi had remained prime minister. Italy is a country where the economy - with no growth since 2010 - is far and away the biggest problem and if you’re going to pick someone to fix a weak economy, I can’t think of a better selection than Draghi. But should you need proof of those aforementioned checks and balances, there it is: Italy’s previous coalition government fell apart earlier this year bumping forward the elections that were meant for next spring. (FYI, a piece I wrote at the Wall Street Journal, about Italy’s economy, can be found here.)

Meloni is certainly less radical and more reasonable than her coalition partners, Putin-apologists Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi. She is an economic centrist. Her party, Fratelli D’Italia - meaning “Brothers of Italy,” the first words of Italy’s national anthem - is identified more with the cultural right, immigration issues and the defence of family and faith. She has quoted G.K. Chesterton in her speeches. Mind you, she also posted a video of herself holding two melons - her last name means “melons” - in front of her breasts and winking at the camera. My fellow Canadians might remember the fainting spells that occurred when Kim Campbell merely bared her shoulders. But this is Italy - a country where including your pronouns in your email signature is unlikely to become a trend. It is a country where one of my leftist professors showed up for class on several occasions wearing a t-shirt with the outline of a naked woman on it. No one said a peep to him about it. It is a country with a prominent political party called “Brothers of Italy” and no national outrage demanding that “sisters” be added. It is a country where women are often referred to by the article “La” (the) and their last names. It is not disrespectful - on the contrary, I find it charming. Newscasters talk about “La Merkel” or “La Clinton” or “La Meloni.” (Friends can use “La” and a first name - and because my Anglo last name fails to scan well I was often “La Rondi.”) It’s a country where nouns are masculine or feminine.

Melons aside, I think La Meloni could surprise naysayers, though she would be wise to distance herself from Salvini and Berluconi and reach out to Italy’s highly-respected president, Sergio Mattarella. This election had the lowest turnout in Italian history - she has to navigate with care.

But none of this matters to North American media. The accusations of “fascism” and overreactions to Meloni’s victory are amusing and predictable. The double standard grates. Just one example: this headline from Mother Jones about Meloni being a “Tolkien-obsessed” right-wing weirdo. You know that were she a leftist, her love of Tolkien would be touted as proof that she was an adorable nerd. She would be held up as a feminist role model with a compelling personal story (which indeed she has).

Regardless of any concerns I might have about Meloni, this is what irks me: for the first time since Italy’s unification in 1861, they have elected a female leader and all the mainstream press does is make ahistorical accusations. Similarly, U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss is dismissed as incompetent. One would think two strong women in power would be considered noteworthy in a positive way. But they are the wrong kind of women: inclusivity only stretches so far.