by Renato Franco
The comedian among the protagonists of Relazionsimo 2030, the Expo of Relationships that will take place in Vicenza from July 15th to 17th. The audience, the brother, the authenticity: these are his relationships
In the age of the selfie as the ego’s code of representation, what is its relationship to itself?
The fact of seeing myself again — taking a selfie, for a video posted on social media — was new to me because I’m of the old school of thought (and there are a lot of us): I don’t care. I know it’s bad, that it’s a mistake, because when you’re doing a TV show, looking at yourself helps to understand what you did wrong, where you can improve; but I can’t: I can’t take it, I’m my biggest fan, I’m super self-critical. I’ve made films as a director that made me want to kill myself when I saw them again because I understood their slowness. The problem is, when you do something on TV or in the cinema, it stays that way: you can’t change it. Giorgio Panariello will be among the protagonists of Relazionsimo 2030, the relationship fair that will take place in Vicenza from July 15th to 17th.
You have built a career with many successes and few stumbling blocks: is your relationship with the public your greatest satisfaction?
With the audience – those who come to see you – pure love. But I also like talking about people you meet on the street. Contact with people makes me realize every day that I have to do what people want me to do and not what they sometimes tell me. In the past I’ve erred with them by trying to be what they aren’t and that I can’t be just to please criticism or please someone.
Place of virtual and mediated relationships, how does it relate to social media?
I’m a poor old man who stomps after social media because I know that everything that’s going to happen is going to happen more and more on mobile: you’ll watch less TV, go to the movies less, and rather do everything through this window than you Mobile.
What do you dislike about social media?
I don’t like that so many use you as a benchmark for everything you do. There are important people who work in television who give too much weight to what is said on social media and ask: But how many followers does Panariello have? My job is different.
Is TikTok not for you?
You have to make an effort to be there without pretending and without being pitied. When they tell me that the tendency is to do ballets while the images of bombed Ukraine flash by on TV, I don’t think swaying is the right way… On Instagram, on the other hand, it’s a different matter: it has different modalities and codes.
A relationship that made her suffer, that with her brother Franco who had drug problems…
He was a little boy who came home from time to time and I didn’t know who he was because nobody would tell me that I had a brother who they put in boarding school. I considered him a little friend who would spend time on holidays. Growing up I used to ask myself questions, he came and went until they told me he was my brother and the relationship changes, even if I didn’t understand this thing of having a brother once in a while….
Growing up it was more painful because consciousness took over…
As a kid I didn’t even think he could suffer. I saw him getting mean and angry, then I understood his suffering and started to side with him, maybe too much at times. We had a very ambivalent relationship, I couldn’t help Franco, I couldn’t show him that doing what I was doing and not what he was thinking was the right thing to do: for years I felt it was ballast because I wanted to grow, fly away at work, but I always had this thought, this torment, this fear if she stayed at home with my grandfather. I was afraid that something would happen, I would reluctantly leave, I did a bad job. When my life settled down and I felt strong, everything changed: I was ready and he understood that I was right. Because it’s not a question of money, you can have whatever you want… After 30 years he finally decided to get help.
Among the people you like on stage?
I will look for people; If the taxi driver doesn’t speak, I start pressing a button, I want to understand what he’s thinking, what he’s saying. I often return to Versilia, where I come from, because I need to be there, among the people, to gather energy and ideas. I’m not the artist who locks himself up in his hermitage and thinks he knows everything and doesn’t need anyone to explain anything to him.
When you became popular and famous, weren’t you afraid that you were looking for Panariello and not Giorgio?
First it was the biggest concern, then it became part of my life also because you recognize some people, some women I knew why they dated me… When you become famous, relatives come like mushrooms, people who you have never seen My life, Middle Ages: I am the duke’s great-uncle, who had that estate where your great-grandfather was a farmer… But there is also the opposite attitude; You go back to the country and see people’s distrust, they wait to see if you’ve gone to your head.
Of your long-time friends Conti and Pieraccioni, who got the most out of themselves?
Pieraccioni, absolutely. Carlo remained the usual Carlo. Instead, Leonardo goes in front of the mirror and thinks: Who is so beautiful and so good? Now I think he’s asking for your passport too, to let you in the house.
July 5, 2022 (update July 5, 2022 | 08:36)
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