A moment of satire on the Virgen del Rocío in the TV3 program “Està passant”.
The Court of First Instance of Sant Feliu de Llobregat has filed a lawsuit against the actors and presenters of TV-3 – Toni Soler, Jair Domínguez and Judit Martín – for the gag about the Virgen del Rocío broadcast by the channel in April. The ultra-Catholic organization “Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers” had taken the humor sector to court because it considered that the satire constituted a crime of ridiculing religious feelings.
The controversial gag was broadcast on April 4th, coinciding with Holy Week, on the comedy program Està passant, directed and moderated by Toni Soler. In it, the actress Judit Martín appeared dressed as the Virgin of Rocío with a baby doll in her arms that simulated the baby Jesus. Meanwhile, his Soler and Domínguez joked about his sex life and his Andalusian accent.
The broadcast of the parody sparked a wave of criticism. Even the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers went a step further and filed a complaint for allegedly mocking religious sentiments. The Catalan bishops also condemned the gag, saying it “transcends the sense of humor.” The Junta de Andalucía, the Episcopal Conference of Tarraconense and the Association of Andalusian Cultural Creatures were other institutions that expressed their outrage. On the other hand, TV3 defended that satire is a “symptom of democratic quality”.
The court believes that the gag falls under the right to freedom of expression. “The gag was extremely satirical and had a clearly humorous intent,” concluded Judge Juan Aguirre. The judge argues that the television program “joked about topics that are present in public debate, either because they were absolutely relevant, or because they were relevant to the season in which they were broadcast (Holy Week), or because they were frequently addressed (the …). Limits of humor in relation to the religious phenomenon). All these elements lead to a very wide margin in favor of freedom of expression.”
In an order published on Monday, the judge acknowledged that “it is entirely understandable and respectable that the gag may cause discomfort in certain people, but that feeling is not enough to understand that there has been an excess of freedom of expression He also believes that the controversy caused by the gag is part of the “exchange of ideas and opinions” and defends the humorous genre. “It must be borne in mind that satire is a form of artistic expression that has a provocative and agitational purpose due to its inherent characteristics of exaggeration and distortion of reality.”
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Finally, the judge concluded that the gag neither constituted a “disturbance of the religious freedom of those who profess the Catholic religion” nor did it incite hatred. “There is also no comment that could incite hatred, hostility or violence against people who profess the Catholic faith,” the judge concluded.
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