Last night we DM and DW took us to a friend’s house to watch a once a year presentation that marks to celebrate a concept / ideal that was very foreign to me – Carnival. Carnival, according to Wikipedia, is either a period marking a farewell to meat, as this festival is to mark the time before lent, or according to Wikipedia , ” “a farewell to the flesh”, a phrase embraced by certain carnival celebrations that encourage letting go of your former (or everyday) self and embracing the carefree nature of the festival”.  For those of you USA side, we celebrate “Carnival” as Mardi-Gra.   What I experienced last night seemed was neither of these definitions. Though we didn’t get dressed up and bid ‘farewell to the flesh’ we did discuss, well okay – everyone else did, the various political elements for the year in Germany.

What I found fascinating wasn’t that we were discussing politics it was that almost this entire program, a snippet of which can be seen below, lambasted all of German politics, politicians, and policy. It also comments on German social structure e.g. the family, marriage, etc.  They will bring comedians, singers, and various acts in front of the festivals panel and have them perform. As each act performs the live band breaks up the skits they present by using a simple 2:2 sort of “badum cha!” marker.  Occasionally, when the performer says something especially poignant, the audience sings “Oi, oi, oi, oi!…” (which I found particularly entertaining).  The clip below is actually of the president of the festivals committee dressed up as “Guttie Guttenberg” (a play on the guy who made the Gutenberg Press – Johannes Gutenberg) peforming his skit.

So, what’s fascinating about this to me?

While we were watching the three-hour program (9p-12a roughly), we, L and I, were wondering what would happen if they had a program like this state side. If you’ve ever seen the comedic “roasts” of say Dennis Leery whats funny about the shows is the absolute absurdity of it all. People are made fun of, torn down intellectually / emotionally etc, and built back up to (somewhat) their former glory in a short time span. Now imagine, Democrats and Republicans doing this. Oh, and toss in a “third-party” (tea baggers – LOL!) occasionally to really spice up the mix.

Frankly, I couldn’t see this happening. It feels like American politics couldn’t laugh at itself if it was held at gunpoint. Yet that’s what these politicians do in this show. The hall the event is held in is basically filled with politicians, their families, significant dignitaries etc.   They gather together for this period to celebrate Carnival, dress up and momentarily let go of the social restrictions that make their jobs so serious. The fate of countless people weighing you down? Thankfully you have Carnival to dress up like a (literally) a fool to laugh at yourself and decompress. For all of the seriousness that Germany seems to present, this small celebration goes a long way to breaking down the image.

Advertisement