We shoot videos at Natisone during the tragedy because we no longer know that death exists

We shoot videos at Natisone during the tragedy because we no longer know that death exists

Death comes and it doesn’t make you beautiful at all. Under the guise of a river (the Natisone) in sudden flood. She surrounds and swallows three young people who remain embraced waiting for her. One of them, Bianca, can’t swim. The other two do not abandon her. Everything happens quickly. Nature takes them and takes them away. Not even time to realize. The bodies of Patrizia and Bianca were found and as per Romanian tradition the two were dressed as brides for the funeral. Cristian is still missing. The other day, Patrizia’s mother, obviously at the mercy of desperation, said: «What pains me most is that everyone took photos and videos and no one saved them. Nobody. It wasn’t important to make the videos.” Yes, it wasn’t important to make videos. Obviously. For us, who are not devastated by pain, two observations come to mind. The first is that it is difficult to ask a passer-by to brave the swollen river, to put their life at risk for a complex rescue attempt. But that’s not the point we care about.

There’s another one. And it is the embellishment of our existence that now dominates this portion of the West that we inhabit. The sweetening of every fragment of life. We no longer see blood, shit and death. We don’t even know that they r-exist. Everything is perfect. Yet we are surrounded by bourgeois murders. From corners of reality that occasionally hit the headlines. They are flashes that last moments. Everything is quickly put back in order by virtual reality cosmetic surgery. Immersed in this condition, it is no wonder that there are those who record a video without even making the connection that those people will soon be unrecognizable because they are thrown on the rocks and lifeless. It’s not stupidity. He doesn’t know because we don’t talk about it. Because he never sees death. Not even with a war and a half on our doorstep. It is the dissociation of a community that has eliminated poverty and barbarism from our daily lives. Who has convinced herself that in 2024 one cannot die overwhelmed by a flooding river or by an earthquake that devastates the Campi Flegrei or anything else. Because we are in 2024 and we have electric cars and mobile phones. Because, ultimately, we have chosen to live in a deception. And we believe that’s the best way. Rouge. And put it under the carpet. Let it be the deaths. Despair. The conflict. Harsh language. It’s all filed away. Everything smoothed out. Everything must be made presentable. But this is not life. At best it’s virtual life. Where, in fact, the videos of three young people who are about to die are published.

(The article was published in the Riformista of 7 June)