This article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 18th June 2016.
This World: The New
Gypsy Kings: Thursday, BBC Two
Born on the Same Day: Tuesday, Channel 4
When
one thinks of traditional European gypsies, the word “bling” doesn’t readily
leap to mind.
80%
of Romanian Gypsies live below the poverty line. Unemployment is almost
universal. And yet, as seen in This World:
The New Gypsy Kings, in recent years a flashy new genre of Gypsy pop has
swept the nation.
Called
manele, it’s a kind of commercial electro-folk music glorifying material wealth
and hedonism. Despite its popularity, manele has attracted fierce criticism
from within the Roma community for its moral bankruptcy and overt links to
organised crime.
But
is it all bad? Director Liviu Tipurita, who’s been making documentaries about
Romanian gypsies for many years, tried to find out by delving into a bleak, strange,
murky world of prejudice, violence, people trafficking and even witchcraft,
where a career in music is one of the few ways of escaping from poverty.
On
a more positive note, Tipurita showed how, in the last 20 years, successful Gypsy
musicians have ploughed their earnings into building houses and schools for
poor communities which were once without basic sanitation. But those musicians
are devoted to traditional gypsy music and values; Manele performers are
primarily concerned with their own booming bank balance.
We
were introduced to mansion-dwelling superstars who openly boast of mafia
connections, plus Romania’s answer to Simon Cowell – a mogul known as Dan the
Badger – and a shady businessman married to “one of the world’s most powerful
witches”. She’s currently in prison for bribing a judge. All Tipurita had to do
was switch on his camera to capture an endless cavalcade of weirdness.
As
far as Dan the Badger is concerned, the manele lifestyle is something for
Gypsies to aspire to. He sees himself as an inspirational figure. In a way, he
is. After all, during the brutal reign of Ceausescu, Romanian Gypsies weren’t
even recognised as an ethnic minority. Only in the last 30 years, in the wake
of revolt and Ceausescu’s execution, has their culture been widely celebrated.
But
let’s not get carried away. One of manele’s originators served nine years in
prison for attacking a policeman with a Samurai sword. The music blatantly
glorifies gangsterism. For the most part, Tipurita’s eye-opening film resembled
an Eastern European version of The
Godfather. The entire movement is funded by criminality.
He
didn’t need to labour the point that these shameless capitalists are drowning
in dubious money while half the country starves. The sombre truth was
self-evident.
Some
TV concepts are so simple yet effective, you wonder why they weren’t exploited
sooner. Born on the Same Day is one
such beast.
Take
a random date from history – in the case of this opening episode, 7th
March 1944 – and trace the life of a notable figure born on that day. So far,
so History Channel. But here’s the neat little twist: to illustrate that all
lives are extraordinary, you then tell the stories of lesser-known people born
within the same 24 hours.
It
began with famed explorer Ranulph Fiennes. A remarkable man, but the show’s
emotional heft sprang from Ewart and Frances.
A first-generation Jamaican
immigrant, Ewart’s story encompassed decades of racism. And yet he’s never let
it define him.
Meanwhile, Frances suffered third-degree burns as a child. She
went on to foster and adopt sick children. A kinder woman you’d be hard-pressed
to meet.
A
winning format, it’s a fine, sincere and moving piece of social history.
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