Neither Benito Mussolini nor the Fascist regime he led in Italy from the 1920s to 1940s were known for their sense of humor. As cultural historian Stephen Gundle writes, the closest the “action squads” of the Fascist movement came to comedy was mocking and humiliating socialists and trade unionists by cutting off their beards or forcing them to drink castor oil. But, Gundle writes, the totalitarian aims of the Fascists meant that the ideology attempted to intertwine itself into every aspect of life—including comedy.
Whereas Germany’s Nazi government generally accepted political jokes as a release-valve and didn’t punish people harshly for telling them, the Italian Fascists immediately shut down popular satirical publications when they took power. Even an overheard joke could be prosecuted as “offense against the head of the government,” a crime punishable by prison time. More often, the offender would simply get a beating.
On the other hand, Gundle writes, people within the regime might get away with a certain amount of humor at the expense of Fascist officials, such as the mocking of Fascist party secretary Achille Starace’s attempt to abolish the handshake.
This leeway also extended at least partially to comedians in favor with the regime. For example, Roman variety theater performer Ettore Petrolini specialized in performing as a variety of characters, including a megalomaniacal Emperor Nero. Though this character doesn’t seem to have been based on Mussolini, members of Petrolini’s audience made the connection. Gundle argues that he got away with continuing the act partly because Mussolini was among his fans—and vice versa. In 1929, Petrolini became an honorary officer of the Fascist Militia.
Other humorists walked the line between supporting and satirizing the regime in different ways. Journalist Leo Longanesi is said to have invented the slogan “Mussolini is always right” as a joke only to have it adopted by the regime while Longanesi moved into creating Fascist propaganda.
While Fascists sometimes spoke against frivolous entertainment, engaging the entire society meant not alienating those who simply wanted to continue living regular lives in peace. Therefore, the government supported the showing of American comedies like Three Stooges films and the publication of innocuous cartoons focused on daily life.
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“The cartoons were of the type to provoke smiles and this quality was especially valuable at times when good news was in short supply,” Gundle writes.
When comedy did get political, it tended to focus on mocking particular social “types,” including “modern” women and “un-masculine” men, as well as Jews, foreigners, and leftists.
As World War II went poorly for the Fascists and Mussolini’s power waned, Italians became increasingly emboldened to make jokes at Mussolini’s expense, including dirty ones about his affair with Clara Petacci. However, after the end came, many of the performers, cartoonists, and other humorists who had joked on the regime’s behalf went back to their careers, unscathed by their collusion with the Fascists.
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