Clowns for Pinochet

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Embedding myself amidst the pro-Pinochet marchers was frightening, to a certain degree, as it would be to jump in amidst a group of neo-nazi marchers in like Poland I imagine.

But this strange street coalition of pinochetistas wasn't all blood curdling. The suburban element was strong, as well. Well groomed dogs on leashes, cute suburbanite blondes, little old ladies, a ringleader in a cape and, what-any-fascist-march-wouldn't-be-complete-without, a CLOWN.

Upon reflecting over this video, however, I couldn't help falling into deep, archetypical sadness: this is the sadest clown alive. He's raggedy, working class and making a fool of himself, socio-economically speaking. I can't even imagine that he gets along with the snooty upper class he's marching with. Would any of them talk to him? Eeeeew! It's his loneliness, overall, that gives me what the Chileans describe as pena - profound emotional sorrow to the scale of homesickness, loss of a loved one, friendlessness.

Good job, CLOWN!

Anyway, considering Marc Cooper's astute analysis of Chilean society, this guy's presence is totally absurd:

Chile is a wonderful country with wonderful people. It's about the most class-conscious place I have ever been (outside of Montecarlo). So let me tell you, the Chilean ruling class has an unabashed sense of self, a brazen shamelessness which has permitted it to revere and glorify a humble middle-class general who didn't flinch from murder and mayhem to nakedly defend their interests.

Or maybe it fits right into place. Maybe Pinochet was the biggest clown of all! Anyway, here's a more proper interview, a refreshing break from the surreal...er, kinda:

And for the United States, sure, Pinochet is a hero

3 Comments:

At 1:37 AM, Anonymous said...: Those people looked just as vulgar as the stupid clown. Nothing classy about those marching on the street. The real poshie people in Santiago would not do something like that nowadays.
At 2:21 PM, Chileno said...: You could be right. I've heard of plenty of people who used to be pro-Pinochet until the Riggs bank scandal broke. Then they toned down their enthusiasm for the General. It took loss of money, not lives, to grow a dislike for Pinochet.

A middle class man who was ultra pro-Pinochet blew off Riggs when I asked him about it. (This was long before Pinochet's death). "Bwa," he told me. "All leaders are corrupt. Look at George Bush."

He was middle class and less polished. But then again, among those who turned out for Pinochet's death there were some pretty well-off folks.

Still, I think you're right overall. Now it's more hip to be like "liberal" or "socialist" like members of the Concertación, who talk a lot but drive home to nice pads in the self-same Las Condes, Vitacura, El Golf, etc that the fascists live in and spend half the year at their vacation homes by the lake in the verdant South.
At 5:56 PM, Anonymous said...: Hun,

Most of the polished Chilenos you see today are "new money" who were actually considered young "arrivistes" by the true blue-blooded class who controled the country because their roots steamed back generations. As soon as Allende came into the picture those people immediately left for Europe. The stories of those old grand mansions being dismantled are sad. Can you imagine the amounts of fine 18th and 19th century antiques that were sold for practically nothing. Many of those pieces were bought by American and European antique dealers. As the years passed Chile slowly striped itself of it's colorful and chic continental flavour. There was a turning point in the 80's when it ceased to exude any real class or authenticity. Now it looks completely like a warped version of suburban spwarl "Americana". Everything seems like a forced growth. The few upper-crustie citizens that remained in the country after the Pinochet/Riggs Bank Scandal are either:
(A)not living in Chile and laughed all the way to their Swiss accounts.
(B)still in Chile and keep a low profile
(C)assimilated to the masses tacky mode of living.
Or
(D)All of the above! ;)

The pretty and delightfull chilenas of the past were not just admired in their native Chile but some received attention abroad as well.

The Santiaguina society swans of yore, had an intangible quality about them. Their mothers thought them to epitomize the discreet charm of the bourgeois. From a young age these girls were instilled to achieve an inner cultivation of inner and outer beauty. A chic rarified little world full of manners, luxury, glamour, and the art of chaste flirtasousness would all coexist with humility. Being vulgar was not part of a Chilean girls' elegant Lexicon. Sadly if a young girl today would express any of these precious traits she would be mocked and called a "suitika" or "pituka".

Society scion Madame Eugenia Errazuriz who effortlessly mingled with Belle Epoque polite society set as well as the bohemian crowd of artists, painters and writers like John Sargent, Edith Warthon, Jacques-Emile Blanche, Giovanni Boldini, Sarah Bernhardt, Paul Helleu, Augustus John, and Pablo Picasso. 1940's couture muse Patricia Willshaw was another socielite who graced us with her elegance and enchanted Christian Dior himself with her (now extinct)Chilean charm. For many middle age Chilean men they remember 1960's leggy fashion model Marta Montt; She was Chile's own version of Penelope Tree with the big doe eyes and long brown hair with bangs. In the mid 1960's Gloria Benavides and Maria Teresa became national pop singers who captured the attention of chilenos with their angelic voices and regularly appearing on TV singing those sugary ballads. As I looked as those women in your video I began to think about Chilean people and how much they they have lost in the name of "progress". Change is good but like you said in many of your posts why take the worst of the US and mesh it with the most dispicable chilean idiosincrasies.