The Airportline: Observations

I’m reading Roberto Savianos Gomorrah in my bed. As you probably know it’s about the mafia in Naples. He is now living under house arrest, and a Swedish columnist wrote that it’s a bit sad that his life story has been more highlighted than the content in the actual book. I get her point, even though they are highly interrelated. I started reading Gomorrah after Christmas but never managed to finish it since I for some reason began to read five books simultaneously. But now I’m back in the depressed and violent streets of Naples with my guide Saviano. We pass through family wars with depressing outcomes as Saviano explains the crushingly cold capitalist system which governs the logic among the Camorra. Everything is about money, and power. Even love relationships are built on financial agreements:

‘Around here fa ammore does not mean “to make love”, but to go steady or to be engaged. Angelo had recently entered the System, and it didn’t look as if he was just doing little jobs, so the janitor concluded that he’d soon end up at the Poggioreale jail. Francesca, instead of defending her boyfriend, had her answer ready: “And what’s the problem as long as he gives me my monthly allowance? He really loves me.” ‘ (p. 138)

And just like Valentine’s Day is a sad attempt to make money of something so much bigger than a one day spending spree, so is the life of the woman involved with the mafia in Naples. But even in the darkest corners one can find something which appears to be an empowerment movement among women:

‘The typical image of the Camorra woman is of a female who does nothing but echo the pain and will of her men – her brothers, husbands, and sons. But it’s not like that. The transformation of the Camorra in recent years has also meant a metamorphosis of the woman’s role, which has gone from that of a maternal figure and helper in times of misfortune to a serious manager who concerns herself almost exclusively with the business and financial ends of things, delegating the fighting and illegal trafficking to others.’ (p. 141)

A feminist liberation movement based on free market ideals, blood and a lack of taste. Those of you who haven’t read Gomorrah really should. Tomorrow I’ll explain what happened yesterday when a Dutch presenter asked Rafael Nadal: What the hell happened?!