Almost twenty years have passed since the column " I teleantropi " first appeared in the pages of Orizzonti magazine , a bimonthly literary periodical now discontinued. The title, a neologism for " the television man ," was intended to identify a phenomenon emerging in those years, linked to the viewer's desire to feel like a protagonist on TV , eagerly seeking those Warholian " fifteen minutes of fame ."
Getting caught on camera
Then there were individuals who were completely obsessed with the small screen, wanting to interact directly with it. For them, television was no longer a means to be enjoyed, but an end to be pursued . Among these "first generation 1.0" exhibitionists, so different from one another, homely and inexperienced, who barely touched fame, we can certainly count Alessandro Cocco , a charming gentleman from Varese who, since 1975, has amassed over 30.000 television appearances, earning himself a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Rightly nicknamed "the king of TV appearances," Cocco was the first to point out to the mass media that, alongside the official television world—made up of presenters, showgirls, and other entertainment personalities—there was an underground one, made up of ordinary people united by the hobby of being filmed by cameras. " Today, after so many years, I'm as in love with television as I was on the first day, or maybe even more, " Cocco confided, recalling his early days as an extra. " I had tickets to appear on the show 'Schiaffo e bacio,' hosted by Daniele Pisu on TeleAltoMilanese, which was then the second-largest private network in Italy. From there, I started moving everywhere, even landing on Rai and Mediaset ." Also worthy of mention is Cavallo pazzo, the nickname of Mario Appignani, an activist and writer, best known, however, as the first Italian "culture jammer" for his incursions into live television programs (his outburst at the Sanremo Festival, for which he blurted out, "This Festival is rigged and Fausto Leali is winning, remains epic").
Protagonism at all costs
To complete the summary list, there is finally Gabriele Paolini , the troublemaker par excellence on programs with live links – especially news programs – who, to indulge his “ sickness for protagonism ”, as he defined himself, gave up his real life to take on the role of a stereotype , through which he could be recognized by people: the character with long hair, in a blue jacket, with a necklace of condoms around his neck. “ I no longer have a private life ,” he admits. “ I'm so immersed in my character that, to be what I represent, I had to very cynically erase myself. After creating the character, now I pollute the events, occupying the television background with my face. These are political, current affairs, even tragic events: I cite for example the collapse of the building in Rome, on the Portuense, where I stayed for three days and had to face people who took to the streets to swear at me. 'Can't I stay?' I asked them in my defense. 'If there's television, I'm in too! I'm cynical, but television is more cynical than I am: when a building collapses, live television isn't necessary, because it doesn't save the victims . ' The images of me being beaten up by Frajese, who was surprised to find me even during his broadcast from Marseille, have also become historic, due to my entry into trash television. Thanks to this episode, I gained great popularity .”
Horizontal communication
The desire to feel like the protagonists of TV programmes, without touching these extremes, had already infected the viewers at the arrival of the new millennium, who shortly thereafter would have welcomed, with astonishing ratings, the first edition of Big Brother, a program that would change the face of television, opening the doors to the reality show genre. The dominance of the Internet, the advent of social media and the spread of a horizontal communication, where everyone can express their opinions, even on the most basic aspects of life, have given new opportunities to the ever-increasing number of unknowns seeking visibility. Bypassing the small screen, they can rely on more accessible channels—like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook—but must equip themselves to outperform the competition. More astute than their forerunners Cocco, Appignani, and Paolini, who lived on the margins of television, so captivating yet equally distant, the lucky ones who emerge from the web can count on widespread "grassroots" legitimacy from hordes of supporters—the much-desired followers— even making a profession out of it, even with stratospheric earnings.
I want to be there too!
These ordinary people captivate audiences as such, lend their faces to advertising campaigns, and are influential due to their proclaimed leadership, thus being referred to as influencers . They are close to the people who identify with them in the way they speak, who share a sense of community with them, albeit virtual, a daily life in which the need to leave a trace of oneself, with a selfie, a video, and so on, is increasingly pressing. From the "I'm on TV, therefore I exist!" of the teleanthropes, to the "I'm popular on social media, therefore I exist!" of the influencers , life only has value if it has a media framework. " Without this transition ," to paraphrase the words of anthropologist Marino Niola , " man feels he doesn't have enough existence. As if we were all pale and evanescent figures who, at a certain point, ask: I want to be there too! "
Catherine Aletti
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