Neanderthals, all
Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi, photoshopped by Bis-serjeta' - Serjeta biss (Facebook).
The onslaught of memes was to be expected, of course. After all, it's not everyday that we get to see honest-to-goodness fisticuffs that seem to come straight out of some redneck movie. I'm talking about the Marsaxlokk fight, the video of which dominated all media yesterday.
As fights go, it came with trimmings that were a godsend to the usual (satirical) suspects like Bis-Serjeta. There's the one where the skinny guy doing a very good impression of Rambo on the rampage gets decked out in a Darth Vader mask.
Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi, photoshopped by Bis-serjeta' - Serjeta biss (Facebook).The other one with footballer Mario Balotelli (famous for that sculpted chest) phot-shopped in, sporting the legend "only I can do the shirtless thing". Good stuff and I laughed hysterically along with the rest of social media users.
Only, if you stop to think about it, it wasn't really that funny was it? Firstly, for the obvious reasons: if the fight had been allowed to go on for five more minutes, someone would have gotten badly hurt. But it didn't, so let's set that aside for now. The real reason it's not funny is that it is so darned embarrassing. We had the swearing, we had the screaming, we had the bare chests (we do so love the spot of machismo, don't we?) and we even had the obligatory gold chains that would probably cause your eyesight as much damage as a punch if they catch the sun just right.
In this case, we are nothing more than the sum of our parts. And that sum spells "Neanderthals". Sure, fights happen. They are part of our Latin temperament and all that. But lately, they seem to be happening a tad too often. Only last week, we had the cat fight in Birzebbugia where two women did untold damage to their reputation and to an unfortunate Lidl basket. And now, this. What both fights have in common is that they show to (dis)advantage the crass mentality that many of us still suffer from. The rednecks of Malta.
Why am I making such a big deal out of ths redneck thing? After all, if they flourish in the States, why not in Malta? The reason is simple. The US is big enough that pockets where modern civilization is rather lacking are to be expected. Not everyone is exposed to the same lifestyle, the same opportunities, the same education... You would hardly expect someone who was raised in the beck of beyond to share the same sophistication as a New Yorker.
In Malta, there is no beck of beyond. We are all exposed to the same opportunities. We all enjoy decent, free schooling. It takes an hour to cross the island - and only because traffic management is bad. There should be no difference between growing up in Valletta, Sliema, Birzebbugia or Marsaxlokk.
And mostly, there isn't. Except for the few who actually want to maintain this illusion of difference, that is. The few who should really know better but who seem to revel in crass displays of uncivilized behavior. You know, like parading about shirtless, sporting a tonne of gold and for all the world acting like the past 2000 years of progress didn't happen.
These are the ones giving us all a bad name. And really, they have no excuse.
P.S. A €60 fine? Seriously? A hefty dose of community work would have been a lot more useful.
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I Bugeja
Aug 17th 2012, 12:36
Ramona,
Mostly there isn't? I beg to differ. Some localities are quiet, others are noisy. Communities alike differ, it is a mix of demographics, heritage and culture (or the total absence of the latter two).
I have lived in 3 localities in Malta and I still love my birthplace but pockets of ignorance still exist. It is like a China town where people coming from the same cultural background do not evolve and integrate well with the rest thus remain with the same habits and ideas which distinguish them from the rest.
John Neville Ebejer
Aug 14th 2012, 23:04
The style may be different, but you find recklessness and snobbery in all parts of the islands and amongst the different 'classes' or types of communities there are in the 'South' and the rest of the island - because it seems Ms Depares has come up with just examples from the 'South' - which actually is no south at all but the East of the island.
Well, in Marsaxlokk it is a camping site which has taken over public land, in other parts of the island the bullying Neanderthals have taken up even more public land erecting more permanent structures. Now go on Ms Depares, you know this is so very true and you could come up with so many good examples of gold wearing to show off dressed up in other forms according to the circle of friends one frequents and what funds one disposes off - it could be a dress from a 'sartoria' jewels, or sports car -maybe better still a boat. You still would be doing the same thing you see.
It just takes a little bit of objectiveness to see this amongst even his own preferred circle of friends or community - or country. It just takes one to remove prejudices or predisposed antipathies to see that actually it is the same thing in other forms and language?
No red necks or Neanderthals in New York! but have you been abroad?
Raphael Dingli
Aug 14th 2012, 15:06
Yes I agree that the fine is dismal and they got away with a 60 euro fine. Giving all of you a bad name because they are shirtless is a bit rich and reeks of that unique form of Maltese snobbery. Your suggestion that all get the same education and all have the same opportunity is laughable. The fact that they are shirtless and sport a tonne of gold is what makes them different. Your own snobbery in this context contradicts your own argument that everybody should be equal because its a small island. What a load of rubbish!! Rednecks exist everywhere - not only in the States.
Franco Farrugia
Aug 14th 2012, 17:21
Well, if I had to choose between Ramona's 'snobbery' and these louts, I would prefer to be surrounded by 'snobbery' as you call it. Which is not snobbery at all - just style. Why not?
Victor Laiviera
Aug 14th 2012, 14:00
"In Malta, there is no beck of beyond." (sic)
Typo, pun or Freudian Slip?
Peter Murray
Aug 14th 2012, 11:54
Oh come on now Ramona as least the spelling on these Maoiri warriors body paint was correct as was the grammar. in mitigationMay the force be will you -although in this case not the police force.
Mr Tony Gatt
Aug 14th 2012, 11:29
That big guy could have eaten that other for breakfast.
Eric Soames
Aug 14th 2012, 13:50
I made that point under the original column but the gatekeepers decided to not publish it. In fact I commended the big guy for not retaliating because that would have turned a fracas into a riot. But maybe I write from too far away!
Victor Rodenas
Aug 14th 2012, 11:29
When some months ago millions of Awrat (fish)escaped or were set free from the fish farm many anglers took their rods to fish for them,anglers were catching them in hundreds and fights erupted at many beaches and shores.I ,stupidly,almost got in a fight myself,...afterwards we shook hands and now we are good friends.If one is not in those curcumstances,.......one cannot point fingers.
Franco Farrugia
Aug 14th 2012, 13:53
Oh, ok, right! So here we probably have someone else who claims that we shouldn't judge at what happened. No wonder these people plunder on the island and lay waste on the rest of the population. What a sad day for this country, not only having these Maltese acting in this fashion but to have supposedly intelligent people who tell us not to judge, and not to point fingers.
OF COURSE I POINT FINGERS! AND HOW, I POINT FINGERS! I happend to be a law-abiding citizen and I never broke the law, and never took the law into my own hands and furthermore, I never took for myself land which belongs to the citizens in general!
Jennifer Cosaitis
Aug 14th 2012, 16:06
One can easily have an argument or clash with someone else, the difference is how one goes about it - either turning it into a fistfight as happening in the incidents in question, or getting over a disagreement in a civilised manner. So I beg to disagree, if one is in the wrong, like the thugs who got away with a €60 fine, then yes we have every right to denounce what is wrong.
Victor Rodenas
Aug 15th 2012, 12:34
Franco,I was only commenting (do not point fingers)about what happened to me while fishing ,nothing was premeditated ,it just happened.What happened elsewhere was wrong.
Please choose the reason of your report below: