Every so often, when the day runs a little long, when lunatic Sienese driving doesn't quite get your heartbeat up where it should and when Italy begins to seem like a reasonably normal place to live, you stumble across something like this: The Benito Mussolini Day Planner. Yes folks, that's right, Italy has seen fit to feature their ex Fascist, Nazi-sympathizing dictator on a new line of back-to-school goods. Only €9.95! Inside they've got good ol' Benito in a variety of heroic, "man of the people" poses: kissing uncomfortable looking children, giving speeches with his shirt off, and my favorite: hands on hips, chin thrust high, sitting atop a new Fiat mini-tractor. They save the obligatory friends-with-Hitler shot until late in December. Dont worry, it doesn't look like he's enjoying himself. Perhaps I am unaware of some great good that Mussolini bestowed upon the Italian people, but I find it amazing that they would bestow ANY honor on a guy whose only lasting accolade is being the guy who forced Italians to be punctual. Coming from someone who has lived in Italy for just 18 months, I can assure you this was probably a large part of the reason he was shot by his own countrymen before they unceremoniously dangled his corpse from a gas station. Italians will arrive when they goddamn well please. Adding to the absurdity is that the only OTHER famous-person-day-planner is emblazoned with the visage of Ché Guevara, who - were he alive - would probably have a word or two about sharing shelf space with Italy's most famous fascist. Honestly, it's a lot like printing planners with rival soccer teams, except here it's just a matter of a few picky little ideological differences. Ché fought for the plight of the common man in South America, Mussolini gassed half of Ethiopia. The comparison also raises another valid concern. Ché is rapidly becoming the most recognized pop icon of the new millennium. Does this mean Mussolini is next? Holy shit, don't tell Milan! God help us if the one country in charge of international fashion decides to use this little gem from Italian history as the centerpiece of next year's underwear line.

Comments

Nate
As I was writing this post, Mike wrote an email of the same subject to all of his friends. The text was more vitriolic to be sure, but we shared the same point: what the hell are they thinking? This guy was a jerk! He was in cahoots with Hitler! You don't see any Hitler binders laying around, do you? The responses - some responded to the whole list - have been surprising. I for one thought this to be something of an open and shut case, but there seem to be a steady stream of rebuttals; ranging from: "oh come on, he wasn't that bad" to: "he was a national hero! What to you expect?" One comment in particular that I found interesting was this: "Hitler, Mussolini, Saddam, Bush, Lennin, Stalin, should be memorialized for what they did, and for the price they paid so we can learn from it." The point was made - and well made - that simply because these men did evil things, doesn't mean we should erase there names from the history books (or street signs, or statues). Just that we should learn from them. I agree that they should not be forgotten, but putting them in the pop-culture limelight does not exactly evoke the kinds of lesson that one should be learning from the man who, despite a spectacular show of reviving the Italian economy after WWI, was a power-hungry war monger that ended up leading Italy to further destruction in WWII. I'm not denying that he did many good things for Italy, but the extent of the eventual damage seems to be an argument unto itself. In short, putting the guy in a such a strong positive light on a product that will go out to thousands of Italian children seems like the wrong lesson to be teaching. However, I realize this is just one half of the argument. I too have met Italians in love with the idea of Mussolini, and yes, I'm sure there will be Bush Binders in 50 years. The same argument would stand against those as well.