Beer and Clowns In Brussels: EU Unwittingly Parodies Itself (Yet Again)
Despite what you may think, I don't actually hate the EU.
In fact, I find it a fine source not only of trans-Atlantic social, cultural, and political commentary, but also of endless amusement. Yes, yes, I do study the EU seriously, but come on, you would have to be a humorless bureaucratic killjoy if you don't find some of the EU's behavior a little . . . funny. Like the recent silly (but delicious) Great EU "Let Them Eat Cake" Initiative.
I'm currently being entertained by this BBC news story about the EU opening its doors to the public:
When the European Commission recently opened its doors to the public, it put on quite a show. Bands were playing, there was cold beer on tap, and circus clowns performed for the kids. This was the EU as the smiling officials would like it to be - one big, happy family, a multinational meeting of minds. |
I thought this was just terrifically funny! Maybe I'm in a really cynical mood, but I'm thinking that the big splashy show of bands, beer, and circus clowns is a great example of the European Commission and of the EU unwittingly parodying themselves. No wonder some people can't take the EU seriously! I for one always knew that Brussels leadership was full of beer and CLOWNS!
(Oh, and I wonder if the hypersensitive, hyperdefensive French delegation insisted on specifically French mimes to go with the clowns, a la Marcel Marceau . . . Oh, and did the EUrocrats make sure that beer from all member nations was being given?)
I think I've given up on trying to write satires of the EU. Every time I try, the EU satirizes itself just by existing and doing what it usually does. (Today's earthshatteringly important EC agenda includes new laws against . . . illegal caviar.)
Actually, making the European Union look like a circus is probably the most honest bit of self-presentation that Brussels has ever performed. And, naturally, the honesty is accidental. Add the beer, bands, and clowns to Brussels' most famous landmark, Manneken Pis (actually, very suitable since all that beer was involved!), and you might have a thoughtful distillation of the EU right there. Hey, Belgium is a self-proclaimed beer paradise, no?
On a more serious note, the entire spectacle of the Eurocrats opening their doors to the public is slightly disturbing to me. Opening doors implies transparency and a government that is in tune with its citizens. Is transparency such a strange idea to the Euro elite that they have to make a big show out of opening those doors to the "masses"?
<Cool Architecture Digression> For a mental contrast, and some admitted wordplay about the very word "transparency," I think of the Reichstag, which has a fabulous glass dome viewing balcony so you can actually go and watch the German Bundestag at work. Whatever you think of the government, the glass dome is really cool. I bet it looks great if lit up at night . . . </Cool Architecture Digression>
Anyway, I'll let you do your own analysis of the EU's current health (or lack of it.) The same BBC story, after noting the beer and clowns, continues and talks about the possible collapse of the Euro currency. And remember the double shipwreck of the EU constitution and the present-day messy aftermath.
Given all these headaches, I guess I can't blame the Eurocrats for preferring to indulging in in beer, cakes, and clowns! Quick! Send in the clowns! (And even that song has a subtext that applies all too well to Brussels.)