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| What Does an Official Christmas Tree Say About a Country? | What Does an Official Christmas Tree Say About a Country? |
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| ROME — At the end of 2017, Italy produced the most unlikely of antiheroes: Spelacchio, or Mangy, an ill-fated Christmas tree that arrived for display at Piazza Venezia in Rome with its needles falling off. It was the sorriest of holiday sights, and self-deprecating Romans developed an ironic but heartfelt affection for it. Spelacchio was soon decked out in handwritten notes of affection and support, and with a social media persona that gave it a human voice: its own Twitter account, @spelacchio, in the Roman dialect; several Facebook profiles and an official page on Instagram. #Spelacchio became a popular hashtag. | ROME — At the end of 2017, Italy produced the most unlikely of antiheroes: Spelacchio, or Mangy, an ill-fated Christmas tree that arrived for display at Piazza Venezia in Rome with its needles falling off. It was the sorriest of holiday sights, and self-deprecating Romans developed an ironic but heartfelt affection for it. Spelacchio was soon decked out in handwritten notes of affection and support, and with a social media persona that gave it a human voice: its own Twitter account, @spelacchio, in the Roman dialect; several Facebook profiles and an official page on Instagram. #Spelacchio became a popular hashtag. |
| Some people laughed at the tree, but it seems that many more laughed with it, and its removal from the square on Jan. 11 — many days after it had been pronounced dead — felt like the mournful departure of a beloved friend. | Some people laughed at the tree, but it seems that many more laughed with it, and its removal from the square on Jan. 11 — many days after it had been pronounced dead — felt like the mournful departure of a beloved friend. |
| After that, Spelacchio’s Twitter account would occasionally become active and gently mock local politics. In March, as the extreme-right Lega party and the populist Five Star Movement struggled to form Italy’s new coalition government, Spelacchio offered to serve as president of Parliament, the third most important political position in the country. | |
| Its Twitter handle then went quiet for months, until Nov. 28, when a new voice, speaking in standard Italian, announced: “I am back. And I am grandiose.” (It said so with a pun: “And I am a spettacolo,” literally a spectacle or a show, but also something extremely attractive.) Virginia Raggi, the mayor of Rome and a member of the Five Star Movement, had been relentlessly attacked last year for not even managing to keep a Christmas tree alive through the holidays. Last month, she tweeted excitedly, half in English, “Spelacchio is back in @Roma,” posting a picture of a very lush tree, full of branches and decorations — and sponsored by Netflix. | |
| The Twitter account @spelacchio started cracking Hollywood-themed jokes. It claimed that Spelacchio had been away acting in the United States. That it taught Brad Pitt to believe in himself. That Catherine Zeta Jones was its friend. That Christian Bale had asked for dieting advice. This tree was no Spelacchio, even if its head shot claimed to bear its autograph. This was a braggart and an impostor. What started as a spontaneous outburst of collective self-derision has been turned into a corporate gimmick: Netflix Italy is just trying to profit from the most famous, and most sorrowful, Christmas tree Rome has ever known. (Watch its promotional video and cringe.) | The Twitter account @spelacchio started cracking Hollywood-themed jokes. It claimed that Spelacchio had been away acting in the United States. That it taught Brad Pitt to believe in himself. That Catherine Zeta Jones was its friend. That Christian Bale had asked for dieting advice. This tree was no Spelacchio, even if its head shot claimed to bear its autograph. This was a braggart and an impostor. What started as a spontaneous outburst of collective self-derision has been turned into a corporate gimmick: Netflix Italy is just trying to profit from the most famous, and most sorrowful, Christmas tree Rome has ever known. (Watch its promotional video and cringe.) |
| At first, the new tree seemed to have its share of troubles, too. It was briefly called Spezzacchio — a wordplay that roughly means Broken One — because its branches had to be cut off before it was transported to Rome and then were reattached with nails. But it now stands 65 feet tall and has some 60,000 lights and hundreds of baubles, many of them stamped with a red N. If Spelacchio was approachable, the branches and ornaments of this year’s tree are protected by a giant net. | At first, the new tree seemed to have its share of troubles, too. It was briefly called Spezzacchio — a wordplay that roughly means Broken One — because its branches had to be cut off before it was transported to Rome and then were reattached with nails. But it now stands 65 feet tall and has some 60,000 lights and hundreds of baubles, many of them stamped with a red N. If Spelacchio was approachable, the branches and ornaments of this year’s tree are protected by a giant net. |
| And so much for unscripted effusion: Netflix has designated an area for taking selfies with the tree, set off by metal barriers, and has provided a sledge as prop. The publicity stunt is said to have cost the company some 376,000 euros (nearly $430,000). When I walked past the tree on Christmas Eve, I didn’t see anybody even looking at it, let alone taking photos. | And so much for unscripted effusion: Netflix has designated an area for taking selfies with the tree, set off by metal barriers, and has provided a sledge as prop. The publicity stunt is said to have cost the company some 376,000 euros (nearly $430,000). When I walked past the tree on Christmas Eve, I didn’t see anybody even looking at it, let alone taking photos. |
| Netflix has also just released a holiday movie by the Vanzina brothers. It’s a classic commedia all’italiana with a seasonal twist: A bunch of inept Italian politicians accompany the prime minister on a state visit to Hungary, mistresses in tow, make depressingly tame jokes and encounter a dead Santa in a hotel room. The film is called “Five Star Christmas” — a bizarre echo of the Five Star Movement. I still can’t figure out if that’s accidental or deliberate and an attempt at officially sanctioned political satire. | |
| Some of the politicians in the film turn out to have doctored their C.V.s to hide a lack of relevant professional qualifications, just like some of our real politicians today. On the other hand, Netflix and Ms. Raggi worked hand in hand to prepare this year’s Christmas-tree extravaganza. And according to polls, Italians seem quite satisfied with their new national government, despite its excesses, scandals and all. | Some of the politicians in the film turn out to have doctored their C.V.s to hide a lack of relevant professional qualifications, just like some of our real politicians today. On the other hand, Netflix and Ms. Raggi worked hand in hand to prepare this year’s Christmas-tree extravaganza. And according to polls, Italians seem quite satisfied with their new national government, despite its excesses, scandals and all. |
| A year ago, Italy found an unexpected way to laugh at itself and its predicaments: Spelacchio’s pitiful condition was emblematic of Rome’s decaying infrastructure, among other things, and we brushed all that off. This year’s shiny corporate tree matches our new xenophobic government’s inexplicable self-assurance and bombast. Matteo Salvini, the right-wing interior minister, feeds latent racism and populist nationalism in ways big and small. And while he tweets away about his all-Italian meals — he had Nutella for breakfast on Wednesday — the authorities are diligently turning back boats full of migrants and dismantling shelters for asylum seekers, and they are sabotaging the economy. | A year ago, Italy found an unexpected way to laugh at itself and its predicaments: Spelacchio’s pitiful condition was emblematic of Rome’s decaying infrastructure, among other things, and we brushed all that off. This year’s shiny corporate tree matches our new xenophobic government’s inexplicable self-assurance and bombast. Matteo Salvini, the right-wing interior minister, feeds latent racism and populist nationalism in ways big and small. And while he tweets away about his all-Italian meals — he had Nutella for breakfast on Wednesday — the authorities are diligently turning back boats full of migrants and dismantling shelters for asylum seekers, and they are sabotaging the economy. |
| I miss Spelacchio. We need him now even more than last year. | I miss Spelacchio. We need him now even more than last year. |
| Ilaria Maria Sala is an Italian journalist based in Hong Kong. | Ilaria Maria Sala is an Italian journalist based in Hong Kong. |
| Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. | Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. |