He looks out from the balcony proud and shirtless. Hearing a great shouting right in front of his house, he wanted to go and see what was happening out there. so it was that the Professor Nicola Frangione, a well-known retired English teacher a Matera, was immortalized on Tuesday in the act of “hanging over” the international delegates of the G20, the prestigious economic-financial forum passed in recent days also by city of the Sassi. An image as curious as it is genuine, which immediately went viral on social networks and private chats.
Impressive security measures adopted for the occasion: armored historic center and hundreds of agents deployed. However, no one could do anything – and God forbid – against the invasion of the field by the equally impressive Professor Frangione, not at all uncomfortable in showing himself in a domestic outfit in front of some of the most powerful men on the planet (visibly amused), led by landlord Luigi Di Maio. Thus, the ironies of the Net have been wasted: He has re-established whoever is in charge, other than the big 20, wrote for example a user on Facebook. Once the powerful stood on the balcony and the common men listened from below: for a day, thanks to prof. Frangione, the roles have reversed, another pointed out. But the most recurring comment is that the hilarious image is already the photo of the year. However, those who know the 74-year-old personally say they are sure that this is not a coincidence: with his decidedly summery outfit, the man would have really tried to desecrate the plaster formality of the summit.
Sorry to contradict those who said this, but in reality I didn’t have any particular goals – clarifies Frangione al Courier service -. I was simply reading a book in front of the house, as I often do. A good way to tan too. At one point I heard a band approaching and, imagining that the delegation of the G20 was arriving, I looked intrigued as I was: without a shirt. Among the first to see him dominate the street, really the minister Di Maio and the mayor of Matera Domenico Bennardi, at the head of the procession: They both greeted me affectionately smiling – reveals Frangione -, it was a nice thing.
Then someone present took the viral shot, making him a de facto celebrity. On the web and beyond: When the photo started to circulate on the Internet I’m been contacted by people I haven’t heard from in years – the professor continues -, they also called me from Canada. And this morning, when I went out for coffee, many even asked me for a selfie. Yet it seems to me that I have done nothing of that.
Indeed, the story aroused mixed feelings in Frangione: On the one hand, all this makes me happy – he admits -, on the other it leads me to reflect on the anthropological level. We are in fact experiencing a complex historical moment, which is why it is worrying if such a skimpy fact was enough to attract so much attention to me. Selfies are usually asked of important people: it seems absurd to me that today it takes so little to be considered such. In short, I have the impression that social media users lack analytical and in-depth skills. Even people who I thought were strangers to that world have instead discovered in these hours that they are fully part of it. I don’t know, but I feel like I’m in George Orwell’s 1984. Evidently times have changed….
July 1, 2021 (change July 1, 2021 | 12:29)
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