2024-07-07 19:57:14
Halina Pawlowská named her new book … and a spark jumped. In total, she has already published over forty of them, she also brought the first TV talk show Banana Fish and the social weekly Story to the Czech Republic. “As far as creation is concerned, I can already say that I progressed very well, but the crap I heard…,” she says in the interview. “Like ‘Take off your coat so we can see what talent you have.’
In the successful book Thank you for every new morning, you describe, among other things, the story of the family from the father’s side, originating from Transcarpathian Ukraine. It was published in Ukrainian translation two years ago, exactly with the beginning of the war. How did you perceive this interplay of time?
The book was originally supposed to be published half a year earlier. What was particularly interesting was that it was translated by Olga Perebyjnisová, the wife of the former Ukrainian ambassador to the Czech Republic. We met because I was at the cemetery on the occasion of my father’s birthday and I found fresh flowers with a Ukrainian ribbon on his grave. I found out that Perebyjnis visited him, he paid tribute to the brave Ukrainians. I was impressed that it was not a big impression event, but just a private act in complete silence.
Both your father and uncle spent their whole lives striving for an independent Ukraine. The uncle was the prime minister of the Hucul Republic and a member of the government of the West Ukrainian Republic. He and your aunt were in the gulag for several years. In the Jan Kraus Show, you said that nothing else was ever discussed at home but the freedom of Ukraine. So how do you experience war conflict?
It’s terrible, I can hardly tell you anything else about it. I just think that this war conflict is not far away and anyone who says they are tired of it is being cynical and stupid. It’s not for nothing, it’s here.
As a woman, I had it worse
You have written more than forty books. Which one is your favorite?
All of them, because I write each one with absolute emotion. I would definitely name Thank you for every new morning, because it touches Ukraine, Ukrainians and their feelings. Then I like the book The Truth About My Husband, which I think is a bit underrated. I wrote it a year after he died. People often think that everything I write about happened. They see it as a diary entry that I needed to write about my experience. Although it is based on my authentic feelings, it is not.
In the last book called … and a spark jumped, you write about the death of your father, among other things. In the short story “… when I find my roots, or Even a cow needs a relationship” there is a sense of sadness at the beginning, but at the end you end it with a humorous rhyme about beetroot. Do you have this attitude in life too?
My favorite genre in film and in dramatic works is tragicomedy, because it is true that this is how I view life. It has its joy when you are born and its tragedy when you die. Meanwhile, it’s a point of view.
In the penultimate book, Rande, you write again: “And I had to manage my time in such a way that I could breathe freely, raise two children, take care of my elderly parents and mother-in-law, and feel good as a writer, mother, lover and daughter. And it was hard. And beautiful.” Balancing work, family life and individual satisfaction is a big topic today. How did you set it up then and how do you perceive the current debate?
I didn’t deal with it that much before because it wasn’t being addressed. I would be a much bigger feminist today. I’ve had it worse as a woman, and it’s true that women still have it worse. On the one hand, they are very strong and can do anything, on the other hand, the situation is still very patriarchal. Just look at how many women there are in the media and in politics and think about how successful politicians and journalists are viewed by us women ourselves. This beautifully shows how we are all disrupted by upbringing.
Our society has not progressed
At the same time, you were the first to come to the Czech market with the format of the talk show Banana Fish, which was broadcast for nine years and received three Týtý television awards…
Yes, but it was difficult to make a name for yourself back then. On television, they were afraid that the programs would not be based on a cult of personality. Actually, it should have been suppressed a little that this is Halina’s show. And it was the same with other shows called Na plovarné, Relax, please… The names of the creators were in the background, today it’s just the opposite.
Don’t you want to continue in Banana Fish?
No one has offered it to me yet. Moreover, when it comes to talk shows, women don’t have it easy. We tend to keep putting women either on Home Alone, where they have to talk about diapers and babies, or on news shows, where they have to be bright intellectuals and discuss the cure for cancer and feminism. In the so-called “normal” structure, preference is still given to men. By having and having breasts, I devalue such a show a bit. Moreover, as a woman with breasts and a big ass, which is a comical figure in itself. Our society has not made any progress in this.
“The bullshit I heard”
When I put your name into the search engine, the first, most frequently searched question that pops up is “How much weight did Halina Pawlovská lose”…
Well, exactly. Most journalists first ask me the question “How are you doing” and then if I’m on a diet. I wonder if anyone is asking Viewegh or Hartle how they manage. The tabloid media often use “unmissable” in connection with my name…
Do you mind?
You know, as far as my work is concerned, I can already say that I progressed very well, but the crap I heard… For example, already in my second year at FAMU, I won the competition for the best short story. At that time, we shared the first place with Fer Fenič. As a result, the Barrandov Film Studio filmed it as a feature film. When I entered somewhere in the production and film studio, how many times I heard: “Take off your coat so we can see what talent you have.”
Didn’t you send them to hell?
It’s hard. That’s how society was set up. If I objected to them, I would be the one who has no sense of humor and did not understand the flattery. I never thought about it because that’s how we were brought up. However, it was terribly uncomfortable.
I eradicated journalistic phrases
You also led a new format of social weekly, which was Story, later Šťastný Jim. How did you come up with the idea of becoming an editor-in-chief?
At that time, I was approached by a Dutch company that wanted to establish a social magazine in the Czech Republic. I didn’t understand what it was about at all, I didn’t care about it and I was always in a hurry because I was filming a movie at the time. But in the end I became their horse. They just gave me a budget and a complete free hand. Story eventually became the company’s top-grossing magazine. The publisher began publishing magazines of a similar model elsewhere in Europe, in the East, and in America, based on the Story model. Their editors-in-chief then said: “I am the Hungarian Halina”, “I am the Spanish Halina…”
What was behind your success?
Photo: Lenka Hatašová
I eradicated all journalistic phrases and did not want a journalist. They were in captivity of socialist journalistic education and relied on a writing style that hindered the simplicity of the message. They did not write what they saw and what they thought. They used a lot of loops that were distracting.
You were also the first to come up with the television format of the social weekly V zíte and the travelogue Zanzibar. Did you have any other ideas that didn’t stick for some reason?
Yes, I had a lot of other ideas that didn’t work out. I read somewhere that a genius is said to come at the right time, so I laughed that I wasn’t a genius because I came up with my ideas early. For example, seven years before Pohlreich, I suggested doing a cooking show in an entertaining way. Likewise, I raised raucous cheers when I proposed a television social magazine in 1994 as a stand-alone section within the news. That’s how Showtime works on Prime today.
Next year you will be 70. Are you dealing with age?
I take it as it is. I’m not a motorist, I can’t drive and my machines have been stolen, but I imagine I’m a bit like a car. It has rusted wheels, something isn’t working, but it can be fixed before it goes to the scrap yard. Of course, I have a number of handicaps, everything hurts, but I don’t experience it. I’m no walker and sports have always eluded me. When I was told to go for a walk in my twenties, I wanted to pass out. The worst thing about this age, however, is that I’ve already experienced a lot of things and I can also evaluate a lot of things. And the most disgusting thing is, and it takes a terrible job, to hide it from the inexperienced.
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