The Apotheosis of Roma In A Record-Breaking Greek TV Series

AIM Athens, 8 April, 1998

A passionate love story of a Roma woman and a non-Roma man challenges many of the stereotypes that have been cultivated in Greek society in spite of the years of coexistence with the Roma people. A love story which broke all previous rating records, reaching 32% according to AGB (Nea 12/2/98). This is the first serial in the Greek TV history using a Roma camp (the camp of Liossia) as the natural landscape of the shooting. Roma people are performing together with the actors. The serial transmits, implicitly and explicitly, some of the Roma traditions and beliefs (e.g. related to their family relations, the celebration of engagements and marriages, the role of the larger Roma family) providing a humane picture of the Roma way of life and of some of the problems they encounter in their everyday life in Greek society. In this way, the Roma have become part of the non-Roma reality, coming closer to the Greek people (or better, the Greek people have come closer to the Roma). "Whispers of the Heart" has proven that communicating to Greek TV viewers positive images about the Roma can be both a very popular and a very profitable enterprise.

This different, more positive and humane aspect of the Roma, can be "extracted" also from the comments of the people who have so far worked with them for the realization of the serial. The director, Mr. Manoussakis, claims that success came as a result of the "Greek character of the spectacle, [suggesting that the Roma are part of the Greek reality] the Greek passion, the plainness of the people, the new world which is presented, the music and the protagonists. "Whispers of the Heart" does not imitate anything unfamiliar. It is a serial which was not shot behind the walls, but in the open air=85" (Nea 12/2/98). On another occasion, when interviewed for umpteenth time, Mr. Manoussakis confesses that he can't help himself feeling "charmed by the Roma sense of freedom, the alternative prism under which, Roma face reality, as well as by the unpredictable of their reactions" (Nea 3/3/98). The script writers of the serial, Stavros Avdoulos and Irini Ritsoni, say that their primary intention was "to present to the audience two different civilizations. That is why we ended up with the Roma. We, ourselves, had to get into the world of those people in return. That is why we went to live close to them. We met with people, with their particularities and way of thinking. Otherwise the story would not have been realistic." Are the Greeks racists? "Deep down we are racists in a way. We do not accept the necessity to understand the Roma, to accept their differences. We only want to change them. I was impressed by many things. Their morality, their family bonds, their sense of time and place".

The invasion of their world by those who until now only used negative stereotyping when talking about them gives an explanation why "the Roma seemed to be hesitant in the beginning. All these cameras and the newcomers invading their camp, their world. Still, when they realized (after the first episodes) that the serial did not expose them, 'they became friendly and were waiting for us with open arms and doors' recalls Mr. Manoussakis" (Nea 12/2/98). Mr. Manoussakis has repeatedly put emphasis on the Roma mistrust towards the non Roma. "When they watched our first episode, it was only then that they were convinced of our best intentions" (Nea 3/3). This constant reminding of the Roma mistrust isn't without reason. Very diplomatically, Mr. Manoussakis suggests that the "best intentions", (when non Roma are dealing with Roma) are the exception to the rule, insinuating that Roma are often seen as an easily, by all means, "exploitable" community.

Apart from all "declarations," statements and personal positions in the interviews, some things which were happening in the camps parallel to the shooting of the serial proved that a certain "wind of change," however temporary or superficial, appeared to blow among the participants that reached even the viewers. "Whispers of engagement" (Ethnos 9/02/1998, page 46) is the title of another article, this time referring to a real Roma celebration of an engagement in Liossia, where the best man was the director of the serial, Mr. Manoussakis. One would easily doubt about the ulterior motives of such behavior, claming that this kind of social events are, simply and exclusively, serving public relations' purposes. That could be partially true. Partially, because, even in this case, it would be unfair to disregard another dimension of this "marketing" message: An important director, respectable for his work, possible opinion leader - since he is in the position to influence public feelings

• gets along well with the Roma. Since he can do that, why can't we (all the others) do it? He has nothing to lose coming closer to these people, on the contrary, he is giving the impression that he has gained a lot through his contact with this "different" world. The engagement celebration was not the one and only social evening that Mr. Manoussakis chose to spend with his Roma friends. Eleftheros Typos (28/3/98) reports that he celebrated the Greek national festival (25/3) together with the Roma of Ano Liossia, eating with them traditional plates, singing and dancing till late at night. Although the immediate message may be that the Roma are as Greek as all the other Greeks; there is another message which slips through, and that is that, whether Greek or Roma, we all are human. Is it possible to bridge the gap between these two different worlds? Will it be possible to respect and not fear our differences in the future? The serial does not provide us with an answer and, after all, this is not its objective. The "wind of change" is only one small step ahead, a very important step, however, that should inspire all those who care about putting down the walls people raise between them, proving that there can be an alternative culture.

Everyday life and practice are more pessimistic and no serial could abolish the everyday problems of the Roma which continue to exist, without many changes in practice. "Whispers of misery" is the title of a report from the Thrace newspaper Paratiritis (23/1/98, page 5) referring to the camp of Teneke Mahala in the town of Komotini in Western Thrace. The article writes of the indescribable poverty of all campers, who were almost drowned by the last rains. The unbearable living conditions are used as an example of "comparative studies" between the third world and the Roma camps of Greece. Stratis Balaskas, a reporter in Eleftherotypia (9/3/98), goes even further in his "Tin-can City" presentation and speaks of the "shame, in all meanings of the word, of Modern Greek Democracy" pointing out the Greek authorities' responsibility over the total neglect of this Roma community in the edge of Northeastern Greece. Primary school pupils (of the Third Public Primary School of Mandra), having worked, for over 3 months, on the everyday problems of the Aspropyrgos Roma campers, are comparing human rights references in the Greek Constitution with everyday reality. Human rights declarations against the reality that is seen through the prism of a child's sensitivity: "All these people live in poor shelters, made out of wood and iron. So many of them, gathered together in one of these shelters. Rubbish and mud everywhere. No running water, no electricity, no toilets. They do not merit this kind of life" (Nea 6/3/98).

Some though criticized the series for embellishing reality as it stresses Roma folklore and neglects everyday reality of the Roma which is unfortunetly still rude. Lena Divani, university researcher and columnist in the daily Nea (11/2/98) reminds us of the fact that, for quite a long time "History and Sociology books have been ignoring the Roma, while the official Greek state has been refusing citizenship to these 300,000 people for more than 120 years. In our eyes, the image of the Roma is narrowed down to colorful skirts, clarinets and reading of our fate," f.e. it is narrowed down to caricatures and not to normal people of flesh and blood who have particular needs. Still, they live together with us, everywhere and nowhere. The Roma have always been the most ignored and neglected of all minorities, only because there are hardly any educated people among them, people with some access to the system and a voice that could be used in our powerful codes in order to be heard. That is why it was easy for the police, for instance, to intrude without thinking twice (and, what is more, without giving any warrant) in their homes, looking for suspects. But now things are becoming different. The Roma are trying to ignore the majority's racism and to send their kids to school. A brand new Roma generation is activated with success throughout Europe, with a view to informing the international community about the culture, language and big difficulties of the Roma brothers".

Waiting for all those whispers to become voices we can let them know that we are on their side.

Christina Rougheri