I watched several episodes of the Ukrainian series on Netflix servant of the people. What a mise en abyme of reality and fiction! We lose ground. When the Ukrainians followed, between 2015 and 2019, the thread of this political comedy, they were in a different position from ours. Today, seeing Volodymyr Zelensky incarnate the president of the country, after having become one three years ago thanks to this fetish role, gives an impression of vertigo. Increased during this war with unreal contours. The giant platform did well to offer new life in North America to yesterday’s series, which is also a hit on European channels such as Arte and Channel 4. The invasion of Ukraine by Putin and his troops upsets our minds . We want to get to know better the man who braved the master of the Kremlin in such tragic times.
Adding to the feeling of confusion, between two episodes on Netflix, on another channel, the same face reappears on the news. Last avatar of the comedian politician: that of this bearded, tireless, admirable, admired war hero. This model of courage and composure, this crisis leader who inspires and mobilizes his people among the rubble, this leader who asks with dignity, without much hope, for increased help from his Western counterparts, he is the one who amused yesterday to make his compatriots laugh by mimicking the position of power. As in the series, he had been elected mainly thanks to his campaign on social networks. His party will have called itself Servant of the People in order to better blur the boundaries between game and reality, already undermined by fake news.
Fascinating series, often funny, with a lively theme song and jazz trumpets of the most beautiful effect. Zelensky does not shine with his acting skills. But with a sense of punchfrom Mister Bean’s clumsiness, he had created a type for himself: that of an ordinary president, close to his people, eager to clean up in a Ukraine plagued by corruption.
The first episodes are more substantial than the following ones, while the hero, first a history teacher then at the head of the country, sees characters from the past emerge who guide him, from Herodotus to Lincoln via Julius Caesar and Che Guevara. The series then misplaces references. But it helps to grasp Ukraine’s problems. The gags abound on the upstart ministers, stuck in their shoelaces, and on the family of the head of state who looks like Rougon. Still, the presidential figure gets away with the honors in this fiction with often premonitory echoes. From there to imagine his interpreter in military chief also seasoned…
However, his background as an actor-producer is an even more valuable asset. He helps her to stage herself, to use social media wisely. Similarly, Trump had used his experience in politics in The Apprentice to mark its effects and raise its voice. Ronald Reagan’s acting past offered him tools for collective manipulation during his time in the White House. Heads of state mastering the codes of representation, in our world of images, have a head start on the less seasoned.
The real Zelensky was also called a clown when he came to power. His beginnings were chaotic, his team too new. Donald Trump had twisted him in the Hunter Biden investigation. He had not been able to substantially curb corruption in his homeland, having himself been accused of having dipped his hand in the soup. But he stood up to Putin’s desire for expansion before the invasion of Ukraine. Since then, here he is in the Pantheon, like the god Mars of fighters. Who can claim hero status? It is revealed, it seems, in the field of honor. A lady who knew the bombings of London during the Second World War told me that few were the proud with arrogant arms who saved children by running under the bombs. Rather discreet people, without the physique of the job, unaware until then of having the stuff of the brave. Tel Zelensky revealed in battle.
Some destinies look like Russian dolls, give me the image, which hide many others. What will become of this unlikely politician in ten years? Above all, we do not wish him the same fate as that of Rudolf Giuliani, hero of September 11, fallen after his Trumpian acquaintances. At least may the President of Ukraine still be alive in 2032, so much does he put his life in danger! Like what, heroism goes beyond the sum of its components to also take on a halo of deep mystery. Impressed, one thinks: this man unknowingly carried within him this sublime profile. His first avatars fade away, and hats off!