"Muzhefest" by Karl Marx and Soviet Luke

Philomena Kank explains the story best in which the devil does not understand. That is why her fake documentary is no worse than real

On January 31, the British mini-series “ Earth through the eyes of Kank ” entered Netflix. For five episodes, a TV presenter named Filomen Kank with a serious expression on his face tells about the history of mankind, which, according to her, turned the world “from a bunch of meaningless nature” into “a bunch of modern things”, and also asks historians ridiculous questions in the spirit “did mummies go to a bicycle?” “Earth through the eyes of Kank” is a pseudo -order satirical show, and Philomena is a fictional character, impressive so that it is easy to forget: this is just an image. The taken aback by the scientists with whom she speaks, the real ones - as well as part of the historical facts, which the viewer himself has to separate from fiction. The cultural observer Irina Karpova watched the series and, at the request of Medusa, tells how Philomas Kank favorably differs from other “journalists” -pankers.

A serious woman in the gray Blayser, vaguely reminiscent of the manner of asking questions Maria Kiselev from the “weak link” program, interviews the art critic from Oxford: “What is of greater cultural significance - Renaissance or Beyonca's song“ Single Ladies? ””

A professor of history of art is recognized that with great warmth refers to the singer, but the task of revival was the transformation of culture - and it is unlikely that Beyoncé has similar intentions. The presenter is not behind: “Do you seriously say that several dead white heterosexual men are devoting to Beyoncé? That's right, on camera? "

Filomena Kank is a fictional character, a British TV presenter and an interviewer from TV shows . It was created by the writer, producer and screenwriter Charlie Brooker and Diana Morgan-actress and stand-up committee, embodied the image on the screen.

The character of Philomena Kank first appeared in the satirical show of the Weekly Wip Broker (“weekly cleaning”) in 2013 to balance another character - Barry Shitpis performed by Ela Campbell. In the program, Brooker and his fictional heroes satirically commented on the current events. Shitpis was responsible for the point of view of the representative of the working class. “People say that many migrants come to us, but interestingly, I have never heard of such a country - migration” - for example, he said. Kank, representing the middle class, claimed: "They [migrants] cannot be real people, because if they were people, it would be completely unforgivable to write about them in the newspapers what they write about them."

The names of Shitpis and Kank in English have a provocative sound , on the verge of vulgarity - like almost everything that Charlie Brooker creates. For example, it was he who invented the first series of the Black Mirror , where terrorists demand that the Prime Minister copulate with the pig on the air.

A large breakthrough in Diana's career Morgan occurred thanks to the role in Ricky Jerveis's series “Life after Death”. There she played Kat, an employee of the editorial office of a British free newspaper. Her heroine is religious, she believes in homeopathy, vulnerable and conservative; She really wants to please the team, and she does not work out at all. An extremely unusual, dry supply of jokes and punchlines in dialogues with Jereweis - he plays her colleague - it is already visible in this series. As Brooker says , Morgan can only make any text several times funnier than on paper.

From a small segment, the role of Kank subsequently grew up to several seasons, the mockmentaries - so, on British TV showed unrelated projects “History of Britain with Kank”, “Kank about Shakespeare” and “Christmas with Kank”. And in the fall of 2022, the BBC Two entered the Earth through the eyes of Kank.

Filomena Kank is equally the heiress of Edward Lira with his Limerns, the Monty Pyton group and Oscar Wilde, they are united by humor, to which it is necessary to choose the key. There is no saving sunbeam, accepted in American sitcoms indicating a joke. With a straightforward species and impenetrable confidence in his own rightness and awareness, Kank asks experts from different fields of science and culture absolutely delusional questions:

• How was the pyramids built in ancient Egypt, from top to bottom or from the bottom up? They made such a form so that rainwater drains better from them?
• What does the expression “t-da-da-da” mean in Beethoven's music? Was Beethoven is generally good in music?
• If you read some word in the book and hear its sound in your head, then how is the sound that is lost in your head in the printed word?

A separate pleasure for the viewer is the reservation of Kank and its variation of pronunciation (in their correctness, of course, she also does not doubt). Filomen calls Karl Marx's “communist manifesto” “murderer” , does not see the difference between the British rock band Blur and the Prime Minister of Great Britain Tony Blair. And the way she distorts the words “Bible” or “Soviet Union” is best observed in the original .

Russian-Soviet history in the five-part “earth through Kank”, by the way, allocated half of the episode. In it, Kank argues:

[At the beginning of the 20th century], the average Russian was a peasant, but dreamed of becoming a man preferably secured. After all, while the Russian peasantry lived in poverty, the rich lived in St. Petersburg. Nicholas II ruled the country as a dictator, but today - as I was advised to say - the situation is completely different. The world, where the masses of the masses bend the back behind the penny, while the elites are rich, it seems to us unimaginable and unfair. We can hardly imagine something like today.

Dialogues of Philomena Kank with experts, despite the absurdity of the leading issues, sometimes seem very convincing. And Tiktok users, where interview fragments are especially popular, have to explain to each other that Philomena is an invented character.

One of the most popular issues among the audience is whether experts who starred in the “Earth with the eyes of Kank” are real. They really exist: their names and regalia are easy to check in the search engine. Moreover, producer Charlie Brooker said that all invited specialists are aware that they are participating in a comedic program - and they were asked to respond to Kank questions as if they answered the child.

The ignorance of Philomena Kank is a bunch of dynamite, thrown into the foundation of the BBC educational format: in the elite circle of academicians who speak with announcer pronunciation , graduates of Oxford and Cambridge. But as a result, there is not a class confrontation, but, on the contrary, rapprochement. Academics - already understandable to each language - defend the areas of their expertise from sometimes a wild, and sometimes too direct look of Philomena. Culture and history from the mausoleum of names and facts turn into something gentle and fragile.

Filomena Kank is a meta-based meta, allowing the audience to feel educated (yes, they are aware that the Soviet Union was not named after Luke), to agree with it in some ways (Kank repeatedly repeats that no one is reading the books now), but also to think about the nature of knowledge-what do we really know about the world, history and culture? How often do knowledge, access to it and possess signs of a class - and, as a result, hierarchy that share people arise? And how often are we ready to pretend that we understand something so as not to seem like ignorant?

The absurd gaze of Broker and Morgan destroys this elitism, inviting everyone and everyone to touch knowledge. After all, if Philomena Kank can ask the owners of scientists, why there are no toilets on bicycles and how often King Arthur experienced an orgasm, then prohibited issues simply do not exist.

Irina Karpova