TV

"Wonderful Land" did not look for a subtext in the skit about Ben Gvir, and that is what was so powerful

The opening program of the 20th season of "Amazing Country" was full since it had to make a preliminary order before the elections, and this load was felt in a rather shallow political discussion.

However, the program included some great moments, first of all the sketch in which the writers did not hide their full opinion on the normalization of Itamar Ben Gabir

Salvation songs

09/22/2022

Thursday, September 22, 2022, 08:32 Updated: 08:44

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Promo "Wonderful Country" Season 20 (Arch 12)

A great country produces with admirable regularity a product of a very high standard.

usually manages to balance between political satire that mocks the key figures in power, and an accurate formulation of Israeli social phenomena.

In the opening episode of the season that we received yesterday, this balance that we so badly need was absent, with election matters and politics occupying most of the edition.

It is understandable, the season started when we are in the middle of another election campaign, and there was so much material to push there.

There are many candidates, this is the opening episode, and it was necessary to give a representation of each and every one of them, including the introduction of new characters who have entered the political arena and into our lives.

As a result, the political discussion was rather shallow, it was not really possible to go into the issues that bother the voter in order to make order in the mess.

The implications of the dissolution of the joint venture were not brought up, the issue of security was not mentioned at all, and so on.

Instead, we got a normal superficial overview of the characters known in the style of "Wonderful Country" - Lapid is empty, Gantz is clueless,

So it's true, as Kitzis concluded himself, and as we saw in the opening skit about the recurring election day, nothing really changes here, neither the candidates nor the relationship between the blocs - each round of elections is similar to the next.

If so, the role of the satire program is to shine a focused light on the burning issues.

The politicians try to obscure and confuse us, but good satirists can show them at their worst, and we know that Eretz knows how to do that.

Let's hope that the ambiguity of the opening episode is really related to the content overload, and that later in the season we will get the sharpness that the show is capable of.

A new and excellent imitation.

Shani Cohen as Merev Michaeli, the opening of the 20th season of "Wonderful Country" (Photo: screenshot, Keshet 12)

Eretz has a lot of power in its hands - the way it takes real people and turns them into characters, fixing them in the public consciousness forever, and there are countless examples from the past.

Yesterday evening, for example, she closed the door on any chance of Ayelet Shaked rising in these elections, simply by announcing that her 1.9 is closed, sealed, in concrete, in iron.

And Hadar's portrayal is crowned as loud and a liar, leaving no room to question how relevant her message is beyond that.

This only emphasizes how important sharp and precise writing is in this flagship program, which a lot of people turn to to know what to think.

Which brings us to the highlight of the evening, and the only thing that will remain in public memory from the opening show.

No, I don't mean the Noa-Anna-Nono song that summed up contemporary Israeli pop, which was so successful and similar to the original that it was less of a parody and more of a compliment to talented female artists.

Actually, it's actually nice, not every parody has to be mean.

But the intention is the song that preceded it.

It's no secret that "Eretz" knows how to make crazy twists on songs and bring us the punchline like a punch to the stomach, and the chilling song that concluded the Elor Azaria episode according to "Bohemian Rhapsody" immediately comes to mind.

The song we got this time - "It's time for Ben-Gavir" - just went on the air and immediately caused a lot of anger and an uprising among right-wing people, who criticized the program while shouting that it should not be watched, and passed the clip on social networks while urging everyone not to watch.

Ben Gvir himself called the segment "a horror show of slander and slander."

According to him, in the past he laughed at the imitations made of him in

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Brave and well made.

Ben Gvir in song and dance, the opening of the 20th season of "Wonderful Land" (photo: screenshot, Keshet 12)

The segment depicts Bibi calling MK Itamar Ben Gabvir for reinforcement, as his "trump card" who "once didn't fit, but it's been a year and a bit..." Ben Gabvir entered with dancers dressed in "La Familia" and Lahava organization shirts, the studio was painted In yellow-black colors and images of the raised fist of the "so" symbol.

While Bibi sings about how Ben Gvir has "moderated, he is no longer radical", and Ben Gvir calls himself "a joy to the whole family", he thanks the media, including the one where "Aretz Terahed" is broadcast, for giving him a stage and a studio and helping him build his new image His because they couldn't resist using him as an item.

At the climax of the segment, Ben Gabir shoots at Bibi's feet and makes him "dance", and give him everything he wants.

It begins with the internal security, education and legal files and ends with a shocking moment when Ben Gabir hints to the murderer Yigal Amir that in a year he will be able to receive amnesty.

In contrast to the "non-extremist" we heard about at the beginning, Ben Gabir is presented here as a crazy, dangerous, racist and violent character, just as he always was.

On the contrary - the song just gets louder and louder until it ends with the studio "on fire" and Ben Gabir's group dancing and singing "May your village burn".

If all this was not enough, it is very important to note that the song chosen to build this direct message on is "Springtime for Hitler", a song from the musical "The Producers", in which Hitler's return is praised (albeit in reverse -upside down).

It's a brave piece, well made and most of all completely visible.

Along with the graphics that are full of fascist symbols, "Wonderful Country" does not try to hide its message or look for a subtext.

The writers show exactly what they think of Ben Gabir's presence in the political arena and list all the dangers.

They are also fully aware that they will now have to withstand the wave of criticism and outrage they have provoked.

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Happy holiday.

The opening of the 20th season of "Wonderful Country" (Photo: screenshot, Keshet 12)

Between the shocked people who see in Eretz a leftist program enlisted in the service of the devil, and the yawners who have already seen all this in the previous seasons, we must understand that we need this program, with all the lack of uniformity in the level of writing.

Especially since we've been in the endless election day loop for years now.

Amid the weight of propaganda, manipulations, politics at its worst and the load of messages we have to deal with (again), we must have a critical, amused, satirical eye.

Yes, there are occasional satire programs that pass by our television screens, but "Eretz" does its job steadily, professionally, and occasionally with the deadly precision of a sniper on a roof.

Such precision, although much cuter, came again right at the end of the edition - a cartoon in which the mighty Yaniv Beaton plays his mother, and all of us.

A segment that is probably based on the skit "Moms watching TV" that Beaton did at the 2021 Television Academy Awards, jointly with the comedian Eden Daniel Gabai whose segments "Things my mother says and does" are the best thing on Israeli TikTok.

This is exactly an example of the small Israeli pieces that Eretz is so good at capturing and presenting to us again, which were sorely lacking in this opening episode.

Let's hope this is an example of a permanent corner that will continue throughout the season.

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