Yes, the chap in the Realitatea TV helicopter (given an outing yesterday to follow Madonna everywhere) really did say that. Listen to him: he is almost in tears as he tells us that Madonna has taken her first steps onto Romanian territory. Even if you do not speak Romanian you should still watch the clip: it says an awful lot about how appalling and out of touch with its audience the Romanian media (Realitatea is the most-watched TV news channel) really is…
Encouragingly, the general public appears to be above it all. Apart from the mentally deranged few who waited for Madonna at the airport and are currently camped outside her hotel (and there are far fewer of those in Bucharest than there would be in other parts of the world) most people are playing it cool. ‘Madonna’s here, she’s singing tonight, I’m going, it will be great. But I have a life.’
The comments made by a large number of people at the bottom of Realitatea’s own page are revealing (though you will need to read Romanian to read them, the drift is: you have gone seriously over the top).
The Romanian media really has got this one very wrong indeed, and not for the first time has shown itself to be about 20 years behind its audience.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
@Geronimo: exactly, it’s a matter of respect!
@Davin: maybe somebody shoots her in Moscow so the entire West remembers who owns the Oil.
The US is on its way to the 3rd world too, Obama’s underwear is shacking when the OPEC decides to cut production. Finally last year someone proved to you Americans that you don’t own the place! The Arabs took Oil to 146$ a barrel and Russia hit Georgia with 16.000 soldiers and hundreds of tanks; what was the response of the US?! No response, the US can hardly hold its pants up.
So here in our homes we can be however we want and we don’t give 2$ on your Western concepts because the Arabs and the Russians are more powerful than the West. I’d rather convert to Islam than stop hating gypsies. At least here in the 3rd world we live between 4 walls, not like the poor Americans that I saw on tv in Las Vegas who were left on the streets.
What kind of country is that who doesn’t care about its own people?! When they don’t deliver $ they’re no good anymore!
30 years from now we’re gonna see who’s 3rd world because the Arabs and their Russian and Chinese friends will teach you people a real lesson about tolerance in its various forms, including economic and religious!
As for Madonna, she’s an ignorant bitch. Michael Jackson came here in 1992 right after the Revolution and he never told us what to do and he was treated with respect.
If I had caught Madonna within spitting range, Romania would have remained in her mind forever!
The more I read the commentary on various sites and see the absolute hatred Romanians have for Roma and for Madonna I realize that Romanians of this generation have gotten a bit arrogant. They need to remember that they still shouldn’t really be in the EU, meaning that they still shouldn’t be able to get work permits in the EU. Romanians need to remember that Romania is a backwater, one of the most corrupt countries in Europe with a largely uneducated population who only worship cars and the fitze crowd! Young Romanians should be thankful Madonna even came here.
She had better stayed home rather than coming here and trying to underestimate hundreds of years of experience.
She got what she deserved, who is she to come here for the first time in her life and tell the Romanian people what to believe?!
Yes, the country is like that but who says that in 100 years from now the US and Western Europe won’t be the same or who says there will still be an US and European Union?! As far as I see things, it looks like Russia and China together with the Arabs could own the place if they decided to so nobody guarantees the Western way is the best.
I think we should stick to what we feel, in the same way we did for 2000 years and we should also look to tighten relationships with people that are like us. What are we looking for in the West?! Our place is in the East, together with the Russians, we should share the same faith instead of looking for un-orthodox alliances.
What Madonna did means disrespect towards the people of this country and I’m happy that most spectators felt this and didn’t allow their conscience to be stepped on.
And she should be thankful because 60.000 people paid 50$ to see her despite the fact that people here have enough problems to solve and going to a concert (any) is not amongst their first 20 priorities.
You know Parmalat, i am tired of trying to stand up and be a good, well educated American. Tomorrow I am going to go to BMW Bavaria and put an M6 on my American Express Platinum card. I want to be a like a stupid Romanian guy and get all the chicks and act cool driving around Bucharest. Romanians are so frickin cool being uneducated bigots. The women love guys like this. I gotta be one too.
Obviously since the West won’t change us, we’re definetly going to change the West
)
Don’t worry, you’re not the first Westerner to adopt the Romanian style, as far as I know former EU Commissioner for Romania, Jonathan Scheele, did the same in the end
You’re definetly gonna have a nice time around the city
But wait!
Don’t do it like that, do it like Romanians do: buy the car second-hand from Germany!
This way you’re not gonna take all the depreciation so that when you decide to become American again and sell the car you’re not gonna lose too much money
Really, it will save you a lot of money if you do it like that. Not sure about the X6 because it’s quite new but you can find a 6-Series convertible for less than 30.000 Euro and in 2 years you will probably still sell it for 20.000 Euro.
Check this one out for example:
http://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/showDetails.html?id=120565783&__lp=27&scopeId=C&sortOption.sortBy=searchNetGrossPrice&sortOption.sortOrder=ASCENDING&makeModelVariant1.makeId=3500&makeModelVariant1.modelId=28%2C30%2C31%2C32&makeModelVariant1.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant2.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant3.searchInFreetext=false&vehicleCategory=Car&segment=Car&siteId=GERMANY&damageUnrepaired=ALSO_DAMAGE_UNREPAIRED&export=ALSO_EXPORT&customerIdsAsString=&categories=Cabrio&lang=en&pageNumber=1
If you need to register the car here, I’m not sure if it’s possible without being a resident but you can simply register a limited liability company to act as a resident owner for your car. This is quite simple, any lawyer will take care of the paperwork for a decent price.
)
Insurance can be obtained from any insurer and the only thing that’s left to do is the technical inspection for your car.
You will, however, need a local to guide you through these processes and make sure that you’re not gonna pay a fortune when people hear that you’re American
On the other hand, buying a new car from the dealership will spare you a lot of headache but the depreciation is quite obvious.
Romanians boo when Madonna stands up for Roma rights but then applaud the gypsies on stage?!
http://www.examiner.com/x-4107-Gay–Lesbian-Issues-Examiner%7Ey2009m8d27-Madonna-gets-death-threats-boos-in-Eastern-Europe
You can’t hate gypsies but then also like their music. . .
I think any performer who starts preaching instead of performing deserves to be booed, whether its Madonna on Gypsies or Bono banging on about Africa.
Well, ok, but I just think this episode points to the general fact that most Romanians are not citizens of the world. Bucharest is inordinately insular as a capital city. People here are not well educated in tolerance and modern beliefs. It’s interesting to see such hostility amongst people here. No wonder I get death states from people on the street when I take photographs. There is a lot of ignorance here.
http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2009/08/madonna-booed-in-bucharest-gypsies-rant-concert/
How would it be if I came to your home and told you that you should paint the doors red because they don’t look good and told you that you should move your bed more to the left because I don’t like your room etc…?!
I think the only ignorant person was her, simply for coming to a place and raising subjects that she’s not aware of.
Generally speaking: no Sir, you can love the gypsies wherever you want, you can even take them home if you want but here in our home where we know damn well what’s going on you shouldn’t open the subject in such a manner, at least out of respect!
I applaud Romanians for booing the sanctimonious bitch. Who does she think she is? They paid good money to see her perform not for a lecture. Much better than Western Europeans or Americans who think she has the right to prattle on about such issues just because she is famous
Right behind you here. Any performer who forgets that they are a performer, be it Madonna on Gyspies or Bono banging on about Africa, deserves all they get.
Madonna was trying to educate you Romanian racist pigs. She can do anything she wants. It’s her concert. She’s Madonna in a third world backwater.
I don’t disagree with what she was saying, I just don’t think she had any right to say it – as I am sure Voltaire would have said had he been alive today.
You really are an angry young American. Perhaps a bit of R&R back in the Land of the Free would do you good?
Yes you can, I’m a live example!
I love manele which is sang by the gypsies only and still my feeling towards the gypsies in general are not amongst the most positive to say it diplomatically…
It was cool hearing this live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6I5hb9p7Y0&feature=related
Did you hear how she received death threats in Serbia and only flew in from Budapest 3 hours before the concert and then left right afterwards? In Romania she hired 400 agents of some elte security firm who are whisking her around in those Mercedes microbuses.
Anyways the concert is on and I can hear her perfectly right out the window of my apartment across from Cismigiu! She’s singing “Holiday” right now. I guess this is another good part about having moved to Bucharest! Freakin awesome!!!
You’ve got it quite wrong and that is betrayed by your mention that “Realitatea is the most watched TV news channel”.
The immense majority of Romanians keep themselves up to date by watching TV and not by reading newspapers or accessing news websites. It is a consequence of the low level of literacy and poor general cultural development in this country after 45 years of communism and 20 years of crude, rapacious so-called market economy. The news channels and the politicians know that too well and wisely use it to their advantage.
Madonna TV coverage is how information about her gig gets to the real Romanian people and not to the tiny minority of more elevated internet users and newspaper readers. It is a comfort to know that they exist and have healthy opinions, but they are a drop in the sea of popular Romanian kitsch arrogance and nouveau rich aspirations.
Maybe I have public mood wrong, but surely Realitatea is top TV news channel? When did Antena 3 overtake them?
I watched that live you know, a political debate was interrupted by the “much awaited” event…