Things begin to exist when we notice them
Michela Murgia—stating the obvious is important to democracy.
In January 2006, she was hired in the call center of the American multinational Kirby, producer of the ‘monster,’ the object of worship and devotion of a team of hundreds of telephone operators and salesmen—a three-thousand-euro vacuum cleaner.
For thirty interminable days, she specialized in the techniques of telemarketing and the hidden persuasion of the unsuspecting housewife to sell the marvel product ‘patented by NASA.’
Michela Murgia’s vivid prose about the call center—motivational methods, psychological scams, and company punishments—went from blog to book. The World Needs to Know reveals a power asymmetry.
We don’t think much about what we say, but those on the other side of the phone who want to sell us something have already thought of all the possible objections. They know how to prevent them with skillful verbal dribbling.
Murgia’s story became “Your Whole Life Ahead of You” by director Paolo Virzì. The movie illustrates the life of a young graduate in the universe of precarious work.
The Italian playwright, essayist and columnist’s grotesque representation of a working model halfway between Berlusconi and Scientology was one of the first voices to speak out about the difficulties of precarious work in Italy.
Her work made people think and it pissed them off—it even made them laugh to their tears.
Murgia walked the talk. If her work and short life can teach us a lot, her death can teach us the most. The Sardinian (and, in her own way, Catholic) writer announced her imminent death in an interview in Corriere della Sera.
“Cancer is not something I have; it’s a thing that I am. The doctor who follows me explained it well to me, a genius. Single-celled organisms have no neoplasms; but they don’t write novels, they don’t learn languages, they don’t study Korean. Cancer is an accomplice to my complexity, not an enemy to be destroyed. I can’t and I don’t want to make war on my body, on myself. Cancer is one of the prices you can pay to be special. I would never call him the accursed one, or the alien.”
Her announcement was an ode to life. She wrote all the way to the very end, a book dedicated to parenthood and family. At the news of her death on August 10, 2023 hundreds of writers, politicians, artists and intellectuals sent messages of condolence.
“For Michela the meaning of everything was sharing. Every time I was in a difficult moment she would say ‘come here’.”
Roberto Saviano, journalist and screenwriter
Murgia’s most important work was to help us notice, to become aware of the contemporary narrative—she spotlighted the words we use and gave us valuable definitions. Starting with the most obvious.
What is a democracy?
Democracy is a choice, a tiring choice that requires a constant daily commitment—intellectual and emotional. To be democratic is a huge effort. You deal with complexity.
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