Joy and ostentation

Commenting on the famous Lamine Yamal party, Manel Vidal, author of the book La passada a l'espai , compares the honoree's festive choice with the attitude of the youngest NBA basketball players, who, upon signing their first professional contract, go all out in lavish celebrations, which include family, friends, neighbors, sunglasses-addicted featurings , and all the luxuries dreamed of during a difficult, survivalist, or marginalized childhood and adolescence. Vidal wonders if this attitude might not be a generational hallmark and frames it within two coordinates widespread among young elite athletes: joy and ostentation. In other latitudes, these attitudes are not only normalized but also certify a status with an alibi for practicing all kinds of reggaeton excesses. The irony of the party organizers' imposition of a mafia theme turns the reality of the mafia on its head, which, by subcontracting the habits of royalty, dominates all the mechanisms of impunity and establishes itself as a new popular culture.

Fortunately, joy can be expressed in many ways, although this unabashed ostentation, which requires multiple confidentiality agreements, breaks with the tradition of common sense and discretion attributed to Catalans. It's an attribution based on remotely real events, with so many exceptions that it invalidates the rule. After all, we've seen as many examples of parties compatible with the spirit of The Hangover or Jay Gaston as we have of moderately diverse parties like Pere Portabella's suquet . National stereotypes are flexible, and proof of this is that, after the famous party, jokes circulated about what Pau Cubarsí's party would have been like: in a small park and with catering sponsored by Cacaolat and Nocilla.

Drawing conclusions from an anecdote to turn it into a stereotype is reckless.

Interpretive inertia is tempting. And drawing conclusions from an anecdote to turn it into a stereotype is part of speculative entertainment. Vidal's reflection precisely delineates the two elements that offset moralistic fury. Neither joy nor ostentation are mortal sins, but in public figures, they can boomerang if circumstances aren't right. In this case, circumstances are success. A winner, or someone who conveys as much expectation as Lamine Yamal, is applauded for his joy and ostentation, and in case of doubt or disagreement, they are tolerated. Therefore, labeling Catalans as joyful, sad, ostentatious, or stingy is a risky sport. There are precedents, however. In the art of bold definition, it's worth remembering that article by Francesc Pujols who, in perfect Spanish, wrote: "If we could compare the two political wings of Catalonia, right and left, to the typical sausages of our land, we would say that the right is longaniza and the left is butifarra."