There is a danger in watching a show about a dictator. Not the danger of propaganda, but the danger of myth. We often look back at the 20th century’s tyrants through a haze of black-and-white newsreels—stiff, slow, and unreal. We tell ourselves they were monsters, but in doing so, we distance them. We forget the magnetism. We forget the crowd.
But that is the point. For too long, we have turned fascism into a Halloween costume—obvious evil. Mussolini: Son of the Century reminds us that the original fascists were young, stylish, and furious. They didn't smell like sulfur; they smelled like cheap cologne and adrenaline. mussolini: son of the century
Streaming now on Sky Atlantic (Internationally on Max/HBO). There is a danger in watching a show about a dictator