In his second New Year’s Eve conference, PerspectivePeter Pannekoek (39) welcomes us from the planet Mars. He has installed himself between mysterious red-colored blocks, Mars is an ominous but beautiful planet in this setting. According to Elon Musk, it is our future salvation: if the Earth becomes uninhabitable, we can move to the red planet by rocket. But Musk’s hope is not the comedian’s. Pannekoek announces that he will look for something else that offers hope. Because: “I think a New Year’s Eve conference should end with hope.”
A New Year’s Eve conference is no easy feat, because an audience of millions is watching and not everyone is a fan of the comedian on duty. In the attempt to serve everyone, good manners lurk in the form of a dull summary of the past year: a bit of fun for everyone. Or the danger of a somewhat edifying view of his duties, after which the comedian tries to preach the people in the right direction from NPO1.
Pannekoek’s promise to end with hope also has a pastoral tinge, especially when he states that this first requires a sacrifice. But his church turns out to be a pleasant one. He takes a stand and makes you think without coming across as wise-cracking. He succeeds in this by smoothly alternating seriousness with lightness and, above all, by looking at himself funny and sharply.
Pannekoek has done well not to mention many news facts. Or only in a subordinate clause, such as the contaminated blueberries from Albert Heijn. A serious subject in itself, but one that can certainly be joked about. But due to the rapid circulation of the news, many viewers will have to dig deep to remember what exactly was going on with those berries (in addition to vitamins, they also contain hepatitis A). The fall of the Schoof cabinet also remains unmentioned.
Women’s safety
The position and safety of women is one of the main themes of the conference. Pannekoek talks funny and well about his own attempts to make women feel safe in unsafe situations. What do you do when you are sitting on an almost empty night train with an unknown woman at night and a man gets on who gives you the feeling: this may be coming trouble inside?
Pannekoek also consciously seeks the light. Something to get angry and very sad about – many women experience insecurity at night – can at the same time lead to funny social dilemmas. This is how he describes his own struggle when, on a quiet night, he happens to walk in the same direction as a woman. How do you behave, how do you move and how do you look when you want to make it known that you mean no harm?
By alternating between light and heavy, Pannekoek deftly undermines the human tendency to no longer want to see the misery clearly when an accumulation of misery occurs. After the social discomfort of the night scene follows a story that only knows tragedy: the rape of a woman on King’s Day, in broad daylight, along a busy Amsterdam canal. Pannekoek’s confession that when he saw the images he did not immediately think: this is rape is painful. Painful, because he is probably not alone in this, and especially painful because many men have difficulty admitting this.
According to Pannekoek, this is where the necessary sacrifice lies: the willingness to look at yourself honestly. That takes courage, because what you see in the mirror may be less beautiful than the image you had of yourself. Pannekoek is fierce when discussing how crimes and crises are abused for xenophobic agendas. “As if our culture is so female-friendly,” he sneers, while pointing out, among other things, the lack of permanent indignation towards the SGP, a political party that excludes women on principle. He also cynically predicts how asylum seekers will soon be held responsible for the climate crisis: “Because refugees are drowning all the time, the sea level is rising!”
Boycott Basic-Fit
Because Pannekoek explicitly looks in the mirror himself, he can afford to address others. For example, he criticizes his own hypocrisy regarding drugs: sometimes he buys them, even though he knows how much suffering the drug industry causes. Pannekoek is happy about Bolle Jos’ ingenious villainy and angry about the selfish owner of Basic-Fit. He makes a convincing call for a boycott of the gym chain.
The play from Mars and the moments in which Pannekoek looks intently into the camera and views the Earth from a distance are somewhat turgid and pompous. But a New Year’s Eve conference is ultimately a service for all Dutch people. Also for sternly spoken SGP members, for whom the soul care from Mars by father Pannekoek may still offer some comfort.
Finally, Pannekoek concludes that flights to Mars solve nothing. After all, we would simply be moving the main problem with us: people. That one has to change, and his tendency to look the other way has to be put on the sacrificial block. Pannekoek shrewdly set a good example in his conference.
The hope with which he ends – “we can do it” – will not provide the same support for everyone. But even the non-believer understands after this New Year’s Eve conference that hope is worth more than the false promises of a billionaire who thinks that the solution will come by rocket. Musk is the great antichrist, dressed as an entrepreneur.
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