The reign of King Carnival will come to an end today in St Anne Square in Floriana. The Carnival floats that decorated Valletta streets over the past days will be ripped to pieces, costumes will be put away until next year and Carnival enthusiasts will take a deserved rest for a few weeks until they start preparing for next year’s activities.

The Maltese Carnival is spectacular and colourful, and all those who take part in it must be commended for their efforts. Yet, Carnival in Malta lacks that satirical edge which would make it even more attractive than it already is.

Satire was prohibited by law before the start of World War Two and, more than 70 years down the line, it is still not allowed. Over the years there have been calls for the legislation to be amended but nothing has been done about it. This is unlike what happens in other Carnivals abroad, where public personalities, including politicians, are derided during such festivities.

The lack of satire in the Maltese Carnival is in sharp contrast to other local theatrical presentations that are perhaps the most popular with audiences. The yearly pantomimes that are produced are littered with innuendos and comments about public people, and without them it is probable that such productions will not be as successful as they are today.

Nearly 20 years ago, the Ahna ahna jew m’ahniex series on national television broke new ground when the producers went to great lengths to revive satire. That series was welcomed by one and all as a breath of fresh air, and yet today we have apparently not yet learned to laugh at ourselves, as one of the songs produced for the series suggested.

Since then, any attempts to pull the leg of this one and the other in television and theatrical productions have not always been well-received – not by the audience, but by the people who are mentioned or alluded to by the actors. Most still take matters as being “too personal”. Politicians are also known to have complained when newspaper cartoons targeted them.

We have all, at one time or another, watched foreign television programmes where public people are taken for a ride. Programmes like Scherzi a parte, Striscia la notizia and the yearly series produced by the Bagaglino group, just to mention what happens in nearby Italy, are mostly built on jokes played on and interpretations of personalities, and satire, and they are all among the most watched simply because all public people – politicians, actors, footballers, media people and more – are the focus of the producers’ attention.

Most of the personalities mentioned take it all in their stride. In fact, many believe that the more they are mentioned or mimicked in such presentations, the more popular they are. Some are known to have “asked for” attention from these programmes, believing they would ultimately increase their popularity. Few, very few of them, have reacted badly to a joke played on them or at the way they are portrayed by actors who imitate them.

This kind of culture seems to be absent in Malta. Public personalities often feel offended if they are the target of a joke or are the subject of satire. This was extremely evident during last Friday’s edition of Xarabank on TVM, which specifically debated the issue.

What all public personalities must understand is that their “presence” in satire comes part and parcel with their job. They should perhaps be offended if they do NOT feature in such presentations, because it would mean that they are not considered to be popular enough to play a joke on.

The ability to laugh at ourselves is an essential part of the growth of a society. Unfortunately, we are still far from getting there.