The way I see it, there are two ways to keep sane until this whole referendum is over. You can block everything out by refusing to watch TV, listen to the radio, read newspapers or log onto news portals. Of course, this also means exiting stage left every time someone around you starts a conversation with the word ‘divorce’. Blocking out the billboards is not so easy unless you want to end up as another traffic statistic. I suppose you can studiously avert your glance and keep your eyes on the road – which is what we’re supposed to be doing anyway, right Mr Warden?

The other method to survive what has turned out to be an increasingly bizarre campaign is to turn to Facebook and other Internet sites where, thankfully, many people are seeing the humour in the whole situation. Some of the wit is the work of brilliant satirists, such as the genius who came out with the “Hitler” video – a scene taken from a film about Hitler with German dialogue but with Maltese captions. It’s called Hitler u r-referendum for those who want to watch it on YouTube (only those with a sense of humour need apply).

The mock billboards which have gone viral are another source of stress relief. Taking the now infamous Kristu Iva, Divorzju Le as their inspiration, people have been coming up with countless spoofs, as can be seen on this page. When I saw the first satirical billboard, it was like the vice, which had been pressing on my brain, had been removed. I see them as a refreshing drop of normality in an ocean of bigotry, narrow-mindedness and in some cases, downright deceit.

Suddenly, the absurdity and the ridiculousness of this whole campaign were brought into sharp focus and I couldn’t stop laughing. It was either a case of becoming epileptic with rage because of the intolerance and hypocrisy I am hearing and reading every day, or resorting to humour as a safety valve. Some of the unbelievable misinformation doing the rounds is enough to raise anyone’s blood pressure through the roof.

So I can only thank the good Lord (and Mark Zuckerberg) for inventing Facebook. There’s a very laid-back, liberal community over on planet FB − at least on my network of ‘friends’ − which is why I feel so at home there. It is the one thing that is keeping me from losing my marbles until this whole thing has blown over, and we find something else to squabble about. We share jokes, post photos of billboards, and links to humorous websites, all the while making wry comments about the latest silly statement

Statements such as the one which came out of the mouth of Dr Anna Vella who facetiously remarked during this week’s debate on PBS that divorce will mean men will leave their wives if they are no longer a size 10. Incredible but true. I wonder if she realised that she managed to single-handedly insult thin and overweight women, as well as men, in one fell swoop. Her acidic barb, which struck at the heart of the most sensitive subject for women everywhere, not only played on female insecurities, but also succeeded in making a mockery out of marriage, which was surely not her intention. As you can imagine, we all had a field day with that size 10 remark.

But the gaffes continue – and, at this point, they have become an opinion columnist’s dream. Where to start? There’s that unintentionally hilarious music video (from the anti-divorce camp) featuring Ludwig and Annabelle crooning about love and marriage with significant phrases popping out at us as graphics every once in a while just to make sure we get the message. We then get the obligatory footage of happy families skipping across the meadow – but wait, hold on a second. Why is everyone blonde and where did they find that impossibly green meadow in Malta? It is obviously stock footage which begs the question: couldn’t they find Maltese families to hold hands and prance around while multi-coloured balloons (with the occasional cutaway to the Maltese flag) are seen blowing in the wind? As a brown-eyed brunette I wondered: would I have to bleach my hair a peroxide blonde and wear blue contact lenses (and stop eating until I starved myself into a size 10) to find everlasting happiness?

Another source of laughter was a poem posted on mazzun.wordpress.com written by Robert Borg with the title Il-Krucjata tas-Seklu (The crusade of the century). This is one of those times when only our expressive Maltese language will do, so it is completely untranslatable. Again, if you have an open mind and want a good laugh, this poem will soothe your frazzled nerves while I recommend the mazzun website itself for its sharp, witty observations. More ironic social comment can also be found on the very funny markbiwwa.com.

Then there’s the Divorzistan page on Facebook, which pokes gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) fun at anything and everything about this referendum. It is also the source of many of the mock billboards. The author of this page cheerfully describes himself as a mullah and interacts with his fans in this vein: “the mullah is pleased”, “welcome mujahid”.

An e-mail announcing the setting up of yet another lobby group: Le: B’rispett lejn il-gejjieni provided yet more unintended laughs. This was sent by a group of young people who are against divorce (an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one, but maybe that’s just me). It was bad enough that they annoyed people by spamming the e-mail, provoking lots of recipients to demand that they be taken off the list at once, but it was written in such atrocious Maltese that everyone was advising them to go back to school. Unfortunately, at one point one of the organisers replied back in English, and oh dear, it seems this person is unable to write in that language either. A great advert for our educational system, huh?

Yes, this country has its small pockets of wonderful saneness after all. The knowledge that there are like-minded people out there who have the ability to not take themselves too seriously is truly a balm to my (otherwise doomed) soul.

Which makes me wonder why it is that the ‘voice’ of those who can take a joke can only be heard on the Internet? Why don’t we have TV or radio shows which similarly make fun of this sorry excuse for a referendum debate? The answer is that the power over broadcasting lies in the hands of people who feel they have to be serious all the time. I can just imagine them wagging their finger at such a preposterous suggestion, “this is no laughing matter.” (Oh yes, but it is, it is!)

More significantly, they are afraid of losing control, and let’s face it, once you allow humour a free rein on the airwaves, you have lost your grip of the situation. And we can’t have that, can we?

Finally, may I close with the latest update about my own modest contribution to comic relief, Moviment Tindahalx. What started out as a quirky status update has now over 2,800 members with some even seriously suggesting it should become a political party. Uhm, no, I don’t think so. I guess this time, the joke’s on me.

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