Greek film director Sotiris Tsafoulias has publicly criticised singer and songwriter Afroditi Manou over a social media post she made on the day of Giorgos Mazonakis's funeral, saying her attempt to play down the public's grief was not a sign of culture but of arrogance.
In a pointed post on his personal Facebook account, Tsafoulias said the public's affection for Mazonakis did not need anyone's approval to be genuine, and that it was not subject to aesthetic judgement. He said Manou's remarks revealed less about the singer who had died than about her own inability to accept that art belongs not to an elite but to the people who live it.
Tsafoulias's Facebook post
Tsafoulias wrote that the issue was not that Manou did not know Mazonakis or his work, but that despite not knowing them, she had rushed to judge the emotion of hundreds of thousands of people who did. He said the public had not made a pilgrimage to a musical genre but had said goodbye to a man who had accompanied them through joy, separation, friendship and loneliness, and who had never tried to divide people or place them into categories.
He added that this did not diminish any other artist, but that trying to belittle other people's grief simply because it did not match one's own taste was not culture but arrogance. He said that for an artist like Manou, who describes herself as a songwriter and philosopher in Athens, the comment was, if not misplaced, then at least regrettable.
Manou's original comments
Mazonakis's funeral took place on Monday, 14 September, at the Holy Church of Agia Triada in Nikaia, attended by relatives, friends, collaborators and hundreds of members of the public. A public vigil had been held at the church the night before.
On the same day mourners accompanied the singer to his final resting place, Manou posted a message that stood apart from the many artists who spoke of Mazonakis with respect. She wrote that she had nothing against the man and had not even known him or his work, but that the public pilgrimage for the dead singer was the final nail in the coffin of the dreams of a generation of artists, who had imagined things differently. She ended the post by wishing her followers goodnight.
The post triggered a wave of criticism and negative comments on social media.
Wider backlash
Tsafoulias is the latest figure from the Greek entertainment world to publicly rebuke Manou over her remarks about Mazonakis's death and funeral, joining other artists who condemned her comments in the days that followed.
