Italian culture behind Grezzo 2
What's exactly the story behind Grezzo 2? As the laconic says: "Italian Bloodier and Gorier, overly inappropriate and offensive total conversion of Doom". The game's main purpose is to be a Ultra Super Death Gore Fest Chainsawer 3000, a tribute to old school violent video games, for players looking for stress relief and entertainment. But the game's full of references and jokes about Italian pop and trash culture, celebrities, politicians and, most importantly, the Catholic Church. These made Grezzo 2 more than just a massive "Holy Shit!" Quotient for the Italian fanbase; it made it hilariously epic. Although wasn't the author's intention to make Grezzo 2 a "satirical" game in the sense of a "serious criticism" of Italian culture, there's still a sheer amount of comedy that can't be even remotely grasped without proper background knowledge.
Keep in mind, this page only treats the Italian pop culture in Grezzo 2. The intent is to provide a quick and satisfying explanation about cultural elements that not only can't be understood by non Italians, but for whom it can be difficult to just "look them up". This is not a list of "the entire content of Grezzo 2": the game also abounds with elements taken from video games of The '90s (like, Blood, Duke Nukem, etc.), but these are released on international market and have an international fanbase. The capability of recognising them has barely to do with nationality or being raised in a different country.
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The Catholic Church
The Catholic Church herself
The Catholic Church has an enormous importance in the Italian traditional culture. This is unsurprising, considering that The Pope pretty much lives therenote . There's still a strong taboo towards black humour, satire or, in worst cases, even criticism directed against Christianity as religion or Catholicism as institution. On TV, pronouncing a blasphemous profanitynote has been reason enough to expel someone or have the broadcast suspended.Since the birth of the Italian Republic, the Church was often attacked as being responsible of slowing down social progress in Italy. Common criticism targeted the generous tax exemptions the Church enjoyed from the Italian state, its cultural and politicalnote hegemony over Italians, its opposition to dissolution of marriage and abortion until the 70s and same-sex marriage in more recent decades.
With the turn of the millennium, however, this cultural taboo is showing signs of strains of numerous reasons. First of all the growing secularism of Italian population. Then a good blow was dealt by the numerous scandals of sexual abuses committed by members of the Catholic Church
, over which it remained silent for decades before ceding under public pressure. Furthermore, the election of Pope Francis to the Papacy brought forth a much more liberal, sober and socially committed direction to the Church, compared to that of his conservative predecessor Benedict XVI.The Catholic Church and related figures are, therefore, mocked, insulted, desecrated in every possible way.
- The Catholic Church is the ultimate villain of the game, an evil, omnipresent and corrupt to the bone organisation that aims to Take Over the World. Priests and monks are her foot soldiers: they attack you with tommy guns or explosive crucifixes of energy. Archangels randomly appear as Elite Mooks.
- Pope John Paul II is a boss living in a bloody arena, trying to kill you with his tentacles. Pope Benedict XVI appears as Lanciaratzinghernote ; as the manual says, that weapons is the incarnation of the contradictions of Church accumulated throughout history. Pope Francis is one of the Final Boss, and his map is modeled after an alternative "Icon of Sin" made for Brutal Doom; that says it all.
- The map "Giornata mondiale della gioventù" refers to the World Youth Day, a Catholic event for young people. The level ends up being the usual arena where you have to kill thousands of enemies coming in different waves.
- God and Jesus themselves are both starter villains. Jesus appears in the very first level; he tries to kill you after you massacred the people attending the mass. God appears in Heaven; you can kill him or simply avoid him while returning to earth. Then Christ Child himself is the Final Boss of Grezzo 2. You access his realm after you get high in a pub. The Very Definitely Final Dungeon is horrible, filled with monsters, scream, blood and organic matter. And after you killed Christ Child... you need to impregnate his remainings, so that you can be reborn on Earth, on Christmas, in his place.
Padre Pio
Padre Pio or Father Pius, born Francesco Forgione in 1887 and died in 1968, was a mystic and priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. Beatified and canonized by John Paul II, he's incredibly popular among Italians; whether you visit an old woman house or a religious shop, right after icons and images of God, Jesus or the Virgin Mary, you'll always find some of Padre Pio. Already during his life he was subject immense popular veneration, because of his reputation as thaumaturge, clairvoyant and, most importantly, as stigmatist. It is said that, after his priestly ordination, stigmata miraculously appeared on both his hands. They permanently remained as just inflicted injuries, never underwent necrosis nor showed signs of regeneration; he would keep fingerless gloves for the rest of his life to keep them covered. And after his death, the stigmata miraculously disappeared, leaving no scar.
The subject of his stigmata and their veracity sparked a lively interest already during his life, with plenty of priests, scientists and medics investing the phenomenon. Explanations that exclude the reality of a miracle or divine intervention include: self-inflicted injuries (maybe only superficial, maybe from side to side, though it's hard to pull that off without eventually triggering an infection or necrosis); a skin condition that only looked like an injury; a psychosomatic phenomenon, maybe caused by intense religious devotion and psychological suggestion; drops of iodine applied to the hand or the gloves to create merely the impression of injuries. At worst, people downright accuse Padre Pio of having been a massive fraud, and the whole story of his stigmata a macroscopic farce, supported with the complicity of Church members. Let's conclude by saying that the veracity of his stigmata is still a veritable Flame Bait in Italy.
- Padre Pio appears in two forms as Elite Mook: one is a Flying Face breathing fire and shooting explosive icons of his own face; the other is a massive giant, with his penis inserted through his stigmata, with the same weapons but much more resistant. Both forms' voice set is taken from Italian porn actor Marco Nero.
- A map from the expansion Viaggio a Merjugorje is "L'acquafun di Padre Pio", a massive Water park built in his own image: statues and icons of Padre Pio are scattered all over the map, with the loudspeakers publicising the place as an ideal destination for families. The park is filthy beyond imagination: the water has either blood or mud textures, piles of mauled body parts or trash all around. Any Genre Savvy parent aware of being in the world of Grezzo 2 would certainly not bring their family there.
Our Lady of Međugorje
Our Lady of Medjugorje refers to alleged Marian apparitions that happen regularly in the town of Međugorje, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 1981 (at the time it was part of Yugoslavia). The first visionaries were six Croatian youngsters, and since then countless pilgrims have been visiting the place, reporting apparitions and experiences of various nature. In 1985 one of the original Croatian visionary, Marjana, claimed to have received a parchment from Virgin Mary herself, containing 10 secret premonitions. She never handed over such parchment for scientific evaluation or the like, and claimed that she'll reveal the premonitions in on it three days before they'll come true. Even the Catholic Church has been very skeptical about the whole matter. Generally they've been permissive of the vast number of pilgrims traveling to Medjugorje, and in 2019 it was officially recognised as a pilgrimage destination. As for the verdacity of the apparitions, that's different. The Church reaffirmed several times that such permissiveness does not equate to recognise the apparitions as authentic. Notoriously, Pope Francis himself snarked about the story of the parchment, claiming that Virgin Mary "isn't like a head of a post office". An inquiry was done by the Holy Office in 2014, and in 2021 their position was made public: the original apparitions of 1981 are likely authentic, but everything else that happened afterwads can be dismissed. This was a huge disappointment for Catholics who were vocal about the verdacity of the events.
Unsurprisingly, the non-Catholic public is generally apathetic or skeptical about the whole story, and they generally treat is as yet another case of mass suggestion/hysteria. And at worse, people expressed doubts about the honesty of the original six Croatian visionaries.
- Our Lady of Međugorje is referenced in the expansion Viaggio a Merdjugorje ("Trip to Shitjugorje"note ) containing the namesake level. The title itself comes from the book "Viaggo a Medjugorje" written by journalist Paolo Brosio. In reality, the map boils down to a summer vacation, with Medjugorje being presented as a summer resort. And a macroscopic target practice.
- Paolo Brosio, a fervent catholic journalist and, as mentioned above, the author of the book Viaggio a Medjugorje, appears in the game. He's author of several works about Our Lady of Medjugorje, of whose veracity he's one of the strongest believers in Italy. Besides his book being the inspiration for the title of the expansion abd namesake map, he personally appears an Elite Mook capable of throwing fire and energy spheres. His book's cover appears in some maps affixed to walls.
Individuals
Matteo Montesi
The single most ferociously mocked man in the game. An Italian youtuber from Marche, who began his career in 2005 and, going through dozens of channels, is still active. In his video he goes hiking through forests, abandoned buildings, or simply takes road trips, all while expressing his views on religion, society and the state world in general. Why did his video become viral? Well, Montesi is a Catholic Fundamentalist, ferociously critical of atheism, feminism, homosexuality, satanism and hedonism (usually conflating them all together); he also believes in aliens and in the Reptilian conspiracy theory
. He speaks with a very thick regional dialect and employs a number of profanities that clash completely with the magnitude of the topics he talks about. He's also prone to acts of grossness during his trips, such as taking littering or burying dead animals he finds with his bare hands. Despite this unflattering presentation, Montesi gained a base of unironic supporters due to his genuine tenderness displayed towards wildlife or his own pets, and in general him coming out more as an Innocent Bigot rather than a dangerous fanatic. The discovery of personal details about his family and economic issues (which won't be discussed here) also helped cementing solidarity towards him.
In Grezzo 2 his voice is used for most armed priests, the archangels and for God himself
.note Also, the soundtrack includes heavy metal remixes, made by Italian musician Christian Ice, of the videos where he recites prayers.Emilio Fede
An Italian journalist born in 1931, with a successful career from the 80s to the early 2010s. He spent most of his career as director of TG4 on Rete 4, a channel owned by Mediaset. Starting from the 90s he came under frequent flak due to his partisan conduction of TG4, clearly in favour of right-wing parties and politicians (especially Silvio Berlusconi, who was the channel's owner) and disrespectful against their political opponent. In the 2010s, after a long series of court proceedings, including favouring prostitution of a minor, concluded with his conviction, he was fired from Mediaset and is currently under house arrest. In light of his partisan conduction of his newscast, is appearance as a zombie hunter in the map "Emilio Fede contro i zombi" is ironically elaborated in the manual: he's described as a journalist who brilliantly conducted his newscast in the name of a truthful and reliable information, and hates zombies because they lack a brain and therefore can't think with their own mind.
Mike Bongiorno
Born in 1924 and died in 2009. Thanks to his long career as television presenter, he is considered, with good reason, one of the founding fathers of Television in Italy after WW2 and got the nickname of "The Quiz King". In 2011, his tomb was ransacked, and his body, along with the coffin, was stolen. After the retrieval the body was cremated to avoid further accidents. This accident is parodied in the manual of Grezzo 2, where the author "reveals" that it was him who stole the body, so that he could record it on green screen for its sprite. In-game, where he's a sort of resurrected necromancer, he repeats his peculiar greeting "Allegria!" ("Cheers!"), the one he used at the beginning of all his shows. The two map where he appears are called "Mikebongiornstein 3D" (in the story mode), and "Mikebongiornstein Deathmatch" (that is, well, a deathmatch map). Needless to point out the reference to Wolfenstein 3-D.
Moira Orfei
Born in 1931 and died in 2015. An Italian actress, television personality and member of a famous family of circus artists. She earned the nickname of "Queen of the circus", and one of her stage name was "Moira of the Elephants". With that in mind, it's not surprising that she's the antagonist of the Circus of Fear level. The name of the map "Brivido. Animali. Emozioni" ("Thrill. Animals. Emotions") was in fact a catchphrase from Moira's posters. And she finally appears as a hulking giant, throwing trails of fire and energy blasts.
Roberto Da Crema
Also nicknamed "Il Baffo" ("Moustache") for obvious reasons, a television character, who used to be very active in home shopping. His conducting style was that of a Large Ham: over-the-top enthusiasm, yelling, fists on the table, wheezing, even for the silliest product. The map "L'angolo di Roberto" ("Roberto's corner") takes the name from a TV show of his, is a pseudo ancient Egyptian crypt. He's a Flying Face shooting explosive bullets from his eyes. All while yelling the way he did during his home shopping show.
Francesco Schettino
Former captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which sunk in 2012 after hitting an underwater rock off the coast, resulting in 32 deaths. Captain Schettino was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison for abandoning the ship before completing its evacuation; the full exchange with the local Coast Guard Commander (which became a global meme) only makes it worse, as it reveals he downright disobeyed a direct order to return to the ship. He appears in the deathmatch map "Natale in crociera", armed with a rocket launcher, for the mere purpose of annoying players already busy with killing each other. Or, for the purpose of target practice on him as well. He randomly speaks extracts from the aforementioned radio exchange.
Vasco Rossi
Vasco Rossi is one of the most important Italian singers, with an over 40-years old career and 30 albums. Despite his lucky concert at the Modena Park in 2017 being the most successful ticketed concert in history, overall his importance and popularity has been fading in the last decades. His extreme lifestyle and long story of drug abuse have been increasingly criticised, and in 2011 he received universal flak after he unsuccessfully sued Nonciclopedia, the Italian version of Uncyclopedia, because of their article about him. He appears in "Porco Dio a Perugia" at the supposed Umbria Jazz Festival. He attacks the player with a machine gun or by throwing syringes, alluding to his story of drug abuse. The manual describes him as having as only purpose of life constantly Google himself to find as many people insulting him as possible, alluding to the drama with Nonciclopedia.
Amadeus
Italian television and radio present, whose real name is Amadeo Sebastiani, with a long presence in the Italian TV since the 80s. An episode of L'Eredità
("The Inheritance"), a TV quiz game, gained a massive Memetic Mutation in Italy thanks to an uncooperative contestant, Pedro. When he felt he had no chance to win, he suddenly started giving wrong answers on purpose and showing snark, increasingly annoying Amadeus, who begged him to behave. The top moment was when, at the question "Which acronym is commonly known polyvinyl chloride with?" (that is PVC), Pedro replied "the Onion". Exhausted, Amadeus halted the game and invited Pedro to abandon the show, who promptly left. Amadeus appears in Grezzo as a cybernetic monster, armed with rockets and laser beams, with a television screen as head-torso showing Amadeus' face. He randomly pronounces sentences from the aforementioned bicker. The deathmatch map "Questo non è un villaggio turistico" ("This is no tourist resort"), that is filled with Amadeus-Mooks, quotes one of the reprimands he addressed to the contestant.
Giulio Andreotti
Born in 1919 and died in 2013. One of the most prominent politicians during the First Italian Republic, holding the record of receiving the highest number of government posts: seven times Prime Minister and 32 times in several different ministries, among the rest Defence, Foreign Affairs, Interior and Culture. This apparently prestigious and unquestionable image, however, was torn down between the 90s and the new millennium: because of suspected ties with The Mafia, he was subjected to criminal prosecutions, which culminated in a ten-years trial. The conclusion was that Andreotti was without a doubt colluded with crime, but the court couldn't ultimately apply any sentence against him because of his accuses getting statute barred. On a less serious note, he became famous among younger folks because of not exactly arriving at an old age in good health. Few years before his death, during an interview in the Italian program Verissimo, he had a stroke and remained in a catatonic state
, his face stuck in a blank stare. It took some seconds for the presentress to realise what was going on and suspend transmission. Many Italians found the whole event to be funnier than it should. In the "Ipercoop" map this accident is in fact reenacted, with Andreotti being interviewed in the hall. The presentress in the game however is Barbara D'Urso, not the one actually present during the real accident. Andreotti then can reappear as an Elite Mook, sitting on a Super Wheelchair, armed to the teeth with rockets and missiles.
Barbara D'Urso
Italian television personality and television host, with a 40 years long career. Especially since the new millennium, she worked regularly in reality shows (among the rest, the Italian Big Brother), infotainment programs and sideshows. Currently she hosts Domenica Live and Pomeriggio cinque. Her personal tv program, Live - Non è la D'Urso, was suspended in 2021 (with general rejoicing). She does have a massive Hatedom. She's considered, by many, pretty much the embodiment of evertything wrong with modern television: narcisism, trivialisation of information, fake sentimentality, celebration of gossip and trashy characters: the epitome of The Prima Donna.
She's the woman in the entrance for the deathmatch map "Tutti i colori della cronaca" (even though she never directed that transmission). The map, if you look closely, is the JoJo Attraction from the map "Dark Carnival" from Blood. She also appears in the aforementioned reenacted stroke-accident of former prime minister Andreotti (despite, again, not being her the presentress of the program when it happened). She can be killed after said scene... and will turn in a massive dragon afterwards.
For the record, her yells when she's attacked are not hers: they're actually taken from a porn movie. Nothing to add.
Sandra Milo
Italian actress and television presentress, with a brilliant career in the 60s thanks to her numerous collaborations with master Federico Fellini. In 1990, on live television, she famously fell victim of a horrible prank call, when an anonymus woman falsely told her that her son was hospitalised after a traffic accident, in critical condition. She immediately broke down and left the studio. The Deathmatch Map "Ciro! Ciro!" has a techno remix of the aforementioned conversation as soundtrack.
Miscellaneous
Perugia
The creator of Grezzo 2 hails from Perugia (capital city of Umbria, in central Italy), and it shows.- The main menu and certain popups are written in Umbrian dialect (which is rather similar to standard Italian). Many characters, including the protagonist, speak with a thick Umbrian accent.
- The free-roaming level "Porco Dio a Perugia" ("Pig God in Perugia") note takes place (allegedly) in Perugia and includes stands for Eurochocolate and Umbria Jazz Festival. The map is actually a modified version of the "Doom Center" WAD.
- The map "Minimetro" is a train, but simbolically represents the Minimetrò of Perugia, an automated people mover widely used in town.
Cinepanettoni
A pun of Italian between cine for "Cinema" and panettone, a type of sweet bread traditionally eaten at Christmas. Indicates a series of farcical and comic movies released in Italy every Christmas since 1983. The protagonists are bungling, presumptuous and stereotypically Italians of the middle class who visit glamorous or exotic places during their holidays. The two recurring actors are Christian De Sica (yes, his son) and Massimo Boldi, frequently joined by other comic actors or international guests. In Italy, Cinepattoni are a national Cash-Cow Franchise, but also have a massive Hatedom. Frequent criticism targets their absence of any ethical or educational value, the large amounts of scurrilous expressions, Toilet Humour and in general their irony that is deprecated as childish. The movies also barely change their style and comedy during the years, leading each entry to be perceived as It's the Same, Now It Sucks!. There's also the concern that they provide a bad example for younger viewers, since they are frequently seen by families.
- The title of Natale in crociera (Christmas on a cruise) is used for a deathmatch map that takes place, well, in a cruise ship.
- Christian De Sica and Massimo Boldi randomly appear as helpless and harmless bystanders during the game, who are likely to get caught in the crossfire.
Crime News
The Black Comedy element of Grezzo 2 certainly doesn't ignore crime news that caused particular media hype in Italy.- The Cogne case, the death of a three-year-old infant killed in his own house. Due to the house being completely closed, the lack of any sign of trespassing, and the weird behaviour from his mother, among the rest, she was found guilty and imprisoned, with the murder seemingly being the result of a psychotic rage. This is referenced in a deathmatch map called... "Asilo Nido Franzoni" ("Daycare Franzoni"). Despite its name (or maybe because), the map really is an abandoned hospital, with its textures taken off the "Sick Ward" map from Blood. You may notice a black-and-white portrait in the main hall: that is Bruno Vespa, journalist and TV presenter. During the investigations he interviewed the mother, who claimed innocence, to hear her own version. Many among the audience found her crying her eyes out to have been a charade. It was made worse when she was heard, behind the scenes, asking "Did I cry too much?", which gave further impression that she was acting.
- The Avetrana case. Long story short, the case was at first believed to have been a usual rape-murder, committed by an uncle against his own niece. After years of investigations, the jury eventually determined that the poor girl was killed by her aunt and her cousin; the uncle was only found guilty hiding the corpse. Portraits of the victim and the uncle can sometime be found scattered in several levels. There's also the deathmatch map "Avertana Chainsaw Massacre" (casting aside the obvious reference to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) referencing the event. The map is a modified version of "Crystal Lake" from Blood.
- The Novi Ligure Murder was the murder committed by a girl and her boyfriend against her own mother and 11-years old brother. The deathmatch map "Novi Ligure" has the two culprits at the entrance. For the rest however the map has barely to do with the event.
Other Politicians
While the game doesn't really devolve into politics, it's no surprise that some politicians who have been particularly or controversial found their place in Grezzo 2. Giulio Andreotti was discussed precedently, here are other examples:- Silvio Berlusconi being, well, Silvio Berlusconi (1936 – 2023). Former Italian Prime Minister, successful businessman, billionaire, and collecting court proceedings like a hobby. He randomly appears as a bystander hobo/prostitute. There's also a deathmatch map, "Meno male che Silvio c'è" ("Good thing there's Silvio"). The name is taken from the anthem of his own partynote . The scarred face? That's him after he was assaulted by a guy who threw a bronze at him.
- Mario Borghezio, far-right Italian politician. Of the "Breivik wasn't that bad" variety. He randomly appears holding a poster of his party's logo and shouting islamophobe insults.
