Leopard above, Leopard below. We’ve been like this for weeks. A star has been born. Never has a weapon of war been so popular or so complimented, nor so discussed and longed for. We know everything about Leopard 2, or what they want us to know, it’s like family. A media character urgently demanding a production from the Disney factory. It is already known: to know him is to love him. The German group Rheinmetall that manufactures it has become a stock market star, its shares do not stop rising in value, nothing unusual in the case of the creators of a new mythological monster. We know his spells, benefits and how masculinely gifted he is to win a war.
The more than sensitive souls of Complutense state that they are against such, apparently, a beautiful creature. And as is to be expected, the stupor of animalists, and ex-progress in general, before the felinization of a tank is describable. We are already dusting off the “No to war” banner in the same way that there are people who take to the streets with posters of the spotted feline demanding their shipment; unusual images. “Seeing is believing”.
From now on, when we watch the documentaries on La 2 – which, as everyone knows, is the only channel we watch – we will immediately think of the ineffable Leopard, son of a leopard dad and a leopard mom. What is the origin of the name? Who baptizes the killing artifacts? Marketing? Scriptwriters on the payroll?
We know how many Leopard 2 each lucky country has, in what conditions and number of units… some, a jartá, I would say a castizo. And as in everything there are classes, ours, that we have them, do not go to think, they are not, for now, presentable. “In unfortunate conditions,” said the only sensible minister in office. We Iberians are cheerful but careless.
One way to sweeten the drama of war is to reduce it to a video game, on console material. In plot jewelry. The powers are very good at hiding their intentions from us; also trading with horror turning it into an almost lyrical trifle, taking the poison out of tragedy. Looking for a general appeasement to leave us less qualified, less critical to face the future and demand reasons. An example?: Leopard 2.
