In the current program of “ZDF Magazin Royale” Jan Böhmermann thinks about getting married. And takes aim at some prominent colleagues.
Actually, Jan Böhmermann doesn’t like insights into his private life. Although he is constantly seen on television and heard on his podcast, there are at most rumors regarding the 42-year-old’s possible partnerships or children. In the new show from “Magazin Royale” he now claims to finally be in love again. And planning his wedding. Anyone who knows the show knows where this is going: This week the show is taking marriage to task.
Even if marriage itself is definitely satirized in a historical review, the show is primarily about one thing: the position of the institution of marriage in German law, the economy and society. Narrated by Böhmermann and his very obviously AI-generated girlfriend Celina, the show navigates the numerous pitfalls and consequences of German marriage law – and also has a few swipes at famous profiteers.
Taunts against the Pochers
The first goes against the still-married couple Oliver and Amira Pocher. In a conversation with Frauke Ludowig, Pocher said that the first thing they could have done was no longer do the joint podcast. “Besides, you also have children, so you have to take care of all sorts of things,” he continued. “You have to imagine that,” Böhmermann teased with a grin. “Some married couples also have children in addition to the podcast. Perverted.”
But it wasn’t the only place. Later he came back to the podcasting couples. You could do that as a kind of mini-job, he thought. “But then of course we have to have a few children first. So that we don’t run out of topics.” Amira and Oliver Pocher had two children within just under a year.”
Böhmermann, the traditional man
In fact, the taunts are likely to be aimed primarily at Oliver Pocher. Because, as the show has impressively researched, numerous reforms have not solved the fundamental problem of marriage law. “Marriage, as it is regulated in Germany, mainly benefits high-earning, heterosexual cis men,” explains Böhmermann. Anyone who doesn’t belong, such as women, homosexuals or people who earn less, is just out of luck. “And that’s intentional,” believes the moderator. The traditional family with a man who earns money and a wife who raises the children is very practical for the state. He doesn’t have to spend any money on daycare centers or care work.
Böhmermann presents himself as the conservative husband in his supposed relationship with the AI model. “Unfortunately, parental leave isn’t really an option for me. How are we supposed to make ends meet,” he explains. After all, Celina wouldn’t work properly. What he is referring to follows in a clip: Because women take on a lot more work in the household and caring for children and relatives, they do almost 54 percent more unpaid care work per day than men, a clip quotes.
He couldn’t do that at all, says Böhmermann as a representative of traditional role models. “I have to work, how am I supposed to help around the house or with the children?” Part time, it suddenly appears next to him. That wouldn’t work, he claims. “I have to be here at work for 10, ideally 16 hours every day, otherwise nothing happens here,” he says indignantly. Yes, the answer appears promptly. “But who should moderate it other than me, nobody else can,” he then tries. In response, under the music of “White Shark,” the face of TV’s miracle weapon slowly comes into the picture: Giovanni Zarella. Böhmermann appears horrified – and the audience cheers.
“I learned that from Alice Schwarzer: Feminism also means flexibility,” he casually tells the women’s rights activist, whose magazine “Emma” named Böhmermann the biggest sexist because of his trans-friendly stance. “I’m a feminist too”; the moderator says indignantly. “When the Barbie film came out, I painted my fingernail. And then I went to see ‘Oppenheimer’. Because it’s just a badass film,” he grins. “It shows what men can do if you just let them do it.”
“Bet that …?”
Böhmermann doesn’t really want to believe that this often takes its toll on women after divorce. The risk of poverty for women cannot be that high, after all there is a right to maintenance. But since the reform in 2008, this has been the case for fewer and fewer women, the player suggests. “Oh, then it might be difficult to divorce me,” the moderator ponders aloud. “Even if she doesn’t love me anymore. Hard to imagine, I know.”
To make his point clear, Böhmermann once again quotes a law that was changed in 1977, according to which women were only allowed to work if it was compatible with their marital and family responsibilities. “Marriage in Germany is made for people from another millennium,” he addresses his audience. And uses that to take a dig at a ZDF colleague.
“People who no longer dare to talk on television like they do at home,” he taunts Thomas Gottschalk, who said goodbye to his last “Wetten, dass…?” program with these words. The clip then shows, above all, the imbalance in the Schweinsteiger household. Basti would rather give orders than take action herself, Anna revealed last week at the TV event. “Someone has to take control of how the organization runs”; the football pensioner tried to excuse himself. “I’m happy to do that. Others should do the work.”
However, Schweinsteiger still came off better than CDU leader Friedrich Merz. “Marital rape has been a criminal offense since 1997. Sorry, Friedrich.” Because even if it sounds almost unimaginable today: During the vote, 138 MPs voted against the constitutional change – including Merz.
Laughter on a serious topic
The audience also got to see an unusually real Jan Böhmermann. When he joked that his future Celina was only 20 years old, “but mature as 21”, he suddenly broke from the role of presenter that he had otherwise so firmly maintained – and couldn’t suppress his laughter for a few seconds. He only managed the next sentence, “Marriage, I can hardly wait,” after four attempts. Then a player saved him. Still, he kept twitching amid stifled laughter.
In the end, the moderator decides against marriage. And breaks up with his AI girlfriend by unfollowing her on Tiktok. He explains that he is now single again and open to everything. “The only thing that would be important to me is that you like reading. Because I don’t really like doing that,” he grins. “So, write to me.”
Source: ZDF Magazine Royale