Cake throw

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Volunteer at a student association charity event

A cake throw is the throwing of a cake in the face of a person with the aim of exposing the victim to ridicule. A distinction must be made between a so-called cake gag used in slapstick comedies and a political cake attack or torture . If a large number of people throw cakes at the same time, this is known as a cake fight .

Cake throws in the entertainment industry: cake gag, cake fight

Cakes were thrown into faces from the early silent film era until well into the era of talkies as a regular and at that time effective element of cinematic slapsticks , among others in the works of the Marx Brothers , Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and later also Jerry Lewis . Cakes were occasionally thrown in the vaudeville theater of the 19th century , and the public was also familiar with the motif with its ostensible comedy from throwing booths at fairs. The film Mr. Flip with Ben Turpin is considered to be the first cinematic processing of the cake gag . Over the years, this motif has been so stressed that recipients learned to perceive the throwing of the cake as a clichéd stylistic device of juvenile brute humor. Since the second half of the 20th century , filmmakers have therefore practically only used cake throws as a homage or as a kind of ironic commitment to their own artistic unpretentiousness (e.g. the movie The Totally Fucked Nut from 1992).

Detailed instructions with all kinds of variations are presented vividly by the British comedian group Monty Python in the film Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl .

In the 1927 film The Battle of the Century with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy , an unprecedented cake battle was portrayed in which 3,000 cakes were made for the shooting. The largest cake battle shown in the film to date is attributed to the film The Great Race Around the World from 1965. The film Bugsy Malone , a parody of gangster films that was exclusively cast with children, also plays a prominent role in the history of the cinematic cake tossing . In order to satirize the clichés of that genre, explosives and firearms were consistently replaced by cream cakes and so-called "frost guns" (German for example: icing guns) that shoot buttercream volleys.

Cake throws as a political form of expression: cake assassination, torture

A cake assassination or torture is understood as an act of palpable action art or palpable political protest , in which a public figure is pelted with a cake or has it pressed in the face. The word “tortung” is mainly used in Austria . The French language knows the terms “entarteur” and “dartiste” for the author of a cake attack. In English "pieing" is used.

Pie throws as a means of exposure of people have already been documented for the 1960s. For Germany, the cake can be traced back to 1968 as a political weapon: At that time Fritz Teufel was in Hanover for the 23rd delegates' conference of the Socialist German Student Union (SDS) and wanted to visit a café with fellow students. However, the owner of the cafe refused them entry. He called the police and the unwanted stole the café's display, which consisted of numerous cakes, and used them as projectiles. In the following years, the SDS recalled the “cake battle” in Hanover.

The first politically motivated cake toss that became known to the general public was that of the Belgian comedian Noël Godin against the French writer and film director Marguerite Duras in 1969. The media success of his action encouraged Godin to make the cake his artistic trademark. Godin, who is still active today, and his circle of friends baked a large number of nationally and internationally known celebrities in the following decades. Godin's most frequent target so far was the philosopher and jet-setter Bernard-Henri Lévy , who was the victim of torture by his group for the seventh time on March 18, 2006. With a multiple location of the software tycoon Bill Gates , a torter group led by Godin finally achieved international fame in 1998. Godin occasionally appears under the pseudonym "Georges Le Gloupier" during his actions. The loose group around Godin calls itself the Internationale Pâtissière ( international cakes), Pâtissiers sans Frontières (confectioners without borders), based on the well-known Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) or Gloup Gloup . In the form of groups such as “Al Pieda”, the Biotic Baking Brigade or Les Entartistes , Godin found imitators in several countries.

Legal evaluation

From a legal point of view, a successful throwing of a cake represents an insult . In the case of a throwing of a cake, the insult meets with an impact directly on the body (“physical insult”). This means that there is often - but not necessarily - bodily harm that is actually an offense. Another possible offense could be trespassing.

In addition to the expected punishment, the most serious risk of throwing a cake at a high-ranking politician is that the perpetrator will be beaten down by the security staff with disproportionate means and injured or even killed in the process.

Victims of political cake throws

Without a year

Chronologically

  • Anita Bryant , anti-gay activist concerned about "homosexual recruiting" at a news conference on October 14, 1977. She began to pray for forgiveness for the cake thrower and for him to be released from his "diabolical lifestyle." which eventually turned into sobs.
  • Bill Gates in February 1998 in Brussels by Noël Godin.
  • Daniel Cohn-Bendit was "killed" in 1998 by activists from the French trade union CNT .
  • Wolfgang Schüssel , was thrown Sweden bombs at a discussion in the Juridikum of the University of Vienna in May 1999 (at that time still Foreign Minister) .
  • Hilmar Kabas , chairman of the Vienna FPÖ in April 2000.
  • Frank E. Loy , during a speech at the 6th World Climate Conference 2000 in The Hague through a cream cake.
  • Hans-Olaf Henkel at the semester opening on April 18, 2001 at the Free University of Berlin
  • Carl XVI. Gustaf , King of Sweden, was pelted with a strawberry cake on September 5, 2001 by a 16-year-old who wanted to protest against the monarchy .
  • James Wolfensohn , World Bank President in 2001 during a press conference in Helsinki with a cream cake. This was justified with the words "the World Bank steals bread from the mouth of the poor".
  • Pim Fortuyn was "cakeed" by Dutch anti-racists during the 2002 election campaign with four cakes filled with feces.
  • Walter Baier , Chairman of the Austrian Communist Party in November 2004.
  • Jörg Dräger , Senator for Science in Hamburg, received the protest from students against his neoliberal restructuring of the universities as part of the Bologna reform on February 4, 2004 with a cake in his face.
  • Georg Winckler , Rector of the University of Vienna , was thrown a cake on January 20, 2004 during a panel discussion to protest against a planned university reform.
  • As President of the University Rectors' Conference, Peter Gaehtgens was "killed" in protest against the introduction of tuition fees in 2005 at the University of Tübingen.
  • Günther Oettinger , Prime Minister of the State of Baden-Württemberg, was pelted with a Black Forest cake by a student in Stuttgart in November 2007 , protesting against one-euro jobs .
  • Gerd Schwandner , Lord Mayor of Oldenburg on March 4, 2009 through the group Die Überfluigen .
  • Jürgen Trittin was pelted with a cake on September 22nd, 2010 during a panel discussion in a hut village modeled on the Republic of Free Wendland .
  • André-Joseph Léonard , Primate of the Catholic Church in Belgium in April 2011 by the group “Die Konditor-Internationale” because of the controversial stance of the ultra-conservative archbishop on the subjects of homosexuality, abortion and AIDS.
  • James Murdoch on July 19, 2011 during a hearing on the News International scandal by Jonathan May-Bowles (known as a comedian and activist by the name Jonnie Marbles) with a cake made of shaving cream. The cake thrower was sentenced to four weeks in prison.
  • Torsten Albig , Kiel Mayor, SPD, was pelted with a Black Forest cake by a man on November 21, 2011 in the Kiel Science Center during an event. Since Albig did not file a complaint, no further investigation was carried out against the man.
  • Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was "tortured" on February 2, 2012 in a joint action by the Hedonist International and Anonymous .
  • A piece of cake was thrown at Philipp Rösler on March 8, 2012 during a CeBIT tour. Rösler filed a criminal complaint against the cake thrower.
  • Reinhold Gall , Minister of the Interior of the State of Baden-Württemberg , was thrown a piece of cream cake at a conference at the Protestant University of Ludwigsburg on February 7, 2014 . The 19-year-old Werfer declared that he was a member of the group “Heilbronner Konditorei for Consistent Enlightenment” and protested that the minister had refused an NSU investigation committee in Baden-Württemberg.
  • The Russian government opponent Alexei Navalny was killed in front of his office on February 25, 2016. He described the cake throwers as "clowns" and said that "the Kremlin is so strong and Putin so popular that all it takes is cakes to help them fight the opposition".
  • Beatrix von Storch was welcomed by Peng! On February 28, 2016 at a meeting of Alternative für Deutschland in Kassel . poked.
  • Sahra Wagenknecht was pelted with a cake by an activist on May 28, 2016 at the party conference of the Left .
  • On May 31, 2016, Thilo Sarrazin was pelted with a Black Forest cake by an activist of the Interventionist Left at a reading in Düsseldorf.
  • On August 29, 2016, Jörg Meuthen was pelted with a frozen Black Forest cake by a 17-year-old during an AfD event in the Harburg district , whereby Meuthen was slightly injured in the head.
  • Beatrix von Storch was pelted with a cake made of shaving foam on November 27, 2016 in Kiel at an AfD election event. The cake thrower was a 22-year-old student. She wanted to signal to the AfD politician that someone who, like von Storch, calls for the shooting of refugees at the border, should not have a stage.

Special forms

In contrast to the cake attack, the “ pudding attack ” could not prevail. As early as 1967, Berlin students were planning a pudding attack against US Vice President Humphrey , which the police were able to prevent. The only known successful pudding attack is the “attack” on Bernd Rabehl , who was attacked with pudding by students in 1999 because of his right-wing extremist views and statements. Other sensational "attacks" with food were the eggs being thrown on Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl in May 1991 and on Federal President Christian Wulff and on the Hessian Prime Minister Volker Bouffier in April 2011.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bernard-Henri Lévy . In: Der Spiegel . No. 14 , 2006, p. 198 ( Online - Apr. 3, 2006 ).
  2. ↑ http://www.gloupgloup.be/gloup.php?page=qui
  3. ↑ Video View 1 , Video View 2
  4. ↑ At the FU celebration, Hans-Olaf Henkel was shouted down, and a cake hit him easily Martyr of free speech - Source: http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/16249236 © 2016
  5. ↑ http://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/article106834264/Joerg-Draeger-mit-Torte-beworfen.html
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZR8rsLLP18
  7. ↑ Prime Minister Oettinger: The video of the cake attack ( memento from April 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) from November 23, 2007
  8. ↑ Cake attack: Biscuit with cream and Schwandner from March 4, 2009
  9. ↑ Trittin pelted with cake on September 23, 2010
  10. ↑ Trittin waives the notification of September 23, 2010
  11. ↑ Primate of the Catholic Church is the target in the cake battle on April 7, 2011
  12. ↑ Network stories: Post from prison on August 17, 2011
  13. ↑ Albig pelted with cake ( Memento from December 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) from November 22, 2011
  14. ^ Protest against Guttenberg: Words and Cake from February 2, 2012
  15. ↑ Digital confectioners cakes Ex-Defense Minister Guttenberg
  16. ↑ The attacker throws the FDP boss Rösler at Cebit with a cake from March 8, 2012
  17. ↑ Throwing a cake on the Minister of the Interior of BaWü: Sweet request from NSU committee of February 9, 2014
  18. ↑ Russian government opponent Navalny tied in Der Standard on February 25, 2016
  19. ↑ https://tortenbefehl.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/tortaler-krieg-afd/
  20. ↑ http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/politik/-beatrix-von-storch-mit-sote-torte-beworfen,10808018,33885906.htm Berliner Zeitung
  21. ^ Left Party Congress: Cake Attack on Wagenknecht , spiegel.de
  22. ↑ Thilo Sarrazin was killed - and compares himself to victims of knife attacks. In: Vice . June 1, 2016, accessed September 16, 2016 .
  23. ↑ Right-wing populists: AfD boss Meuthen pelted with frozen cake. In: Spiegel Online. Retrieved September 1, 2016 .
  24. ↑ https://www.taz.de/!5416524/
  25. ↑ https://www.taz.de/!5483319/

Web links

Commons : Pieing  - collection of images, videos and audio files