French women

There seems to exist an American fascination with French women. Some sort of phantasm like what is inaccessible.

When Gertrude Ederle died 6 years ago, it was reminded how, being a member of the American women team for the 1924 Olympics in Paris (the last ones to date and certainly for the foreseeable future), she was relegated to the outskirts of the French capital, the American delegation wanting to keep the girls away from the cauldron of vice, lust and lewdness Paris was supposed to be by then.

As a matter of fact, Puritanism wasn’t exactly the kind of fun the French were having during these same years. When N. Hawthorne was writing “The Red Scarlet”(1850), G. Flaubert was working on Madame Bovary (1857)… Then there was Colette and her Gigi series about women enjoying freedom in the choice of her partners/lovers. Not really the American habits of the time. And then came Françoise Sagan and her Bonjour Tristesse (1954). This novel was an incredible hit when it was published in America.

The French were at it again with their stories of emancipated, multipartners women. Now, wasn’t that some fodder for their reputation of womanizers, free sex etc. Remember l’Origine du monde by G. Courbet ? Do I have to mention the movies where naked breast was a common fixture of French films? How many times have I read souvenirs by American males telling how they would have killed anybody to see a French movie, knowing that was an unmissable opportunity to have a glimpse of the forbidden fruit?

Nowadays, how many times are naked women to be seen in American movies or on American TV channels? (Here is another culture shock for Americans spending some time in France when they watch French TV channels or see posters in the streets). Now, this mistress thing is a follow up of literary, history, painting etc. items which actually were a referenced discriminator between America and France.

After Colette and just before F. Sagan there was also Simone de Beauvoir with her deuxième sexe which didn’t pass unheeded in the US. Add to this her 10 years or so long liaison with American Nelson Algren while she was with Sartre (who, himself…)… Although I don’t know if that liaison was particularly known in America.


Painting: "le boudoir de la marquise" by Fragonard

Look at me

The need to represent oneself is universal and has been implemented since the stone carvings of the cavemen until the invention of the photography and the cinema. We all know how the movie industry is an essential part of the American cultural history, like we know how prevalent it has been the world over for nearly a century now.

Like Narcissus contemplating his image in the water of the river, don’t the movies made in the US act like a mirror which permits America to reflect herself on the screen and offers the world the image of how she wants to be seen and perceived? This would then be an “illustration” of the miror stage of Jacques Lacan which enables the child to realize the unity of his/her body.

This urge to represent herself is all the more enhanced with the quasi obsessional need to display the national flag in oh so many movies and TV series, like a transitional object, as if America had an existential need to permanently assert both her identity and her legitimacy.

Now, what is Narcissism but the inner conviction to be the centre of the world? And is it pushing the barriers too far to suggest the strength of the American movie industry may have another, deeper and unavowed meaning, that of a fundamental insecurity regarding her very being?

Just asking…

Note : the painting is “Narcissus” by Caravagio (1599)

Ike, the anti-American par excellence

I've been perusing Republican and conservative American blogs these last days. 

O'd glory on every page of these blogs, as many « God bless America » as you want, Jesus is everywhere and He loves you, quotes from both the two Testaments, unconditional support to Israel, the right to carry firearms, Yurpeens are commies our great Nation must at all cost be preserved from. A paranoid universe that's real scary.

But mainly, two themes are omnipresent: Freedom and our brave and glorious soldiers who protect said freedom.

As for the purported "freedom", from a country which practiced slavery for nearly half of its existence and deprived part of its citizens of civil rights for another century, I find that a little bit cheeky!

Many Americans pretend to be the champions of liberty but I fail to see how more free they are than Europeans, Japanese or South Americans.

Sure enough, they’re free to be fleeced by the financial system and the insurance companies, they're free to get shot down by any sicko happy-trigger (even inside churches), free not to benefit from a universal health care, or to be ousted from their houses  because they can no longer pay the rents.

As for the brave and glorious soldiers who fight and have died to protect our freedom, isn't that what every single nation in the world could say about their respective armies and soldiers? In this insane cult of all things related to the army, the US has reached heights only matched by dictatorships.

And when was exactly the last time this happened???

In Iraq? In Afghanistan, in Somalia or in Nicaragua? Unless they mean the Vietnamese? The Korean war? How many American heroes died during the cold war with the USSR?

Were these countries ever a menace to American freedom? Even the Germans declared war on America due to the diplomatic ties they had with the Japanese who themselves attacked in Pearl Harbour, to protect what they thought was their sphere of influence. In any case, nor the Germans or the Japanese had any intention to invade the US and deprive Americans of their freedom.

The same for 1917-1918. And were the Phillipinos a threat to America in 1899? Or the Mexicans in 1848?

Fact is, Americans have never been threatened by anybody but the US is the country which has been the most bellicose and expansionist nation of the world during the last 200 years. They even managed to wage a civil war not even one century after the foundation of their country.

And they keep on repeating their mantra of freedom and our glorious soldiers every single day of the year.

What's more, it's not only the Rep who are inebriated with these myths, many a Democrat share this persecution delirium.

After 40 years of brainwashing Americans into fear of the enemies waiting for them at every corner of the planet, the military-industrial complex, through the US media and their politicians, have succeeded into making Americans believe the survival of their country was at stake and their beloved freedom with it.

Now, when he delivered his farewell adress, President Eisenhower warned his fellow citizens against the growing influence of the military-industrial complex and the dangers that went along. 

Should Ike hold his famous farewell speech today, he will be considered a traitor and the worst possible anti-American by a fair share of Americans for want of delivering the security of America into the hands of its most merciless enemies (which ones?). Ike, the most revered American Prez for decades... (sigh)

Note: A gem I found on one of these blogs : "Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American GI. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom."

Then we will remember, things we said today

Those familiar with the Franco-American relations or, on a broader scale, the Euro-American relations, know that the key word in understanding these relations is ambivalence, like in love and hate.

This mindset seems more prevalent on the American side than on the other side of the Atlantic.

On the one hand, for Americans who can trace their ancestry from Europe as long ago as can be in history (say the XVIII th century or even sooner) their pride knows no limit.

On the other hand, so many of them have such disdain for Europe and Europeans, and certainly mainly among white Americans, preferably Republicans, but I guess Democrats aren’t immune from this prejudice. Remember Donald Rumsfeld’s new Europe as opposed to old Europe?

Yet they’re talking about the land of their ancestors, and you wonder how much they want not to be associated in any way with the back warded people who live in Europe. The farther away they feel they are from (commies) Europeans, the better they’d be it seems. As if they needed to believe in some sort of out of nowhere self creation of their nation, in order to assert its legitimacy.

Now, I was listening to a radio program the other day when someone said that by the year 2.050 white Americans from European descent will be a minority among Latinos, Black Americans and Asians (in whichever order I can’t remember).

I thought that Black Americans couldn’t care less about dissociation from Europe since all their misfortunes came from Europe.

Asians wouldn’t care a fig as well since they have no historical links with Europeans.

And the same goes with Latinos, themselves being from European (only Spanish) descent but that was so long ago, they now come from Mexico and other Caribbean islands.

I don’t know about 2.050 but the trend seems unstoppable yet.

Maybe then, many white Americans will feel they’re surrounded with not real Americans of yesteryear… and they, well, their children and great-children will remember things they said today.

American virtues

Over generalisation is often tricky and misleading and yet, there’s a place where I can without any hesitation indulge in using one: From my own personal experience and account, Americans are really friendly and warm people.

What does he know? will ask some, he has never travelled to the USA. Sure I haven’t but I’ve met next to 5.000 Americans with whom I had the opportunity to speak and exchange for hours on end during the 80s.

OK, they were tourists in Paris and maybe they weren’t representative of the average Joe, Dick and Harry.

Nevertheless, I’ve always found them to be straightforward, modest and over all, possessing a virtue that seems to be unknown to most Europeans: they’re nice and candid altogether, to the point I’ve sometimes felt moved by their sincerity.

Another salient trait of their personality that I have many times admired is their curiosity and the obvious open mindedness they display when meeting foreigners.

The sense of self deprecating humour they occasionally show is also worth noticing and never fails to raise a smile and helps make contact. 

To make a long story short, any encounter with American visitors has next to always meant an enjoyable moment for me. Forget the short-sighted, narrow minded Brits, Americans beat them hands down when it comes to face to face contacts.

Now, the French and Europeans in general may harbour the clichés and prejudice we all know of but regarding the sense of friendship and sociability we have much to learn from Americans.

Note: the painting is “Parrots” by John James Audubon

Ayn Rand, a "philosophical" hotchpotch

This is a picture of Ayn Rand whose name I had previously met without doing any further reading. But since I noticed that Wiki had four golden articles about her, particularly in French, I then did my duty and read the whole bloody thing.

Good grief! What a hotchpotch of insanities totally unworthy debunking so ridiculous they are. One thing I can state is that I'm not about to read Atlas Shrugged.

I also tried to read the Objectivism article but I had to give up.

Well, I admit that wasn't a complete waste of time since I've learned something (the very existence of this woman and her "philosophy") and also that was a good introduction to libertarianism.

Furthermore, I learned how important this trend of thoughts seems to have been in the US for the past 50 years and how it still may hold some traceable influence in current American domestic politics as seen on this picture of protesting Tea partiers.

But now that I'm through with Ayn Rand you can count me out about Ron Hubbard...