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South Park’s French Bashing Explored.

The world of cartoons is a powerful way to get out any message you could never achieve with traditional actors or more conventional means. Much like Aesop’s fables, the use of animated characters often serves as a vehicle for political and social satire that avoids serious scrutiny. After all, it’s just a cartoon right?

The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill and South Park have all achieved success through poking fun at our collective hypocrisies or our contradictions. Unfortunately, when empowered with such a potent vehicle, the creative teams behind these cartoons sometimes let their own prejudices show through.

The Simpsons famously entered the fray of Anti-French prejudice with several barbs, most notably the “Cheese eating surrender monkey” epithet spoken by Groundskeeper Willie in an episode aired on April 30, 1995. In another episode, the character Lenny is also used as a vehicle for Anti-French stereotypes: “I’m shaking like a French soldier!”. Anti-French prejudice from the Simpsons is also evident in licensed games such as “Medal of Homer” (See note 1).

Matt Groening disputed his association with that now famous Anti-French slur: “That was not the original context. It was all about Willie yelling at students in a French class. People took that expression out of context (…) Besides I adore France, to be associated with this was insulting” (See note 2). Given the Simpsons long record of Anti-French attitudes, Matt Groening’s comments can only be considered as pure hypocrisy. But enough with this antiquated series that overstayed its welcome 6 years ago.

Last Wednesday, South Park aired an episode ripped from the headlines that deals with Somali pirates. At one point a French crew surrenders to children wielding toys. In another scene, another characters exclaims: “they were French so of course they surrendered immediately”.

South Park’s late foray into the world of French Bashing is not only regrettable, it proves once more that anti-French prejudice is so entwined in American pop-culture that it will take monumental efforts on our behalf to undo the harm done by years of laissez-faire.

In the meanwhile, little can be done with our limited means. We can however let the creators of South Park know how we feel with it comes to mocking the most tragic event of our recent history or we can also share our opinions with the myriad of bloggers, writers, columnists out there who are applauding this new Anti-French jab like circus seals.

(1) Miquelon.org article on Medal of Homer
(2) Source: Interview with Erwan Cario, July 25th 2007

Related links

• South Park Episode 7, season 13 “Fatbeard”
• Entertainement Weekly by Ken Tucker who thinks this is a “funny depiction of the French as pretentious cowards”
• AvClub.com – tv.ign.com

On another front, this one being in the Gulf of Aden, the news of French successes against Somali pirates is being greeted with sarcasm by Jennifer Fermino – are we Italian? – of the New York Post. Harping on France’s 1940 surrender, which we remind our non-French readers, is as funny to the French as 9/11 is to Americans, Fermino plays loose with history and claims the French have not had a military success on water since 1884.

Please use the comment section of the New York Post to leave informative and thought provoking comments.

The headline was vulgar and blunt: Brit Performs, French Surrender.

We immediately posted a note in their comment section which read as follows: “Very disappointed by TMZ’s French Bashing. By referring to the 1940 surrender to describe some pop culture news, TMZ is showing utter contempt and disdain for a people and their history. To the French, the 1940 surrender is as funny as 9/11 is to Americans. Please show some cultural understanding the next time you wish to write something about France or the French.” We added for good measure a quote by Edward C.Knox.

Within hours, our comment was removed. Was it the mention of 9/11? TMZ can dish it out certainly, but can they take it? It seems not. These cowardly writers believe they can vilify and trash the French anytime they want, but when faced with the ugliness of their words, they censor.

Source : TMZ.com
Act Now : Contact TMZ and let them know how you feel about French Bashing and the trivialization of our painful history and request an immediate retraction

This story might never have broken out of the local pages of French papers had the story not had “traction”. Thanks in part to the Times (TimesOnline.co.uk) and now Matt Drudge, the usual and predictable histrionics are coming to the forefront in the comment section of the Times Online article. Replete with the usual French Bashing Themes, legions of indignant users are wallowing in classic anti-French histrionics.

“I will not buy French anything” – “My hatred of Europe has grown exponentially” – “My father faught (sic) in D-Day (…) And yes this just spits on that memory” – “They don’t wish to remember because it reminds them of their own failings” – “Maybe (…) the USA will simply let the French fight their own battles”

An unfortunate loss of memory – yes, but trees do grow old and die and often become unsafe. The importance of these trees is truly anecdotal – an ephemeral form of graffiti – but the glorification through popular culture of the D-Day G.I. is so strong that anything relating to their existence seems to qualify as relics of quasi-religious importance.

Spielberg’s film, “Saving Private Ryan” has become the iconic symbol of America’s perception of the entire war. By blindly adhering to this pop-culture view of history, the contributions of all other nations have receded from the American Psyche: the British are a mere footnote, the Soviets an anecdote, and the war effort of Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, Africans and Free French are trivialized to the point where people like Jay Leno can freely proclaim that “the French Resistance is the biggest mythical joke that ever existed”. Amnesic revisionism-

With hordes of Internet users trolling the net for their next outrage, for a chance to let loose their anti-French hatred, stories like this will always take on a new life of their own.

A new chance for historical histrionics…
Source : Times Online

Jones has since expressed regret for the “freedom fries” incident, and has become a vocal anti-war Republican. Jones was recently challenged in North Carolina’s 3rd congressional district by a pro-war Republican named Joe McLaughlin. Jones won the primary by 20 points, and despite his repentance, is constantly associated with that epithet. Freedom fries have become a politically derogatory term.

Another frequent item picked up in the background chatter, are the keywords “Anti-French” as per protests in China. This has given rise to hundreds of news items, press articles and commentary, some evoking parallels with the Anti-French frenzy in America from 2003 onwards.

“Fox is still the top-rated news channel, but there are signs it’s plateauing. Its ratings started to lag in 2006, and in February, CNN’s prime time beat Fox among 25-to-54-year-olds for the first time since 2001. (…) But for better or for worse, Fox became the signal cultural artifact of the Bush era, so it will need to remodel itself again.” Read the full article at Time.com

Sources: Fox News @ Miquelon.org – Time.com
Also check: Mayhem at Fox News

Source : News Google
References : Wikipedia (Lazare Ponticelli) – Wikipedia (World War I casualties)

“There had been doubts as to whether the Air Force, and Congress, would award such a massive contract to a French firm, but a thaw in relations following the election of Nicolas Sarkozy may have eased concerns. Also Northrop claims that its aircraft will create 25,000 American jobs.”

Source : The Weekly Standard

Let us paraphrase the oft-quoted and notorious French Basher Mark Twain: The report of our cultural death is an exaggeration.

This conversation did happen, between an unidentified friend and a convicted felon Melissa Arrington of Tucson Arizona. While awaiting trial, Arrington found this description of her victim laughable. Thus begins the sad story of Paul L’Ecuyer.

Many thanks to SuperFrenchie for the story.
More at : MSNBC – TucsonCitizen.com