Read the rest of the entry at Cracked.com!

Conan O’Brien had been invited to Toronto in early 2004 and aired one of the most vile anti-Quebec and anti-French sketches ever. This comedian’s associate, Robert Smigel and his hand puppet Triumph, caused such a stir the issue was raised in Canada’s parliament.

The very next day, we hand delivered a letter to Conan’s hotel outlining the facts behind French Bashing and seriousness of the issue in the context of Canada’s political and social makeup. We were not the only ones to voice our concerns.

Conan O’Brien apologized.

James Douglas Muir Leno on the other hand has never shown any form of remorse for his insensitive and downright relentless bashing of the French. Having aired tasteless sketches and over 40 anti-French jokes between 2003 and 2006, Leno became the embodiment of French Bashing in American pop culture: from surrender jokes to jabs about our cleanliness, cowardice and duplicity.

In 2006, we drove across the United States to donate a box of books on French history to Jay Leno. We dubbed the operation Educating Jay and a documentary is currently in post-production. Leno never acknowledged our efforts and in a somewhat related story also refused to meet the Consul General of France in Los Angeles despite an open invitation.

One of these two men proved to be a true gentleman, able to accept criticism and apologize for his offences.

The other slandered the memory of the French Resistance and believes the French as a nation and people should be held in perpetual contempt.

Guess who we’re rooting for.

Read more :

• Conan O’Brien
  • Conan O’Brien exports hate speech to Canada
  • Conan Apologizes to Canada – Conan Apologizes to Quebec
• Jay Leno
  • Educating Jay – Our very long list of articles
  • Leno’s Anti-French Materials

As we near the end of 2009, French Bashing is no longer common on television. In fact, in a recent episode of Family Guy, French stereotypes were thrown onto the heap of politically incorrect materials in a skit entitled “Bigoted Songs Melody”. Even the eternally unfunny Simpsons are toning things down with a recent caricature of Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni that lacked imagination and punch – true to their style. Jay Leno for his part is probably too busy trying to counter his downward ratings spiral to care about bashing the French at this time.

So is there anyone left in the US media willing to publicly Hate the French?

Why it’s Glenn Lee Beck. Mister “I hate France” who still thinks the French are just another of his nightly punching bags. During his show, Tuesday, December 15, 2009, Beck took another spineless jab at the French:
“Ben Franklin was considered perhaps the most important man of his day. He was obviously revered in the Colonies, but he was also so respected around the world, that there was hardly a house in France that didn’t have his portrait in it. France had yet to become the “surrender monkeys” and non-deodorant America-haters we now know they are.” Source: FoxNews.com

Beck’s hate speech not only refers to the 1940 surrender, the most traumatic event in recent French history – as funny to the French as 9/11 or Vietnam to Americans – but he does not hesitate to use racialist language that is often used to describe other nationalities and minorities from the Irish to African-Americans.

Like Jonah Goldberg before him, Beck believes he can use the Simpson’s most offensive anti-French slur as he pleases, even if he portrays us collectively and perpetually as sub-humans. Pulling out all the stops, Beck also revisits common anti-French stereotypes about cleanliness and anti-Americanism.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Glenn Beck for uttering those words so he can remind us all where French-Bashing really comes from – the ultraconservative right wing of the political spectrum steeped in hate, paranoia and teabags.

Chris Matthews bashed a Francophobic member of the House of Congress.

You asked: Send Me Everything You Can Find About Glenn Beck

We – the French expatriates who live in North America – want to tell you about our experience from 2006-2007, when Glenn Beck said on air how much he “HATED THE FRENCH” – when he was still at Headline News. In seven years of monitoring anti-French attitudes, Glenn Beck is the only media personality to have ever expressed actual HATRED against the French as a people.

• Glenn Beck and His Hatred of the French
• Glenn Beck’s French Problem
• Open Letter to Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck (2006) – Has the world learned anything? I’m convinced the French government is either the biggest group of idiots or they’re constantly drunk off of whatever they’re drinking, their Frenchy French wine. How many times does your country need to be overrun by evil before you finally get it, France?” (…) Glenn Beck – I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’m to a point where I can’t even keep up with all of the reasons I hate the French.” (…)

Thanks again for all your amazing work,
À bientôt notre ami !

Educating Jay – EmotionFilmsLtd © 2009.

Disclaimer : This video contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this video is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.

More about Educating Jay

• Jay Leno and the Tonight Show – Collected anti-French materials.
• Adieu Jay – You called my people cowards on a nightly basis for years based on your skewed perception of events in World War II and your willingness to please the Bush administration before and during the Iraq war.
• Re: James Douglas Muir Leno
• Jay Leno’s French Obsession – Is Jay Leno afraid of the Consul General of France? First, let’s deal with his latest anti-French monologues. Before losing his writing team to the WGA strike, Jay Leno could not reign in his obsession with the surrender of June 22nd 1940.

I loathe thee.

Not so much for making fun of Sarkozy, he’s a public figure so he’s fair game, but for your utter disrespect for the most traumatic event in our history. Sure the headline is from the Onion (We know it’s satire – but why mention it? That’s the issue we have), but you think it is worthy of attention when discussing France’s Foreign Policy. You see, the 1940 surrender was not about surrender monkeys nor a ten minute battle. It was about being crushed by the most advanced army the world had known and being betrayed by our leadership.

Not only is making fun of 1940 as offensive to the French as 9/11 jokes are to you, but we were not alone in being crushed. Yet I have never seen a British Surrender Joke. Luckily for the British, after 100 000 French soldiers died in 47 days (more than Vietnam, Somalia, Beirut, Iraq and Afghanistan together), the British were able to evacuate Dunkirk with most of their men, taking advantage of a natural barrier called the English Channel.

But what really grates my nerves, and the nerves of 200 000 French citizens who live in North America, is that you, and so many others, have turned this historical event into a character trait. Check out twitter. It’s two surrender jokes a day …

“Mexicans are Lazy. British have bad Teeth. Blacks like Chicken and the French Surrender”. Welcome to the world of prejudice and of cultural reductionism. But since we – the French – don’t have a strong voice nor lobby in Washington to remind you and your ilk of your offense, you think you’re still funny …

It’s been seven years of Anti-French garbage in the US media from Bill O’Reilly, Jay Leno, Howard Stern, Conan O’Brien, Glenn Beck, Dennis Miller, Regis Philbin, David Spade, Craig Kilborn, SNL all edged on by the Bush Cheney administration, yet you are oblivious to the fact this was nothing more than a political kiss shot in the build up the Iraq war.

Bridget Johnson’s Blog @ About.com – Bridget Johnson is the online editor at The Hill in Washington, D.C.

On average, about a dozen or so anti-French jabs are written on twitter per week, most of them being some form of “French Surrender” joke. While some are deliberately trying to be offensive, others are living proof there is a “long tail” to America’s recent spate of French Bashing.

A few examples from within the last day or so:

• @timchi – “You can try and run over a french bulldog but it would surrender first”
• @asianlunatic – “Mantastic: When ur in France for holiday, the French will surrender to u, just to be on the safe side.” 
• @JohnHancock61 – “Great movie line from Flushed Away: Lead French frog: To action! French frog commandos: We Surrender!”
• @Simon4365 – “ahhhh the weekend or as the French say “we surrender”!!!” 
• @Hondo11 – “I’ll say it. Pietrus is not only French (known to surrender) he looks strikingly erily to a Primate. FACT” 
• @macslash – “It’s nice to hear Serlet attack Windows with a French accent. Would have expected him to just surrender.”

While most comedic outfits have abandoned French Bashing, especially Jay Leno and his forty or so jokes about supposed French cowardice and propensity to surrender, legions of twitterers, bloggers and comment contributors have kept the myth of French cowardice alive.

Having turned a traumatic historical event of epic proportions into a timeless character trait, French Haters have woven prejudice against France and the French into pop-culture.

Thankfully, one of North-America’s most astute international columnists has decided to take the myth of French cowardice and surrender head on. I present to you, Eric Margolis and his column : “Getting to the truth about World War II”. Thank You Eric. Merci.

Here are a few excerpts:

“France’s army did not simply surrender or run away in 1940, as ignorant American Know-Nothing conservatives claim. “

“Britain’s well-trained expeditionary force in France was beaten just as quickly and thoroughly as the French, and saved itself only by abandoning its French allies and fleeing across the Channel. “

“France lost 217,000 dead and 400,000 wounded.  Compare that to America’s loss of 416,000 dead during four years of war in the Pacific and Europe.”

Eric Margolis is an award-winning columnist who contributes regularly to the Quebecor Media Company and the Huffington Post. His articles appear in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Times of London to name a few. Eric Margolis has also appeared on CNN, BBC, France 2, France 24, Fox News, CTV and CBC.

See also: French Bashers hit twitter @ Miquelon.org

New spot for Alan Colmes’ new show on Fox News. The ad is a spoof of all things perceived as left-wing and anti-American. “Anybody” from France is represented by Pepé LePew, Warner Brother’s anthropomorphic skunk. h/t to Browmf

While it is a fact our leadership betrayed us and surrendered us to the enemy in 1940, over 100 000 men in uniform died trying to slow the German advance. Had the French been the cowards you so often joked about, there would have been no battle of Lille and no evacuation of 340 000 British troops from Dunkirk. But historical facts were never your forte.

One last time Jay, let me remind you your mocking of the events of 1940 was – and is – as offensive to the French as 9/11 jokes are to Americans. In a print interview, you also went as far as calling the French Resistance a “mythical joke”, a highly offensive and revisionist comment you have yet to redress.

We will not miss you, save a sincere apology.
Marc from Miquelon.org

More from 112 Gripes About The French. Published in Paris in 1945 by the ‘Information & Education Division’ of the US Occupation Forces.

• The French fought in Africa, in Sicily, liberated Corsica, fought in Italy, took part in the invasion of Europe and fought through the battles of France and Germany — from Normandy to Munich.
• Units from the French navy participated in the invasions of Sicily, Italy, Normandy and South France.
• Units of the French navy and merchant marine took part in convoying operations on the Atlantic and Murmansk routes.
• On June 5, 1944, the day before D-Day, over 5,000 Frenchmen of the resistance dynamited railroads in more than 500 strategic places.
• They delayed strategic German troop movements for an average of 48 hours, according to our military experts. Those 48 hours were tactically priceless ; they saved an untold number of American lives.
• French resistance groups blew up a series of bridges in southern France and delayed one of the Wehrmacht’s crack units (Das Reich Panzer Division) for twelve days in getting from Bordeaux to Normandy.
• About 30,000 FF1 troups supported the Third Army’s VIII Corps in Brittany: they seized and held key spogs ; they conducted extensive guerrilla operations behind the German lines.
• 25,000 FFI troops protected the south flank of the Third Army in its daring dash across France: the FFI wiped out German bridgeheads north of the Loire River ; they guarded vital lines of communication; they wiped out pockets of German resistance; they held many towns and cities under orders from our commmand.
• When our Third Army was approachiung the area between Dijon and Troyes from the west, and while the Seventh Army was approaching this sector from the South, it was the FFI who stubbornly blocked the Germans from making a stand and prevented a mass retirement of German troops.
• In Paris, as our armies drew close, several hundred thousand French men and women rose up against the Germans. 50,000 armed men of the resistance fought and beat the Nazi garrison, and occupied the main buildings and administrative offices of Paris.

Our comments at the Huffington Post

To find and respond to French Bashers on twitter, check out these searches :

• “French surrender”
• “Arrogant French”
• “Surrender monkeys”
• “Hate French”

Examples

1. “nØbama apologizes to France for America leaving so many crosses on French hill sides during WWII. Americans have been arrogant, we are arrogant” -  @TPO_Hisself.
2. “French toast? Threaten it with your knife and it will surrender.” @davidpowellbham
3. “Q. Why dont they have fireworks at Euro Disney? A. Because every time they shoot them off, the French try to surrender.“  @JessicaJayyy
4. “rude, ignorant, racist, jealous, envious, inert, thick, stupid, paranoid ! but too dumb to be arrogant thats the french” @facunditas
5. @timchi – “You can try and run over a french bulldog but it would surrender first”
6. @asianlunatic – “Mantastic: When ur in France for holiday, the French will surrender to u, just to be on the safe side.”
7. @JohnHancock61 – “Great movie line from Flushed Away: Lead French frog: To action! French frog commandos: We Surrender!”
8. @Simon4365 – “ahhhh the weekend or as the French say “we surrender”!!!”
9. @Hondo11 – “I’ll say it. Pietrus is not only French (known to surrender) he looks strikingly erily to a Primate. FACT”
10. @macslash – “It’s nice to hear Serlet attack Windows with a French accent. Would have expected him to just surrender.”

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