Great.
You would think that in today's advanced age everyone would easily know what was happening elsewhere. Instead, most people are about as clueless as if there was no information.
Many I have talked to have said, "There are riots in France?"
This is making reality seem surreal. There is the world according to the internet, and I believe, a ton of valid stuff unheard of elsewhere. Then there is the world according to--well, every other form of media. The one that surrounds my physical life and all the people I know. Those worlds have very little resemblance to each other. Am I dreaming?? I wish.
"new media readers and listeners have earned the right to a superiority complex"
Granted the 'new' media may rescue the nation but we must beware of not falling into the same arrogant egoistical trap where the old media is mired.
Which term would be more insulting to a French-born teenager of Tunisian background; to be called French, or African-American?
What? She can't call those two teens "African-Frenchies"? Lack of euphemism? How about those who are rioting be called terrorist French Fries instead for a change? Hey, Carol Lin, yoo hoo! Can you say "French Fries"?
As an American living in France, I am glad to have friends and relatives back home who do not think like you, otherwise I would be convinced, especially after reading missives like yours, that America had gone completely off the deep end.
Not only don't I recognize America in your writing, I don't recognize France, either. But then, I'm sure you'll reply that I need perspective. That I can't see the forest for the trees.
I'm going to speak to some French university students in a few days. I'll be sure to mention your blog. And I'll try my best to do it with a straight face. I wouldn't want them to get the wrong idea.
Don't quite know what to make of Steve. My best guess is that he is the typically uneducated Yank in Paris (by uneducated, I mean the typical liberal arts degree in which there is no classic literature, no logic, no mathematics, and little else demanding thought). As such, he must play the symbolism over substance bit and act shocked, SHOCKED, that Americans see the French as --wait for it -- yup, Cheese eating surrender monkeys.
Perhaps I misunderstood his meaning. If so, full apologies. However, as a person of French descent, my old country makes me sick!
Dear Da Coyote,
It's true we have great cheeses over here. Great red wine to wash it down with, too, and help you forestall the onset of heart disease. But that's no reason to be jealous. America has great culinary traditions, too.
As for surrender tendencies, I have never fought in or lived through a war, so I find it hard to pass judgment on those who have, much less on an entire country's population. Have you?
(As an aside, I find it interesting that those with the least combat experience are sometimes the most critical of other people's wartime behavior, if the statements of our vice president, Dick "other priorities" Cheney and our president, George "DWI" Bush are anything to go by.)
On to your assumptions about my background. Firstly, I don't live in Paris. There is more to France than Paris. Surely you remember that from geography class. Secondly, you're right about my educational background. I never studied any of those subjects, as they weren't offered in my small artsy-fartsy college in central New Jersey. In fact, I didn't study much at all. Instead, I spent most of my time trying to perfect my Humphrey Bogart lisp while watching "Casablanca", a film that you, apparently, can relate to. (Have you seen any more recent French films?) Since there are a couple of buildings on campus named after my daddy and granddaddy, it didn't matter, and I graduated anyway. I have been living a life of ease ever since.
In my spare time - which I don't have much of, what with all the peace demonstrations and gallery openings for up-and-coming Muslim artists - I have been reading a book called "Rubicon". It's about the last years of the Roman Republic. To say that the parallels with the Unites States of today are striking would be a vast understatement.
By the way, how do you know so much about France and Americans living here? When was the last time you were here and how much time did you spend here? Have you ever lived in France? Or in any other European country? You must have spent a long time studying the subject to know that all Americans here and indeed all French people think and act alike. Or is it just a habit of yours to lump all the holders of a particular citizenship into a single category? As I said in my original comment, I'm glad to have many acquaintances back home whose beliefs (and voting record) prove you wrong. Thank goodness for small favors!
Sincerely,
Steve
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