Hiromi_X
The French "Other"
This Sunday, I read a Guide to the French in the NY Times (I love the Yves St. Laurent quote in it). It's written by their French bureau chief who struggled to adapt to the place. It rehashes stereotypes, but it's a fun read. That article came to mind as I watched John Adams the other day.
Following the goriest leg amputation scene since the "Please...don't cut me anymore..." scene from Glory, John Adams in full-on Ugly American mode arrives in Paris, Ben Franklin's turf. Ben is a huge hit with the French, but the dour and businesslike Adams is not. The culture clash was made painfully clear during a dinner scene. Upper-crust French of both sexes during that period painted their faces white like geisha and wore rouge and lipstick, which shouldn't come as a shock to an audience used to period dramas with actors in that kind of getup. However, the scene was shot very close-up, so that it was like listening and speaking to them in person. It was surprisingly disconcerting; there were these people with clown faces tossing sexual innuendo around all over the place. Seriously, my reaction was like, What a bunch of fucking weirdos! And I'm supposed to be all culturally sensitive and shit.
But even so, Adams behaved like an asshole. What was he hoping to accomplish by barking demands at people without first learning at least some of their ways, or even some basic French? At the minimum, you should learn how to exchange pleasantries and then after that, you can apologize for not knowing the language so well, but I don't see how you can demand money from someone without bothering to find out something about them first! So I didn't have much sympathy for Adams this episode.
Anyway, from previews, I'm glad to see that Thomas Jefferson will be in the next episode. I have developed an intense crush on him ever since the Declaration of Independence writing scene in episode 2.
Comments
Heh. I've had a crush on Thomas Jefferson my whole life. In high school, I actually thought of applying to the U of Virginia primarily just because I knew he helped design it (and I knew this would get me a tour of the place and because I knew we'd then be close enough to go to Montecello on the trip).
Didn't end up applying there in the end, tho. It's changed a lot since Jefferson's time. :)
1. Posted by Miss Syl on March 25, 2008
oops. monticello.
2. Posted by Miss Syl on March 25, 2008
Well, he on my radar now.
That man is sexy.
3. Posted by Hiromi on March 25, 2008
Yeah...except for the slave-owning defect.
You should come see his hot statue/memorial in DC. SO much sexier than Lincoln.
4. Posted by Miss Syl on March 25, 2008
Yeah...except for the slave-owning defect.
I know.
*sigh*
How can something so wrong feel so right?
5. Posted by Hiromi on March 25, 2008
I kept thinking that was Harvey Pekar visiting the courts of France.
And his behavior in France was not that much different than his behavior in the colonies; I don't think he was ignoring the cultural subtleties of a new land, I think he just (possibly wrongly) assumed that people were people all over the world and he treated them as he would anybody else. He was stubborn and opinionated and uncharmingly so; the only way he knew for dealing with people was to persistently and stubbornly argue his line of reasoning without dressing it up with unnecessary social graces. Like other people I know. ;p
And Jefferson was torn on slavery. Yes, he owned slaves. He also felt great guilt over the whole institution, yet to unilaterally free all of his slaves would have bankrupted him. 200 years of hindsight might judge him harshly, but how many of us would have had the fortitude to do what he was unable to do, in his position? How many of us live lives of hypocrisy over our own issues of the 21st century and will be judged equally harshly by our great great great grandchildren? Who pays a living wage and health insurance to the guy who mows your lawn or cleans your house or watches your kids? Who makes drastic changes in lifestyle and social class in order to reduce carbon emissions? Not many of us.
Jefferson was flawed; we're all flawed. For his time, though, he was brilliant.
6. Posted by Ray on March 26, 2008
I don't think he was ignoring the cultural subtleties of a new land, I think he just (possibly wrongly) assumed that people were people all over the world and he treated them as he would anybody else. He was stubborn and opinionated and uncharmingly so; the only way he knew for dealing with people was to persistently and stubbornly argue his line of reasoning without dressing it up with unnecessary social graces.
(ostentatiously ignoring remark about "other people I know")
I dunno about that. Ben Franklin came right out and told him that things were done differently in France, and he chose to ignore the advice. And back in the colonies, he was clever enough to ally with people who could compensate for his shortcomings. But in Paris, he was just a bull in a china shop.
Who makes drastic changes in lifestyle and social class in order to reduce carbon emissions? Not many of us.
Me!
:D
But yeah, it *is* unfair to judge people of another time by our standards. They were, after all, living the history that we are now learning from.
7. Posted by Hiromi on March 26, 2008