I could have told Rufus a number of things about his trip to
It all begs the question, exactly where did the French derive this reputation for being such culturally elitist, smug and superior assholes? Before this question can be sufficently answered, it might help to look briefly at the history of FrancoAmerican relations.
Beginning shortly after the adoption of the US Constitution, things sort of got off to a bad foot, when President Washington sent the French ambassador packing, as he was rightly certain this gentleman aimed to draw us into the middleof their problems with Great Britian. The French were naturally antagonized at this, and considered us ingrates, as they had after all been instrumental in securing our victory agaisnt the British to begin with.
But
By the way, it should be noted that in addition to appearring ungrateful, the French were actually doubly annoyed in that their involvement with the Revolutionary War was at the behest not of the people of the nation, but of it’s now deposed and summarrily executed monarchy. So as you can see, more and more the seeds are being sown for an ever bigger headache.
This was temporarily alleviated by Thomas Jeffersons purchase of the
The French, it seemed, could not win for loosing, and throughout the next century they must have felt that the
But we got along, somewhat, the highlight of our relationship being the presentation by the French governemnt of the gift of the Statue of Liberty. But even here, I imagine that quite a few secretly wondered that the French were only too glad to give to us, their tired, their poor. If so, this as well backfired, as US immigration policy at the time, though controversial (yet please note, it was reasoned and controlled) proved to be a massive brain drain on
By the time we saved the French’s asses, first in World War I, then again in World War II, they must have been secretly thinking, “it’s about time”.
Still, I have to think the French, the vast majority of them, were genuinely grateful for our aid (what ones of them weren’t actual Nazi collaborators, anyway), but relations quickly soured. The question remains, why?
I have to blame the phenomenon of the “Ugly American”, that tourist who travelled the continent fully expected that he would be lavished, and kowtowed to. Remember, in the early days of American tourism follwing World War II, it wasn’t your average American who got the chance to travel abroad, but rarely. The vast majority of them were high minded socialites and business people with a fucking attitude. They were the ones with the superiority complex,and this offended the obviously prideful French, which would only be natural.
Exceptions to this rule of the travelling class would be the American soldier stationed overseas, which may have aggravated an already delicate situation. Show me a family who likes to see their women folk looked at as the type that can be easily fucked for a chocolate bar and a pair of nylons, and I’ll show you a rare breed of individuals, whether they be French or any other nationality.
So yes, the French can be hostile to Ameircans, just as they can be gracous and respectful. It all depends really, in most cases, on the face you yourself present to them. That’s the same way it is actually with all people of the world you might meet in your daily travels. The French aren’t any different. We just have a longer, more troubled hisotry.
8 comments:
Well, I've been hearing for a while that the French are a lot more polite than their reputation has it- what surprised me is that they're actually about as polite as Canadians, who are known for being extremely polite! It's "bonjour!" and "Bonsoir!" everywhere you go.
Some of my friends who are longtime travellers have told me that it was the deGaulle generation (post-WWII, 1950s- 1960s) that got the reputation for being arrogant. And they are the generation that is remembered for the "Yankee go home!" stuff. There's a good book on Franco-American relations called "Coca-Colonization" that covers a lot of the post-war issues.
But, yes, they're very friendly to me, and even more so when they realize that I'm an American.
And the most amazing thing about the food is that even the 1 euro snacks are delicious. And the breads are outstanding.
And you're definitely right about the face you present. My spoken French is pretty lousy, but I make it clear that I'm trying and that helps a lot. Even if you only know "Bonjour!" you can get help, and many French people speak English.
An approach I've seen that was less friendly was the tourist (English actually) who walked into a hotel I was staying at and loudly asked "Do you speak any English?" and when they desk clerk meekly said "A little" the guy walked off annoyed! I think there really are nice people wherever you go- as long as you're nice to them.
" but relations quickly soured. The question remains, why?"
After WWII the French Republic was in decline. They had been overrun by the Germans in a matter of weeks despite having superior numbers and despite the fact that their primary offensive weapons, tanks, were armed with a more powerful main gun. They also had more tanks than the Germans did.
During their occupation they had collaborated with the Nazis to the point of rounding up French Jews for deportation to the death camps without even being ordered to by the Germans.
After the war deGaulle looked at Europe polarizing itself into NATO vs. Warsaw Pact and calculated that France could rescue itself from marginalization by charting a “third way” course.
Since the end of the war the French people have been fed a continuous diet of anti-American propaganda from their government, academia and their media. The French, as well as most Europeans, do not believe that the average American has any kind of old age pension, health care or unemployment insurance.
The average Frenchman sincerely believes, because he has never been told any different, that America is governed by a cabal of robber barons straight out of an Upton Sinclair novel. They honestly believe, again because they have never been told any different, that America only entered WWII in order to provide expanded markets for US arms manufacturers.
It is true that in recent years that the French have taken a more respectful attitude toward American tourists. This stems mainly from the anger that Americans felt after the actions of French political leaders in the period running up to the war (remember the Axis of Weasels?). After is was revealed that the French government was on Saddam’s payroll the American public responded by boycotting French products and not visiting France.
The French wine industry was literally devastated and the French tourist industry was badly damaged.
At this point the French undertook a program to win back American business. The foundation of the program is an improved attitude toward customer service. My cousin, who lived in France in the 1990s and speaks the language well enough to pass for a native, recently went back and said that she noticed a massive change in attitude. She even said that they have begun to bathe regularly.
Yes, I do remember there was a very brief mention about a program to win back American tourists, but I never heard a lot about it after it's initial reportage.
The French during World War II is an interesting story. A lot of people aren't aware of the level of French collaboration with the Nazis. I've heard it may have been as high as half the population, though I consider that doubtful. Still, no doubt the numbers were more significant than is generally realized.
I had an uncle that was briefly stationed in France, in the Air Force. He hated the place. He said outside Paris, the place was filthy. You could have bread delivered to your doorstep, and it would be flung onto your front porch-unwrapped- pretty much the way a paperboy delivers your morning newspaper here. Plus, most of the people heated their homes with manure.
Another uncle of mine told me that the minute you leave France and entered Germany, you can tell the difference. This was shortly after the war, though, and I think a lot of that probably had to do with the level of aid Germany received from us, which the French were probably too prideful to accept (or their officials too corrupt to use properly, perhaps).
And there can be no doubt whatsoever of their level of collaboration with Saddam in the Oil for Food Scandal through the auspices of the UN. One of the main reasons I despise the UN, one of the most corrupt organizations to ever infest the planet.
Also, I can see where DeGaulles policies to maintain French prestige might have had that kind of effect, and set into motion a lot of the attitudes that are prevalent to this day.
Still, while you make a lot of good points in these and other areas, I yet consider it likely that a lot of the "Ugly American" phenomenon had a lot to do with reinforcing those animosities.
It's just too bad that, in those early, formative years of American tourism, the French people who, from what I have been given to understand are actually very plain, simple, down to earth folks, couldn't have had more contact with more of what I would call "regular Joes (and Janes)" from America. It might have made a whole lot of difference in the way they view us, and the way we view them, for that matter.
Anyway, thanks for your comments, Lemuel, it's good to see you here.
"The French during World War II is an interesting story. A lot of people aren't aware of the level of French collaboration with the Nazis."
There was also an active resistance movement called the Maquis. They were hard core communists who resisted the Nazis because Stalin ordered them to.
Another source of ill will from the French is likely the conditions that prevailed after the Nazis were driven out of France. A pack of American cigarettes could be sold for enough money to buy a meal that would feed an entire family. American GIs got the cigarettes for 5 cents a pack. A pack of cigarettes became the standard price for sex and a very high percentage of French women kept their families fed in this way.
But even that doesn't explain everything. The American troops noticed that after their first welcome with parades and people waving little American flags the attitude of the people changed almost overnight. American forces who crossed over into Germany noticed that the German people were nicer to them even before Germany surrendered and they were still at war.
Holy Shit! A pack of cigarettes? Well, that kind of falls in with what I was saying about the chocolate bars and nylons, though on reflection that may have been more during the ocupation of Germany, and might be exagerrated at that. But it's certainly easy to see how something like that would be a definite sore point to the French back then.
It's hard to fault them for it too. Imagine you're a child of eight and you overhear your parents fighting at night because he's found out she's been selling herself to a soldier of an occupying army, to feed the family, which your father has been unable to do. Shit, it would sure make me hate them.
It also explains why the French have cultivated this myth of their men being such great lovers.
It doesn't surprise me in the least though about the Germans being friendlier to us at that time. They probably knew it was over by then, and were desperately sorry they had let Hitler rise to such levels of power. They were probably genuinely relieved.
What does surprise me is their level of animosity since the Berlin wall came down.
And, I knew about the French Resistance, but had never heard about the Maquis, and them being under Stalins control, though it makes a lot of sense. It would be interesting to see exactly who among them gravitated to positions of power after the war, I bet quite a few did.
"It's hard to fault them for it too. Imagine you're a child of eight and you overhear your parents fighting at night because he's found out she's been selling herself to a soldier of an occupying army, to feed the family, which your father has been unable to do."
I can understand this too, but my sympathy is tempered by the fact that one German phrase that most French men knew was, "Herr Kommandant, the Jews are hiding in those trees over there".
While that's despicable, I wonder how widespread that was. Even if it was the predominant French attitude at the time, remmber that all of Europe has a generally malignant history of Anti-Semitism.
Even this case you cite is pretty typical. Anytime the European leaders wanted to blame somebody for anything the Jews seem to have made a convenient scapegoat. The French weren't the worse for this, nor for that matter were the Germans, once you look past Hitler and the Nazis. The Russians are by far the worse offenders. Anti-Semitism was almost a national sport in Czarist Russia.
Still, it's true of all Europe, amd these laws now in some European countries that make it a crime to deny the Holocaust are self-serving as hell. They aren't fooling anybody by this. Well, they aren't fooling me anyway.
And here, the worse offenders seem to be Germany and Austria. These two countries along with Belgium are the three worse countries overall in Europe.
France has been a major partner in this, but I am hopeful that the French people, at least (as distinquished from the French government) are beginning to experience a national awakening.
We saw some signs of this in their rejection of the EU Charter, which we were discussing on your blog, and which surprised me as much as it did you.
I guess this makes me more hopeful towards them than it does you. After what they experienced with the Muslim riots in their country, which were then augmented by the absurdly ridiculous "Danish cartoon riots", I am of the hopes that their much vaunted national pride will lead them to see the dangers not just from the Muslims, but from their own leaders who would enable them by their cowardly manner of placating them and kowtowing to them.
Here again, the recent French student protests are a significant sign of that trend, or may be.
Plus, I have to admit I kind of admire their independent streak. True, they can be nasty, they can all be collectively pains in the ass. But I would much prefer to have a friend that told it like it was, the way he saw it, right or wrong, than one who agreed with me all the time, regardless of what he really thought. The French not only fill this role quite well, it could actually be positive, in the long run.
It's just that the French people need to be encouraged to assert themselves on their leaders, who for the most part I would agree are a vile, self-serving, corrupt group of people. I am of the opinion that anytime a French politican acquires office, he or she should be given a course in the history of the French Revolution, and the corruption and governemnt excesses that finally brought it on.
Everytime there is a meeting of the French Paliament (or whatever they call it) they should all be faced with a giant portrait of Robespierre, staring down malignantly at them. He's a hero of mine, in a symbolic sense. Not that I would want to see somebody like him ever achieve power again, but just the idea that one might makes him a good boogey man to remind governemnt leaders of what can happen when the people are abused,and deprived of their liberties, and continually so, until they feel they have no other recourse.
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