Variety: Some voters in France liken their upcoming presidential runoff to choosing between “the plague or cholera.” But within the country’s film and TV industries, the young centrist Emmanuel Macron is the clear favorite over far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose victory would have damaging consequences for France’s vibrant cultural sector, figures in the industry say.
4 comments:
“The plague or cholera”, you say? This election rings disastrously familiar to the most recent United States presidential election. Though I consistently remained on the Clinton side of the election and did not feel as though I was trying to choose between two evils, I did find the election to be a sour disappointment with a lot of mudslinging coming from the media on both sides.
Ever since the Trump presidency, the entire globe seems to have become more conservative in terms of political ruling parties, and that is scary. Clinton was predicted to win in the polls, and so is Macron. Does that mean Le Pen will pull off an upset victory?
John Oliver recently covered this election in one of his segments, but it is always nice to read about it in article form since you know that what you are getting is (meant to be) fact, whereas a comedian may occasionally twist facts in a satirical way. It is also nice that Macron does not appear to have any “criminal” offenses that may tarnish his reputation yet, and I hope that the people of France will rally behind him instead of Le Pen.
So you (I am addressing all three people who will be reading this comment) should pay a lot more time reading about international news because the nationalist phenomenon that resulted in Trump gaining popularity and winning the election is happening all over the globe. Le Pen is the daughter of the founder of the National Front party. From its founding, the party has been plagued with anti-Semitist comments, most originating from the founder, who is a die-hard holocaust denier. At the beginning, the party fumbled and could not get any votes, but since Le Pen, the, until recently, party leader, kicked her father out of the organization and stopped the publicized anti-Semitist comments, she has gained more and more popularity as the candidate that will bring France back to the French (her slogan is literally “choose France”). But recently in the election, she has let a few comments slip that carry a distinct tone. A few weeks ago she commented that she didn’t think that the “rounding up” of the Jewish community in France during WWII and handing them over to German authorities was France’s fault, when the former prime minister had declared that it was and issued a formal apology for the country’s actions during the war. She has also been caught making certain isolationist statements. She runs on an anti-immigration policy, censorship, and national pride. To say that this election is choosing between “cholera and the plague” is the same as saying you can’t decide between Hilary and Trump. One is a bad politician, the other is an incompetent horseradish in a wig. So yeah, the entertainment industry should feel threatened.
Le Pen is honestly terrifying. For those who don't now, Le Pen is an extremely conservative candidate who has repeatedly shown racist beliefs throughout the election. Remind you of anyone? Like Angel said, just because Macron is predicted to be a clear winner does not mean that this will necessarily be the case. We learned that the hard way with Clinton and Trump's election. Le Pen also has plans for a French "Brexit" which could effectively signal the end of the European Union as a whole. Macron's idea of a "cultural pass" of five hundred euros is actually really cool, and I'm very interested to see how that would be implemented. He is a much more moderate candidate and hopefully that will be enough the defeat Le Pen. I do believe that Macron has the abilty to win the election, but I'm still wary because of what happened here in November.
This article is especially interesting considering the very recent piece of news that came out just a day or two ago. Just like someone hacked the DNC emails very soon before the presidential election in the us last year, the French Political Party "En Marche!", which is currently in the lead with the left-centrist Macron at his head. However, France has put into law that the two days prior to a presidential elections are so-called "reflection days": days in which no newspaper, and in fact no individual is permitted to disseminate any information or opinion on the election in any media. This has been taken by many and spinner to be some sort of free speech violation, but this is one of the "violations of free speech" that I approve of.
I feel that in this day and age we are incredibly inundated with news 24/7, with things to consume everyday. Albeit in France, there are fewer television channels and I feel so much less assaulted on my senses with the media than I do in America, it is still a problem anywhere. Having two days in which we are allowed to think clearly without any news channels and talking heads shouting at us would be a godsend, and I can only hope in some insane fever dream that this country might somehow someday institute something similar.
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