Dear My Darling Public
I have been on something of a media binge lately. This is, for better or for worse, because my Intro to Reporting professor had warned my class on the first day that she would be "pop-quizzing" us on what is happening in the media. I can't exactly complain, though. I mean, it's just an excuse to watch all of the Al Jazeera America, BBC World News, c-span, and CBS that I want. It also gives me the reasoning that I need to catch up on the various newspapers that I frequent, which include, but are not limited to: USA Today, The Erie-Times News, The Washington Post, Politico, The Erie Reader, and The Wall Street Journal.
I happened to be flipping through Monday's addition of USA Today, and I found myself interested, beyond my ability to keep track of time, in the latest news on French president Francois Hollande's "affair with actress Julie Gayet, and the de facto first lady's hospital visit for what the french consider "a crisis of nerves." This story has put me in a place of empathy for the first socialist president of a nation with such a long history of social revolution.
For those who have not been keeping up with the distinctly French soap opera, it goes a bit like this. On January 10th, a French tabloid magazine called Closer featured a story that made front page news. President Francois Hollande had been discovered to have been having an affair with an actress named Julie Gayet. As it is not customary in most of Europe for the media to dwell upon the private lives of, well, anybody, president Hollande blew it off, understandably so, urging his people to focus on the parts of politics that matter. However, before the president could act, his girlfriend, journalist and de facto first lady Valerie Trierweiler had already checked into the hospital of what can only be described as a broken heart.
I simply could not ignore this story because I was under the impression that, for the most part anyway, this repulsive coverage of the private lives of individuals, but especially politicians, was one of those destructively bad habits that was and still is unique to the puritanical, "christian-like" nature of American culture. Weather we're talking about Bill Clinton or Anthony Wiener, the american people just love to senselessly hate on the sexually active. I, however, expected a little more from the French media, a tradition that was once known for its attention to issues of consequence, and it's tendency to respect a private life as private.
The french, however, have not disappointed me quite yet. In fact, the presidents approval rating has, perhaps due to, or in spite of the highly publicized affair, increased from 15% in November to 26%. What I can say is that the French have certainly responded in a different, and arguably more mature way than the American public would have. To prove this, I need not look further than the Bill Clinton "sex scandal" in which the republican led congress of the late 90's spent nearly all of their time and resources investigating an affair between the president and a white house intern named Monica Lewinsky.
What I hope to see before I die, is an America that would mirror the actions of its more mature counterparts just an ocean away in Europe. Privacy and tolerance toward alternative lifestyles or different sexual practices are just another part of what makes the thought of living in a place like France infinitely more appealing than living in a place where such things are at the most illegal, and, at the least, discouraged and shunned upon like The United States. Furthermore, I wish to see an America that embraces civil liberties that go beyond the morals, "family values", and personal tastes of a few reactionary puritans, and if you share my deep seeded disdain for the morality police who swear to serve and protect "family values", then stand up, repeat the facts, and be heard.
With Love
Thomas F.
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