![\"photo\"](\"http:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8286\/7757737734_ac3c878c2b_z.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSo, are the French depressed or not?\u00a0 Have they lost the joie de vivre <\/i>the entire world envies them, or at the very least, associates with them?<\/p>\n
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, in Paris for haute couture week, gave the subject her attention in an article entitled \u201cGoodbye Old World, Bonjour Tristesse\u201d that appeared on July 6 \u00a0and I\u2019m starting to lose count of the number of people who have forwarded it to me.\u00a0 They think \u2013 as they should \u2013 that since I wrote an entire book on the subject of\u00a0 joie de vivre<\/i>, I\u2019d be interested in her take on the matter.<\/p>\n
You bet I\u2019m interested, for at least two reasons.\u00a0 One, of course, is the subject.\u00a0 Two is that I\u2019m a journalist as well so enjoyed looking at how she constructed the piece, seeing who she interviewed, what quotes and polls she chose, and what her slant was.<\/p>\n
As usual, she\u2019s entertaining.\u00a0 (That\u2019s what she\u2019s paid for!)\u00a0 She writes well and reports well (if she\u2019s at the Times, these skills are a no brainer).\u00a0 The tone is typically, in my mind, New York Times Arch, ie, if I\u2019m telling you this, That\u2019s The Way It Is.\u00a0 After all, the Times is the journal of record so the journalists must be right, non<\/i>?<\/p>\n
The French are always fun to report on and if you\u2019re a reporter for the Times, it\u2019s even more fun because you can get in a few cheap shots and no one will accuse you of being Fox News for God\u2019s sakes.\u00a0 To wit:\u00a0 \u201cThe French,\u201d she proclaims, \u201care so busy wallowing in their existential estrangement \u2013 a state of mind Camus described as \u2018Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?\u2019 \u2013 that they don\u2019t even have the energy to be rude.\u201d \u00a0I was smiling until I got to the last few words.\u00a0\u00a0 Well, I see why she couldn\u2019t resist, but still.\u00a0 \u201cThe French are rude\u201d stereotype is just so tiresome.<\/p>\n
To back up her point that the country has fallen into a state of depression, Dowd interviews fashion designer Christian Lacroix\u2019s dentist on the avenue Hoche.\u00a0 For those of you who are not all that familiar with Paris or its social classes and spheres, interviewing Christian Lacroix\u2019s dentist for his thoughts on joie de vivre<\/i> is like interviewing\u00a0 Marie-Antoinette about which cake she\u2019s going to distribute to the people. He says that his patients are bemoaning such horrid things as, and I quote, \u2018not going anymore on holiday to Egypt\u2019.\u00a0 Oh, please.<\/p>\n
The entire article continues in this vein \u2013 the dentist muses that the French people probably \u201cthink too much\u201d and that the \u201chappy stupid\u201d don\u2019t see the problem after which he, according to the reporter, gives (what else) a \u201cGallic shrug\u201d and pronounces that none of this is \u201cthe end of the world.\u201d\u00a0 Does this mean that if you\u2019re happy you\u2019re stupid? I admit I didn\u2019t quite get it.<\/p>\n
For Dowd, \u00a0the French are stuck in a sentimental time warp (all<\/i> of the French? one wants to ask) which prevents them from moving forward.\u00a0 She cites a BVA-Gallup poll which revealed that the French were even more pessimistic than Afghans and Iraqis!\u00a0 She did not cite a poll that showed that while the French are indeed pessimistic about externals, they are extremely happy about their private lives.<\/p>\n
And she leaves us dangling with sociologist Fran\u00e7ois Dubet\u2019s comment to Le Monde<\/i> that \u201cIf France doesn\u2019t get all the Olympic medals and all the Nobel Prizes, the French consider it hopeless.\u201d<\/p>\n
Too bad she didn\u2019t take a nice long look at that comment for it\u2019s the crux of the matter!<\/p>\n
That the French want to be great, that they want to go back to the good old times when France was glorious, that they are unhappy to be one among many in Europe, that they want to be special and stand out, that people are dissatisfied about this, that or the other is normal.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/i>But I think she missed what was so incredibly and indelibly French about his comment (and actually what was French about all the comments of the people she interviewed).\u00a0 The French simply cannot bear to be bored<\/i>.\u00a0 The Spanish, the Irish, the Greeks, and many other countries are suffering from unemployment and various problems (just look at the Americans and health care) .\u00a0 Everyone\u2019s got problems but when the French have them, the whole world knows about it.\u00a0 It\u2019s not for nothing that the national bird is the rooster whose vociferous crow leaves no man asleep.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The French are drama Kings and Queens.\u00a0 I know: I\u2019m married to a Frenchman for whom even the smallest of matters is One Big Deal.\u00a0 Everything,\u00a0 and I mean everything, is a subject for discussion and debate.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So you know what? \u00a0This whole discussion about \u201clibert\u00e9, \u00e9galit\u00e9, and morosit\u00e9\u201d, this whole debate about the French being down in the dumps, and have they or have they not lost their joie de vivre<\/i> is PROOF of their joie de vivre<\/i>!\u00a0\u00a0 The French love nothing better than a nice big attention getting controversy.\u00a0 Hey, they even got a New York Times reporter on the case of joie de vivre<\/i> and yours truly devoted an entire BOOK to the subject .<\/p>\n
Bravo les fran\u00e7ais<\/i>.\u00a0 While everyone\u2019s having serious discussions as to whether your renowned joie<\/i> de vivre<\/i> has gone the way of the dodo, you\u2019re having a glass of white wine in a romantic restaurant with a white tablecloth, looking into the eyes of your loved one,\u00a0 or you\u2019re on a beach somewhere enjoying the benefits of your generous paid vacation time, or maybe you\u2019re even in a hospital but it\u2019s ok because you don\u2019t have to worry about outrageous medical bills since you\u2019re covered.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re out there somewhere enjoying your joie de vivre<\/i>.<\/p>\n
And you\u2019ve outwitted us all once again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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