This is a long post, so please, bear with me.

Some time ago, the Dissident Frogman posted about the (now) murder of French actress Marie Trintignant by her "pro-peace", successful French rock star and lover Bertrand Cantat.

After reading Nidra Poller's excellent NRO article (Thanks Daniel from Texas for forwarding it to me) in which she accurately compares the above-mentioned fait divers to the decaying state of the country of origin of its protagonists, I wanted to add something.

The story is indeed representative of the hypocrisy of a certain category of international pseudo-intellectual activists. But it is even more representative of the (voluntary or not) confusion and degeneration in France of such notions as victim, aggressor and justice.

Indeed, something remarkably persistent in news reports in France, the aggressor becomes, quite quickly, the victim. The media started by slowly forgetting the beaten-to-death actress to the benefit of the now terribly-sorry 39 year-old rock star.

On Radio France Internationale, the voice of the very causes that Bertrand Cantat fervently defends, the treatment came close to being a heartfelt appeal for the star whose career is about to be destroyed. (...)

[Cantat's] jilted wife and the rest of the band rushed to Wilno to give moral support to the suffering rock star.

She is dead. He is psychologically fragile. Logic, indeed. Beating a woman to death and leaving her agonizing for hours would surely make any enraged "pro-peace" rock star psychologically fragile.

Strange, how this coverage reminds one of a certain Middle East situation where, somehow, the victim always seems to be guilty and the aggressor is the guy you'd want to hang out with. In fact, that was the position taken by Bertrand Cantat, known for his "humanism," his courageous defense of illegal immigrants, his bold allegiance to ATTAC, José Bove, and the antiglobalization movement (now known as "altermondialisme," meaning "another world is possible"). (...) But the best of all these commitments of the eminently engagé singer is his devotion to the Cause of Causes: the Palestinian résistance.

Here we are! The perfect little anti-war, anti-capitalist, anti-globalization, anti-American, anti-Semitic and above all things violent activist hero. Beating his lover to death was a proof of his "activism", I guess. This is the kind of antipathetic character the French media (especially - surprise! - left-wing media) - and, by extension, a majority of the French (Il faut les comprendre... Il faut se mettre à leur place...) - glorify and/or pity, along with José Bove and his "dismantling" of a McDonald's, along with Maurice Papon and the respect due to his age owing him, at least, not to end his life in prison, along with the Palestinian suicide-bombers and their commitment to fight "Israeli aggression". Ben oui, il faut les comprendre !

Oh, and Mr. Cantat, along with his fight for a better world for everyone, especially aggressors, was a regular to beating up women. Logic, again. Logic when you oppose and demonstrate against the war.

As Ms. Poller notices, these people are for dialogue. Not war.

But maybe the Frogman and I are missing the whole point. The love story. The typical French passionate love story. The media took care of the scenery. It was nothing but typical French passion. They were lovers. His previous lover was pregnant with his second child. She was still close to her (ex?) husband, father of two of her four children (she had with 3 different men). The love affair couldn't end but dramatically.

As Ms. Poller rightly points out, Cantat will certainly play the role of the perfect victim of his blind and savage passion for his now-deceased lover. His activism will be reminded. May I add that his band and unwavering fans will most certainly stand by him, claiming the "poet/rock star" is incapable of such a horrendous crime. It was an accident. An accident. After all, he loved her!
Maybe, maybe, Cantat will even try to commit suicide (Oh, he did already?). And, hopefully for his admirers, for the media, he will fail (and he failed). This will certainly add to the drama of the French romance between Bertrand and Marie. The epitome of hypocrisy. The decadence of any kind of decency in this country.

I was no fan of Noir Désir, so I wouldn't dare draw conclusions from the lyrics to their songs. I do believe though that some lyrics do sound kind of… strange now. From It Spurts:

Well you been drinking a lot
And your head's going around
Of course you think I am
Paranoiac silly dirty wicked boy
And you're a pain in my aah

So come on
Stop
I fuck you
Shut up
I'll kill you
Fuck off
You always drive me crazy

Get out leave me alone
And have a nice day asshole

Was Marie driving Bertrand crazy that night when her head "accidentally" yet fatally "hurt the ground"? What is the result of the autopsy? A broken nose, cerebral lesions similar to those of the shaken baby syndrome and several face traumatisms. Ah…

Meanwhile, some asshole fan writes on his Noir Désir dedicated website:

How is it possible? We cannot believe it…

Marie left (sic), Bertrand bemoans his act, from the bottom of the jail of the (sic) murderer.
Bertand? A murderer?
Marie? A beaten woman? (sic)

This is an accident, pleads Bertrand.
And we all want to believe him.

So everyone is looking for news, and our bandwidth exploded.
Thousands of you have visited destination.noir-desir.com

We remain as one (sic) with Bertrand, more than ever (re-sic),
But we cannot serve everyone.

The website is closed for a few days,
Our thoughts go to Marie, her family, her children.

Our thoughts go to Bertrand.

Amen!

Indeed, Ms. Poller:

Every nation has its own mediocrity; Bertrand Cantat is emblematic of France in decadent decline. France swallowed up in its frivolous superficiality, drowned in its baselessly flattering self-image, intoxicated with a shoddy gospel of moral superiority. France, pretentious and utterly defenseless. Eaten up by jealousy and unavowed, violent hatred.

Someone said "Becareful what you wish for... it just might come true." Well, I guess these two love birds have finally got what they always wanted. Marie Trintignant has finally become the symbol of the modern French woman and Bertrand Cantat the symbol of the modern French man. Savarah.

the story of Bertrand and Maria makes a powerful arguement in favor of the future implimentation of Sharia in France. Your headed in that direction anyhow and, It might be an improvment.

i just read this in the morning paper:

-{PARIS (AP) - Gravediggers were called back to work on a national holiday Friday to deal with the grim aftermath of a heat wave that left up to 3,000 dead in France. With morgues full, authorities took over the vast storeroom of a Paris farmers' market or kept bodies in refrigerated tents - as temperatures subsided throughout Europe, ending one of the most severe periods of intense heat on record across the continent.}-

Heres another difference between Americans and French. If we have refrigerated farmers markets and circus tents they would be filled with live people. How stupid can you be? If Bush unfurled a refrigerated tent to house heatwave victims We Americans would skin him alive.

the story of Bertrand and Maria makes a powerful arguement in favor of the future implimentation of Sharia in France.

It would not have happenned in the US, will tell us J.Mayeau. Because I guess conjugal violence is something typically French.

Passionate love, Othello kills Desdemone, Mathusalem is a child compared to these kind of stories...

Because I guess conjugal violence is something typically French.
Passionate love, Othello kills Desdemone, Mathusalem is a child compared to these kind of stories...

So you are utterly stupid, right?

That was not AT ALL the point of my post.

I was not answering to your post dear carine, the world is not revolving around your little persona.

I was not answering to your post dear carine, the world is not revolving around your little persona.

Strangely, I thought J.Mayeau's comments were going in the direction of what I was writing.

But you cannot understand. You epitomize my point in this post. You're just the one heading in the wrong direction, as always.

I'm confused. Just how does one drunk rock star and his dead girl friend equate to the whole of France? And how does any of this relate at all to what's going on in the Middle East? Are you just stark raving mad?
I suppose Americans kind of like the French, just to have a whole nation to despise. Sure, there are lots of nations to name as part of the axis of evil, but no one takes those underdeveloped nations seriously and even then, the good ol' US would just bomb them to smithereens. But here's France, a nation with a long and proud history, a former world power and critical of the new one.
You'd like to shoot the French, wouldn't you? You won't, and that's one of their perks, too. They'll be a perpetual inspiration for non-sensical tirades by spiteful Americans.
Well, Carine, I guess you can sleep peaceully at night, having fulfilled your greatest wish and destiny in writing this lunatic rant against a people who've never done you any harm. Nice job, man.