A president who stands behind an actor who is being sued over allegations of sexual assault. Stars who accuse the MeToo movement of denunciation in the name of sexual freedom. These are statements and actions that would be unimaginable in the USA, but also in Germany or Spain, once known as a macho country. Not so in France.
The MeToo movement has brought to light numerous cases of sexual violence and harassment. But no case has stirred up the country as much as the “Depardieu affair”. And it has revealed an ambivalent relationship to sexualized violence – well into the highest institutions.
Cultural scene deeply divided
In connection with his misogynistic comments and recent lawsuits against the actor for sexual assault, acting star Gérard Depardieu has recently caused a stir – and deeply divided the cultural scene.
Public opinion is wrong if it wants to simply moralize artists of Depardieu’s caliber: a sentence that comes from the writer Jean-Marie Rouart, member of the Académie Française, one of the oldest institutions of learning in France.
The star (“Cyrano von Bergerac”, “Asterix and Obelix”) even received support from the top of the state. Emmanuel Macron said in a television interview at the end of 2023 that he was a great actor who made France famous and proud. There are “perhaps victims, but there is also a presumption of innocence.” Depardieu has been under investigation since 2020 over allegations of rape.
France’s special artist image
Is art above the law in France? For Geneviève Sellier, Professor Emeritus of Film Studies, there is no doubt about this. In France, artistic talent confers a power that doesn’t exist elsewhere, she told HuffPost. Genius is above the law here and that applies to all artists as long as they have a certain aura.
“They have the right to do whatever they want under the guise of expressing their brilliant subjectivity,” she further explained. Especially in the cinema, there is an undeniable right to superiority.
Because of the special artist image, Johnny Depp, Woody Allen and Roman Polanski also found refuge in France, according to Sellier. Stars who have been declared persona non grata, persona non grata, in the USA.
Woody Allen, accused of sexual assault by his adopted daughter, filmed his latest film “Coup de chance” in Paris. Johnny Depp made his debut again at the 2023 Cannes Festival following his court battle in “Jeanne du Barry.” In the trial, the Hollywood star and his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, accused each other of physical abuse.
And Polanski, accused in the United States since 1977 of raping a minor, has been crowned with numerous awards, including three César trophies in 2020, including for best director.
Flirting or sexual harassment?
The MeToo movement has been met with a mix of support and resistance in France. A “MeToo paradox,” as actress Adèle Haenel calls it: France is one of the countries in which the movement was followed most from a social media perspective, but has completely missed the boat from a political and media perspective, she said 2020 in an interview with the American New York Times.
The 34-year-old was the first renowned actress to speak publicly about sexual violence in French cinema in 2019. Many artists have confused or wanted to confuse sexual play and aggression, Haenel explained. But sexual aggression is an aggression and has nothing to do with sexual promiscuity, she reiterated.
Haenel was alluding to the anti-MeToo column by the well-known actress Catherine Deneuve and around 100 other artists who, with regard to the movement, had warned of a “climate of a totalitarian society” and the puritanism of a prudish America: “Rape is a crime . But persistent or clumsy flirting is not a crime, and gallantry is not macho aggression.”
Are the French historically seducers?
Along with artist Gloria Friedman and author Catherine Millet, Deneuve defended the freedom to harass someone in the name of sexual freedom. In the column they also quoted the libertarian philosopher Ruwen Ogien, who died in 2017, who saw minimalist morality as a prerequisite for artistic creativity.
Feminist Caroline de Haas calls it a myth that sexual harassment is flirting. “The fact is that you either have a respectful relationship or you don’t,” she told the newspaper “20 Minutes.” The equation that power is synonymous with sex no longer works for the historian.
Gallantry is deeply rooted in France. For historian Alain Viala, the country has been practicing the art of seduction for 400 years. Gallantry is part of the country’s identity, he explained in the daily newspaper “Libération”. The author of “La France galante” mentions in the interview several forms of gallantry: loyal gallantry, which, according to him, is based on mutual respect in all social relationships. And the libertarian, sexist gallantry that developed among the privileged classes from the 18th century onwards.
