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So Long, Marianne
"France is a bitch, don't forget to f*** her till she's exhausted, you have to treat her like a slut, man." Charming stuff from one of France's hottest rappers, Monsieur R. In the same song, FranSSe, the artist promises to "I piss on Napoleon and on General de Gaulle."
The rap continues, "the state can go f*** itself... F***ing cops, sons of whores," before going on to compare the plight of Muslims in contemporary France with the suffering of Jews under the Third Reich. In case listeners missed the point, the accompanying video depicted naked dancers gyrating against the French flag.
Well, we're not in the land of traditional French chanson anymore, that's for sure - as Monsieur R may find out to his cost. The execrable rapper is being charged with offending public decency, after a UMP party member heard his 2005 opus Politikment Incorrekt, where the offending lines can be found.
Monsieur R, real name Richard Makela, could face up to three years in jail and a €75,000 fine if convicted. Makela argues that he isn't attacking the French people in his song, just the representatives of the state and its elite - something that numerous blogs do every day.
The mind boggles. First, Makela's rap is no more or less offensive than some of those which US artists have been producing for years. British punk rockers the Sex Pistols outraged society's moral guardians with songs mocking the Queen - but this was thirty-odd years ago. France's labour relations resemble those in 1970s Britain: Is the country's cultural climate going the same way?
It's true that comparing French Muslims (who suffer some discrimination) and European Jews (who were gassed in their millions under Hitler) could be construed as anti-Semitic, though it is probably better dismissed as hysterical self-pity. Why send the entire machinery of the state after a rapper? The likely outcome is that France's music community, the media and the human rights industry will loudly support Makela, making Daniel Mach, the MP who brought the charges, look foolish and out of touch. Doubtless given all this free publicity, the 14 month old record will race up the charts once again.
And what is offending public decency, anyway? It sounds like something from the Victorian era. Have the French turned to puritanism?
And yet... some EURSOC readers might sense begrudging admiration for France's slightly bonkers defence of its values. Burning the national flag is against the law in Australia, while burning other nations' flags is banned in Denmark (though you can burn Danish flags there if you like). Attacks on the English flag of St George or the Union flag (delete as applicable) appear in the newspapers to accompany every major sporting event. The people of Northern Ireland are allowed to fly the Union Flag from state buildings only on approved days of the year, to avoid giving offense to those who like to believe they are living in another country. Maybe we in Britain can learn something from France's conservative dedication to civic society? After all, if a British artist was to release a record attacking the UK in crude and violent language, we'd be more likely to give him an Arts Council grant than slam a fine on him.
