The old dinosaurs from REM came to Nice last Saturday to play for a couple of thousand people in a very small park. There had been virtually no marketing prior to this concert. No posters, no media coverage, nothing. I don’t know if REM are very known in France in general, but it appears not. Anyway, me and a friend, who weren’t keen enough on the concert to get a ticket, were sitting outside in the park listening a bit. I’d say there were about 100 people doing the same thing. A group of 6 or 7 police officers were patrolling the area. There were no signs of disturbances, (why would there be at a REM concert?) except for a highly intoxicated/drugged up homeless person who was getting a bit too friendly with the eavesdroppers. He was told to leave once by the police, and when he failed to do so he was handcuffed and arrested. To be fair to him, we were intruding in his home. This park is mostly occupied by SDFs, (Sans Domicile Fixe, or Without Fixed Roof) as they are called in France. He was probably just very happy to have this many visitors, not to mention REM, in his home.
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Anyway what I wanted to point out by describing these premises, was that there was no need at all to use teargas at this very “tranquille evenement”. Yet the highest ranked officer was walking around with his teargas pistol in his hand, un-holstered, like a cowboy. Given what I’ve learned about French macho culture and the not so high expectations on professionalism from peace and order keeping forces, this is not very surprising to me. I’d take it he was either trying to impress girls, or he was just doing it for power kicks. Not a huge point to make, I know. Just a cultural observation from a country that once upon a time enlightened Europe.
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2 comments:
I think you are being very hard when you talk about france. It can be true when you talk about some policemen, some people with "macho culture", some people very"chauviniste", some people very rude with tourists...you can even think to generalize to the "niçois" but not the hole France. "Il faut rendre à cesar ce qui est à cesar" la france reste l'une des grands representants de l'europe culturellement, economiquement et politiquement...
You have to understand that for me as a Swede, I am astonished sometimes by cultural differences. I come from a place were bus drivers, policemen, paramedics etc, leave their personalities and egos at home when they put on their uniform. Perhpaps more boring but at least reliable. It is true though as you say. The cote d'azur is not a good representative for the rest of France.
About your quote, "France is still one of the biggest representatives for Europe, culturally, economically and politically." Sure, but given the current socioeconomic and political problems, (Sarkozy being Bush’s lapdog, the growing divide between the French and the segregated immigrants in rural areas, the unreliable and overly complicated bureaucratic system, not to mention public transportation and services!), France is not exactly the role model of Europe anymore. And culturally, what has happened since the golden age of the 60’s and 70’s? My biggest cultural impressions are Johny Halliday, tectonic, and a lot of sexist humor and TV shows, (then again I’m relying on the media to bring me the culture). Perhaps a second renaissance is in the future..
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