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In that bizarre reality can be found some unflattering truths about France — and about Macron himself.
Depardieu, 75, is among the most famous movie stars of his generation, coming to prominence in movies such as François Truffaut’s “The Last Metro” in 1980 and winning a Golden Globe award for his performance in Peter Weir’s 1990 comedy “Green Card.” To many in France, especially of an older vintage, he is an icon in whose international fame they see France’s own reflected glory.
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It’s also true that Depardieu has become a disgrace to himself and an embarrassment to France and its movie industry. Allegations that he has abused and raped women go back decades, reinforced by a 2001 interview he gave to Time magazine. (He later blamed a mistranslation for distorting his words.) An article in the investigative French website Mediapart last spring included fresh allegations of abuse and assault from 13 women.
Last month, a documentary on French television added fuel to the fire by airing footage of the actor — from a 2018 trip to North Korea — issuing a barrage of obscene comments at and about women. Among his targets was a 10-year-old girl he watched riding a horse.
As a candidate for president, Macron made a signature issue of women’s rights and protection from sexual abuse. Yet when asked about the documentary, he jumped to Depardieu’s defense, calling the actor a “genius” who “makes France proud” and had been victimized by a media “manhunt.” The president called himself an “admirer” of Depardieu.
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The French traditionally disdain supposed American prudishness, and the French right denounces what it regards as the U.S. imports of cancel culture and “le wokisme,” but there is a wide gulf between those attitudes and defending an alleged serial sex abuser and rapist.
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Macron, whose centrist calling card is an attempt to balance opposing political forces, tried to bridge that gulf. Stating the obvious, he said Depardieu is entitled to a presumption of innocence.
It is one thing, though, to recognize the presumption of innocence to which Depardieu is entitled, as is any criminal defendant. It is another to lionize him, as Macron did.
Macron is scheduled to leave office in 2027, at the age of 49. He is acutely aware that his legacy will be shaped largely by his success or failure in derailing the ascendant French far right. Its champion, Marine Le Pen, who currently leads in polls to succeed him, is a nationalist who favors warmer relations with Russia and cooler ones with the United States and European Union, of which France is a traditional leader.
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By embracing Depardieu, Macron might figure he can neutralize Le Pen’s advantage, as the leading foe of “le wokisme,” amid France’s culture wars.
The problem is where, in doing so, Macron leaves himself.
The French president’s personal brand is the art of political straddling — famously invoking the phrase “at the same time” as a balancing device between left vs. right orthodoxy. Yet he has also displayed a tin ear for real-world problems, cementing his image as an out-of-touch elitist by scoffing at the challenge of finding a job and describing train stations as populated by “people who are succeeding and people who are nothing.” In defending Depardieu, he might have further defined himself as out of touch for many.
Depardieu is surely the target of hounding by the media. But some houndings serve the public interest, and Depardieu’s case is a good example. It reinforces what should be not just the legal bright line but also the social norm that puts sexual harassment, let alone sexual assault, beyond the pale in civilized society. It transmits the message that piggish behavior carries consequences.
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Macron might imagine he is stealing the far right’s thunder by embracing Depardieu and implicitly thumbing his nose at the #MeToo movement, thereby depriving Le Pen of a cudgel in her campaign for president. The risk, though, is that he will instead detoxify right-wing views by ushering them into the mainstream. His strategy may prove too clever by half, helping bring about the result he most fears.
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PARIS — Gérard Depardieu is many things — a renowned French actor, a longtime ally of Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin and an accused serial sex abuser, currently under indictment for rape.
It is surprising enough that Depardieu, who denies all wrongdoing, has attracted dozens of defenders prominent in French film and arts circles, even though his alleged victims describe behavior reminiscent of the now-imprisoned former Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein. But it was astonishing that Depardieu recently gained support from another source: French President Emmanuel Macron.
In that bizarre reality can be found some unflattering truths about France — and about Macron himself.
Depardieu, 75, is among the most famous movie stars of his generation, coming to prominence in movies such as François Truffaut’s “The Last Metro” in 1980 and winning a Golden Globe award for his performance in Peter Weir’s 1990 comedy “Green Card.” To many in France, especially of an older vintage, he is an icon in whose international fame they see France’s own reflected glory.
It’s also true that Depardieu has become a disgrace to himself and an embarrassment to France and its movie industry. Allegations that he has abused and raped women go back decades, reinforced by a 2001 interview he gave to Time magazine. (He later blamed a mistranslation for distorting his words.) An article in the investigative French website Mediapart last spring included fresh allegations of abuse and assault from 13 women.
Last month, a documentary on French television added fuel to the fire by airing footage of the actor — from a 2018 trip to North Korea — issuing a barrage of obscene comments at and about women. Among his targets was a 10-year-old girl he watched riding a horse.
As a candidate for president, Macron made a signature issue of women’s rights and protection from sexual abuse. Yet when asked about the documentary, he jumped to Depardieu’s defense, calling the actor a “genius” who “makes France proud” and had been victimized by a media “manhunt.” The president called himself an “admirer” of Depardieu.
The French traditionally disdain supposed American prudishness, and the French right denounces what it regards as the U.S. imports of cancel culture and “le wokisme,” but there is a wide gulf between those attitudes and defending an alleged serial sex abuser and rapist.
Macron, whose centrist calling card is an attempt to balance opposing political forces, tried to bridge that gulf. Stating the obvious, he said Depardieu is entitled to a presumption of innocence.
It is one thing, though, to recognize the presumption of innocence to which Depardieu is entitled, as is any criminal defendant. It is another to lionize him, as Macron did.
Macron is scheduled to leave office in 2027, at the age of 49. He is acutely aware that his legacy will be shaped largely by his success or failure in derailing the ascendant French far right. Its champion, Marine Le Pen, who currently leads in polls to succeed him, is a nationalist who favors warmer relations with Russia and cooler ones with the United States and European Union, of which France is a traditional leader.
By embracing Depardieu, Macron might figure he can neutralize Le Pen’s advantage, as the leading foe of “le wokisme,” amid France’s culture wars.
The problem is where, in doing so, Macron leaves himself.
The French president’s personal brand is the art of political straddling — famously invoking the phrase “at the same time” as a balancing device between left vs. right orthodoxy. Yet he has also displayed a tin ear for real-world problems, cementing his image as an out-of-touch elitist by scoffing at the challenge of finding a job and describing train stations as populated by “people who are succeeding and people who are nothing.” In defending Depardieu, he might have further defined himself as out of touch for many.
Depardieu is surely the target of hounding by the media. But some houndings serve the public interest, and Depardieu’s case is a good example. It reinforces what should be not just the legal bright line but also the social norm that puts sexual harassment, let alone sexual assault, beyond the pale in civilized society. It transmits the message that piggish behavior carries consequences.
Macron might imagine he is stealing the far right’s thunder by embracing Depardieu and implicitly thumbing his nose at the #MeToo movement, thereby depriving Le Pen of a cudgel in her campaign for president. The risk, though, is that he will instead detoxify right-wing views by ushering them into the mainstream. His strategy may prove too clever by half, helping bring about the result he most fears.
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