14 juillet
I'm not very interested by the celebrations of our national day, it's a kind of folklore every country has and probably needs for his identity, but I don't mind them either, as long as I don't have to participate. The only 14 juillet parade I ever saw was in 1989 because we celebrated the bicentenary of the Revolution and so there was a particular parade made by Jean-Paul Goude, not a military one.
Also I hate the words of our national anthem. Calling people to arms, to walk to war and pour the enemy's blood was maybe good and well in 1789 but it's got nothing to do with a country whose motto is "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". Granted, those very words are very often ill-treated in everyday life but it would be good to be logical for once, to stop sending mixed messages.
Talking about mixed messages and life principles… When I was a child, maybe 9 or 10, I used to like gymnastics. I was not that good but I would do regional championships with the rest of my class and I enjoyed it. But then one day, the day just before a finale, and totally out of the blue, the gym teacher decided that I wasn't good enough to go and she just dumped me out of the group. My mother went to talk to her but nothing she said could change the mind of the teacher. I was devastated, couldn't understand such a way to behave, and I lost that day not only most of the pleasure sports can bring but even more the respect I had for people in sports. I had learned that sports at a competition level, even such a low one, had nothing to do with those beautiful qualities of respect and sharing that are so often used to describe team spirit.
It's also obvious when you look at sportsmen and sport fans that sport can bring the worst out of people. Prejudice in favour of your team often makes you blind to their errors and to the good points of the competitors. That's mostly why I refrained from commenting about the "Zidane affair". Even if I'm not interested in football, it's quite logic to take side for someone you appreciate, and I do appreciate Zidane for the little bit I know about him. He's quite a role model in this country, kids are looking up at him, especially since the finale in 1998. And that's part of why I think what he did was totally stupid, because he's an intelligent man who should know better ; the other reason being that even if this Italian player insulted his mother and sister, I don't see that it is something particularly new that called for such a reaction. Men have called their enemies "son of a bitch" for centuries, few of them really were, and I fail to see where violence has ever proved anything one way or the other. Plus women are perfectly capable of defending themselves so please, men of the world, stop using us to fight !
But this is not why I talked about Zidane. I've seen over my corner of the Net a lot of comments about how stupid Zidane was, and many didn't use pretty words to express their opinions. But then I've seen nothing about the other part of the problem (I didn't went looking for it, but neither did I about Zidane). Only one person wondering why he did this. And when the explanation came, or at least a tentative one, no one condemning the racism of the insults. That's what makes me feel very uneasy. I say bravo to anyone condemning violence. I wish more people would fight against racism. NO, Arabic people are not all evil. NO, they are not all terrorists (/irony). And yes, some words used in such a manner should be condemned as clearly as an act of violence. Because that's what they are, as caricatured and obviously wrong as they seem to many of us. Now I don't know if that's really the words this player used but frankly that's not the problem here. My problem is the lack of reaction to these words we've all been told about, compared to the reactions at first. Seems there is still a lot of prejudice to demystify. And maybe one day, those three words, liberty, equality, fraternity, will come to really mean something in my country and everywhere else.
I'm almost out of my soapbox. I made a wallpaper sometime ago that I didn't show because I didn't really like it. But it's not that bad and the movie it was made about use quite a few of those topics I grazed here, albeit in a much more entertaining way. So here it is, Inside Man for your pleasure.
Much love to all my friends as it seems it's not a very happy time for many people. And now I go back to waiting for the new season of Stargate SG1 ;)
Also I hate the words of our national anthem. Calling people to arms, to walk to war and pour the enemy's blood was maybe good and well in 1789 but it's got nothing to do with a country whose motto is "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". Granted, those very words are very often ill-treated in everyday life but it would be good to be logical for once, to stop sending mixed messages.
Talking about mixed messages and life principles… When I was a child, maybe 9 or 10, I used to like gymnastics. I was not that good but I would do regional championships with the rest of my class and I enjoyed it. But then one day, the day just before a finale, and totally out of the blue, the gym teacher decided that I wasn't good enough to go and she just dumped me out of the group. My mother went to talk to her but nothing she said could change the mind of the teacher. I was devastated, couldn't understand such a way to behave, and I lost that day not only most of the pleasure sports can bring but even more the respect I had for people in sports. I had learned that sports at a competition level, even such a low one, had nothing to do with those beautiful qualities of respect and sharing that are so often used to describe team spirit.
It's also obvious when you look at sportsmen and sport fans that sport can bring the worst out of people. Prejudice in favour of your team often makes you blind to their errors and to the good points of the competitors. That's mostly why I refrained from commenting about the "Zidane affair". Even if I'm not interested in football, it's quite logic to take side for someone you appreciate, and I do appreciate Zidane for the little bit I know about him. He's quite a role model in this country, kids are looking up at him, especially since the finale in 1998. And that's part of why I think what he did was totally stupid, because he's an intelligent man who should know better ; the other reason being that even if this Italian player insulted his mother and sister, I don't see that it is something particularly new that called for such a reaction. Men have called their enemies "son of a bitch" for centuries, few of them really were, and I fail to see where violence has ever proved anything one way or the other. Plus women are perfectly capable of defending themselves so please, men of the world, stop using us to fight !
But this is not why I talked about Zidane. I've seen over my corner of the Net a lot of comments about how stupid Zidane was, and many didn't use pretty words to express their opinions. But then I've seen nothing about the other part of the problem (I didn't went looking for it, but neither did I about Zidane). Only one person wondering why he did this. And when the explanation came, or at least a tentative one, no one condemning the racism of the insults. That's what makes me feel very uneasy. I say bravo to anyone condemning violence. I wish more people would fight against racism. NO, Arabic people are not all evil. NO, they are not all terrorists (/irony). And yes, some words used in such a manner should be condemned as clearly as an act of violence. Because that's what they are, as caricatured and obviously wrong as they seem to many of us. Now I don't know if that's really the words this player used but frankly that's not the problem here. My problem is the lack of reaction to these words we've all been told about, compared to the reactions at first. Seems there is still a lot of prejudice to demystify. And maybe one day, those three words, liberty, equality, fraternity, will come to really mean something in my country and everywhere else.
I'm almost out of my soapbox. I made a wallpaper sometime ago that I didn't show because I didn't really like it. But it's not that bad and the movie it was made about use quite a few of those topics I grazed here, albeit in a much more entertaining way. So here it is, Inside Man for your pleasure.
Much love to all my friends as it seems it's not a very happy time for many people. And now I go back to waiting for the new season of Stargate SG1 ;)