Explaining French anti-americanism (an attempt to)Follow

I once dated a girl from Belgium. She spoke both French and Flemish. She was teh hawt. Oh the memories.

"La Ville s'endormait" ftw.

Best song ever written in teh Fr3ncH

As well as the classics (Brel, Piaf, Aznavour etc.) I'm a huge fan of Calogero. His 3rd album's like a Froggy version of Coldplay meets Embrace with The Edge playing guitar.

Have most of Patrick Bruel, Anggun and Florent Pagny's stuff for easy listening.

And I still maintain the the world's best gangsta rap comes from France - IAM, Shurik'n, Akhenaton etc.

But I'd still rather listen to Katie taking a dump than listen to Johnny Halliday

******* hell... I thought no one outside France had ever heard of these people. I'm shocked.

Funny story (not really "funny" tbh) but Patrick Bruel's mum was my teacher in Paris when I was a 7 year-old. He was just beggining to be famous at that time, and once came into class cos he had forgotten his glasses at home, and came to pick them up from his mum. All the girls were besotted, and all the guys were like "Meh, he's not all that!".

As for Gansta rap, man I love IAM, and of course Akh is their coolest member. Another funny story (I'll stop now) is that my bro and I met them in New-York when they were recording "L'Ecole du Micro d'Argent". They invited us to the studio, and him to a club that evening (I was like 16, so couldnt go). So yeah,I smoked a joint with Akh and Shuriken in a NY recording studio.

Ever heard of NTM? Pretty cool too.

And yeah Johnny Halliday sucks, but he's Belgian! or Swiss, whatever...

I just soak up whatever's playing on the radio (usually NRJ or Skyrock) while footling around France, then nip into Carrefour and buy the albums from bands I like.

You know Patrick Bruel was in "When Harry Met Sally"? (He was Meg Ryan's love interest when she was in Paris)

Flash *******. "Revoir un Printemps" is always in my car CD changer. (Apart from that shi[Aqua][/Aqua]tty track with Beyonce I still think it's their best.)

I have their 1st album ("Authentik"?) and "Paris sous les Bombes", but since Joey Starr turned into the king of sell-outs I've not listened to 'em much. I have some FF stuff and trying to get my head around Manau's music (but their celtic Breton sound does my head in)

Any other recommendations welcome.

******* hell, I just checked it on DVD and it's true!! Damn...

the dvd is my girlfriend's, ofc



I really like some of it, but the one before (L'Ecole...) was such a "slap in the face" when it came out at the time that it has more emotional force for me. But both kick ***, undoubtedly.



NTM's "Back dans les back" and "J'appuie sur la gachette" are their best imo. And yeah, they are sell-outs for sure, but those albums were also kinda pioneering at the time. In France anyway.

FFF is cool too, but I'm not a big fan of Manau. Celtic traditional music and hip-hop just dont seem to mix very well. Who would've thought?

Other cool stuff, well "Saian Supa Crew" is quite amazing. Dont be fooled by their ****** name, they are brilliant. "KLR" and "X-raisons" are great. Give it listen before tho, its kind of an acquired taste.

The thing is for the first six months after 9/11 all but the most rabid anti American APPROVED of G.W's actions, it seemed considered and appropriate, give that most of the British Military winced and ducked expecting a wayward nuke hitting London only to be greeted with a shrug and a "Blue on Blue" comment.

The problems came when Bush let Religion and capitalist greed (read oil) get in the way of good judgement and used the worst ever display of political spin to try and persude the West that Iraq was

A. Tied in with the whole "Axis of Evil" when in reality it was a tin pot dictatorship struglling to impose anything on it's own people let alone a superpower.

B. Stockpiling vast amounts of WMD aimed at the west and on a hair trigger, which was a blatent lie and even his own security agencies where telling him that is wasn't true.

In retrospect it may be for the good of the region but it will take 30-40 years for it to sort itself out where as if they had continued the isolation policy it would have been over and done with once the big cheese had kicked the bucket.

As an Englishman i see the french the way the Scottish see us, with open distain and hidden fondness, with Americans i often find myself shaking my head and wondering if the schooling really is that bad, but i can't help liking those i meet.

Your remark would carry more weight if it wasn't for your insistance in missing the letter U from so many words.

/Absolutely agree

After living in the UK for one and a half years and Germany for five years, my views on many subjects have been altered for the better. I relocated to follow employment opportunities and was able to live among the citizens, thereby avoiding the military base mentality.

Though my time overseas is over for the moment, it is absolutely not forgotten. I made good friends, met my wife, traveled to many additional places including France, and very importantly learned to see the USA through the eyes of other cultures. I would not trade those years for anything.

One of the interesting aspects of living abroad is feeling that sometimes people are the same everywhere, and other times noticing how diverse cultures truly are under the surface. As a Yank (Auslander), I had very few bad experiences with the native inhabitants. I did NOT experience anti-Americanism at all. Every country I visited had features to be admired and features that I could live without. If only the best features could be combined...

I was living in Germany (Cologne area) during 9-11, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Dubya's unfortunate reelection. The national outpouring of sympathy and support after 9-11 was amazing! The support was still there through Afghanistan. Iraq, on the other hand, was where the United States lost it. Many people were already skeptical of the whole WMD theory, and didn't see what Iraq had to do with Osama and terrorism. The unfolding of events was disheartening for me. It felt like the government had made a wrong turn and I was just along for the ride, powerless to do anything.

Then the election came and I thought surely we would be rid of Dubya and his cronies. I registered for the overseas vote and watched election polls like a hawk. There were many good natured comments from my German and Swedish colleagues about making sure I voted correctly. I cast my vote and waited for election day, hoping that Americans would wake up and rectify the leadership situation. Needless to say, the result was not satisfactory. To me, it was as if over 50 percent of the American population didn't have a clue! (beats head against wall)

Please note that I am normally independent and would vote for the best candidate. Also, I am not unpatriotic, and I do support the troops. They are risking their lives for our country, and though the cause may be misguided, they still have my gratitude.

In summary, after having lived abroad, I would recommend it for all, and wish it could be made mandatory. I realize that I was extremely lucky to be able to travel with my job, and many don't have that kind of opportunity. The people I met did not hate Americans. They didn't agree with much of our current political agenda, but Americans as individuals were treated well. (except for that tourist info woman in Calais - she was teh rude)

...That got really long - more like 3 or 4 cents.

Fu[Aqua][/Aqua]cking moran.

What a tiny, tiny view of the world you have.

Ah. Yes. The view of the world that entangles the US in a situation that results in a massive terrorist attack is the "big view". Got it...


Can I ask you a question? Does your big, wide, worldview come with an assumption that your own viewpoint is the only one that's right, or did that cost extra? Am I the only one who sees the irony of namecalling someone about the narrowness of their views purely because their views aren't the same as your's?

Best to check that plank in your eye there Nobby. It's getting out of control...

So now, you're trying to appease Islamic fundamentalists by saying the US troops should withdraw from Saudi Arabia... by invading a Muslim country!

Hurray! I'm glad someone figured it out. Stupid democrats...



And that was gabji's moment of genius.

...

It's gone now.

The "cause" of Islamic terrorism is not that there are US troops in Saudi Arabia. Nor is it Chechnia. Nor even Palestine, or the Egyptian government, or the Saudi one. All these are excuses. Not causes.

The "cause" for Islamic Terrorism is a rotten ideology thats been allowed to spread itself through a combination of extreme poverty, lack of education, and oppressive regimes. Thats what causes people to lose themselves in a stupid, barbaric and middle-ages doctrine.


Don't get me wrong, I'm all for sorting out Palestine and Chechnia, and having Democratic governements in the Middle-East. We don't even need to invade them, just to stop subsidising them. Of course then, we might get lots of Islamic governemnts elected. But, thats democracy for you.

Edited, Jun 19th 2006 at 8:16pm EDT by RedPhoenixxxxxx

"I recall going to Madrid, Spain with a college group a day after the attacks on 3/11. (The day we left was the day the attacks occured, got there the day after)

Safe to say it was a fairly amazing experience, and sort of scary. There were signs and chants that were basically saying the equivalent of 'We hate Americans." --DodoBird

Niiiiice. Yeah, that's intelligent. Blame and hate up on the 'Mericans for Arab Muzzies bombing a train station. Considering their long lived problems with the Basques, I still stand amazed that the Spanish folded so quick in the face of adversity. Sangria swilling pu55ies.

Totem