France's spitting image After a decade on the air, one of France's top TV shows may be influencing political views, says L'Evénement magazine. Rubber-faced puppets regularly dish out the most biting political satire in Paris. They appear on "Les Guignols,"the hit TV program on Canal Plus, which last month celebrated 10 years of skewering politicians and deflating celebrities. The French equivalent to Britain's "Spitting Image" attracts three milllion viewers every week and has such an impact it may even change the way people vote in elections, according to L'Evénement. The sharp-nosed marionette of President Jacques Chirac is the show's most popular character, according to a national survey done for the magazine. From watching "Les Guignols,"24 percent of viewers are inclined to vote for Chirac in a presidential election, despite the fun poked at him, the survey shows. Prime Minister Lionel Jospin only drew 20 percent. The puppet perhaps most identified with the show is that of Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, popularly known as PPD, the presenter for TF1's nightly news. Other legendary caricatures from the past decade include former president François Mitterrand and rock star Johnny Hallyday. The program found inspiration beyond France's borders in "M. Sylvestre Stallone," who bears a striking resemblance to a certain American movie star. In a scene ridiculing globalization, Stallone, the head of "World Company," dreams of a planet where three billion people work for him for free. Turning on, tuning out, 1999 version A new wave of drugs is appealing to France's young, who may be unaware of the dangers, says VSD magazine. A country that loves acronyms is discovering a few more. GHB, DOB, 2CB and Special K. No, theyre not government departments. They're the street names for a new wave of powerful designer drugs that emerged some time ago in the US and are now washing across France, says VSD magazine. Following the Ecstasy fad, these psychotropic "love drugs" and stimulants are ingrained in la culture technosays the weekly with an acronym for a title. Millions of French youth from all social classes pop the pills as fuel for all-night raves and dance parties. But in a cover story, VSD warns that users may be playing Russian roulette. Many of les nouvelles droguespeddled through the country are homemade from crude kitchen-sink labs advertised on the Internet. People have died from these drugs in the US, and while there have been no fatalities yet reported in France, authorities say the risk is high. Doctors add that the drugs can also have effects years after they are taken. Despite the dangers, the appeal lingers. "You want to get high," one user told VSD. "That's the bottom line." Job plan doomed to fail? The only way to deal with the soaring jobless rate is to give everyone a salary, regardless of whether they work, an expert tells Charlie Hebdo magazine. In a bid to lower unemployment, the Jospin government launched a program last year to reduce the work week in France to 35 hours. The cut in hours was supposed to create new positions, though so far only 12,000 have materialized. But the plan, still being implemented, is doomed to failure even if it creates 400,000 jobs, an analyst told Charlie Hebdo. In an interview with the weekly, known for its racy cartoons and satirical commentary, sociologist and writer Henri Vacquin says full employment is an impossible goal. Joblessness is a symptom of a larger "crisis" in French society that cannot be resolved through the logic of the market, which just "desocializes" a segment of the population, says Vacquin. Instead, all residents should be treated with the dignity of "citizens." How? Vacquin suggests creating a minimum guaranteed salary for all, regardless of their activity. Senate criticized for being old-fashioned France's mostly male upper house is due for a complete refit, argues Marianne magazine. Too old. Too rural. Too conservative. So says Marianne of the French senate. The weekly, noted for its left-wing views, says it's time to reform the "reactionary" chamber of sober second thought. Particularly so since the 321-member upper house, dominated by men, is not prepared to back a proposal to give women an equal number of seats as men. Senators are elected from each department in the country to nine-year renewable terms by colleges of locally elected politicians. The Senate, at the Luxembourg Garden, vets legislation from the National Assembly and can propose changes to bills but is not empowered to overturn them. The short-term chances of a Senate overhaul are slim, admits Marianne's Claude Askolovitch. "The only solution, in the end, is to insult them (the senators)," he writes. "That changes nothing but it is soothing." Women want equality not parity Fourteen influential women tell L'Express they oppose a proposal to give women an equal number of seats in parliament. A group of high-profile women has mobilized against a proposal to give women an equal number of seats in the French parliament. The notables, including philosopher Elisabeth Badinter, lawyer Evelyne Pisier and writer Daniele Sallenave, are neither antifeminist nor reactionary. And they agree that women are shockingly underrepresented in government. But in L'Express they set out their objections to an idea they say amounts to "egalitarianism by law." Among their objections: the proposal contravenes the principal of universalism, that an elected representative is supposed to represent all people regardless of color, sex, age or social origin. Forced parity is humiliating, they say. It would "devalue" elected positions created only by law. And it would abandon the principle of solidarity among victims of discrimination, ignoring economic, social and racial inequalities. The position marks a turnabout from June 1996, when 10 women politicians launched a campaign, also in L'Express, in favor of parity. Nouvel Obs Solo acts... Le Nouvel Observateur's cover story "Vivre Heureuse en solo" focusing on Jean-Claude Kaufmann's new book "la Femme seule et le Prince charmant" according to which one out of four Parisian women lives alone. Perso & Numéro Two new French fashion magazines Perso and Numéro appeared on the newstands this month. Perso, aimed at 18- to 25-year-old women, includes in its first edition interviews with Emma de Caunes, Romane Bohringer and Vincent Gallo, director of Buffalo 66. Numéro targets a more sophisticated 20- to 40-year-old audience. With articles translated into English and lots of fab photos by prestigious photographers such as Peter Lindbergh, the 200-page magazine intends to tap an international luxury market. |
