TV, music, internet, and school. These four things have been my kryptonite in forging the imagined beliefs, attitudes, stereotypes and representations I had about Paris. True or not, as a high school student dreaming of the opportunity to eventually study abroad one day -- in France most likely -- I needed a frame of reference. I desperately needed something I could take ahold of before I went overseas. At least temporarily. Looking back now, I can only recall the go to French films shown in American high schools during my generation that helped maximize my French learning as much as possible (rofl!), like Ratatouille and Amélie (special mention to Rugrats in Paris, but then again, maybe not). Once in college, I first listened to Christophe Mae's Parce qu'on sait jamais, Soprano, Corneille, and Stromae. Come to find out, most French people I've met think *Chrisophe Mae (*see below in footnotes) is trash. Accordingly, Christophe had to go, and my spotify has since been updated with a more reassuring playlist. Vices aside, these portrayals in film and musical lyrics shaped my ideas and beliefs about parisians and their city. Unreasonable ? Maybe. Absurd ? Perhaps. But whether fabricated or not they were the only impressions I had. Again to reiterate, at least temporarily..
Cliché views of an American about life in Paris or France (Before) : With the inclusion of these references and others unmentioned, Paris was and is still often represented by Americans as boasting (random order in terms of importance) :
As for myself and my personal experiences here in France, this would be my third and counting. The previous two I spent in cities located a couple of hours away from Paris back in 2012 and 2014-2015 (Expanding our knowledge of France outside of just Paris, YES, just what we Americans need ! Tours, FR and *Angers, FR. Look them up right now if you're American and reading this and never have been to France ! Seriously, I mean it !). Now, I find myself actually in Paris. Or not far. Well sort of. Anyways, here's a brief list of what I CAN say is true of these cultural clichés, although not in an obsessive way, like our television sets so often like to depict. Cliché but TRUE views about life in Paris and France :
I think the waiter issue, to be honest, is one that is much more complex than waiters actually wanting to intentionally be rude. Maybe a tourist thing, this I have yet to figure out. Anyways, if you end up in Paris one day, you'll come to the realization fairly quickly I imagine, that the parisian narrative is more than just simply bread, cheese, wine, the eiffel tower and sex (not sure about that last one though). You also may become quickly aware of another stereotypical but true observation, the all too familiar parisian ego. Impossible not to. So whose to blame ? I don't think we should really go pointing fingers at anyone specific person or group to be quite honest, as we're all guilty for promulgating these stereotypes and sometimes imaginary perceptions of space, place, and the people that define them. My point being, whether in Paris or in Atlanta, when you travel, you always run the risk of disenchantment. Why ? Because although we remembered our canon or our nikon, we forgot to zoom out on our camera lens. Or perhaps it's completely out of focus. Or perhaps even worse, both. So we miss things. Things we could only have seen if we had just managed to be a bit more open, without always needing to have a set game plan or set expectations. I will admit though that I may not be the best one to give advice in this situation. First, because I have traveled little compared to others, despite what you may presume or believe. Second, I sincerely believe that everyone travels differently. And third, I don't have a canon or a nikon, only an iPhone 6S with limited zoom and focus. Jokes aside, when I travel I do try to be as open to the unexpected as possible. I'm a black kid from Atlanta, Powder Springs to be exact. And now I'm in Paris at the Sorbonne. The iPhone will do for now, I think I have the openness thing covered. Footnotes : *I realize that I may be taking a risk saying this and may lose some vital friendships in the process but I sort of listened to this guy (Christophe Maé) religiously when in college. Only excuse, he was unique, and I actually did sorta liked his voice. *I say French here intentionally to mean that for most Americans who have no remote interest in France or who have never been, Paris IS France. *Not pronounced as you see it. This city has much less angry people in it than Paris does I assure you. No relation to the adjective describing an emotion based on discontent. Therefore correct pronunciation is Onjay. Maybe ?? That's the best way I can describe it... *Croissants and baguettes for that matter are examples of French words that have been anglicized to the point of no return. So much so and incorrectly at that, in a bakery in the U.S. if you see something that looks like a pain au chocolat, just request that you would like a chocolate croissant. It's what the label will read in Starbucks or other coffee shops for instance. Of course, being here it's easy to know that it is not at all the same, but for us Americans, trust me when I say that there is no difference, especially southerners. When asking the average American what pops into their mind when they think of France, croissant is top 3. Automatic. Easy.
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Raymond J.
This blog seeks to incorporate stories about life abroad in Paris and beyond. |