SERIES – Handling the “on” and the “off” is undoubtedly one of the essential qualities of a politician. In season 3 of “Baron Noir”, a scene from the episode aired this Monday, February 23 with Philippe Rickwaert (Kad Merad) says a lot about the behind-the-scenes relationships with journalists. The head of the political service of HuffPostAstrid de Villaines analyze the sequence in the video to discover at the top of the article.
But first, here are some background elements. In episode 5, the President of the Republic Amélie Dorendeu (embodied by Anna Mouglalis) tries a poker game to save his skin for the next presidential election. She decides to organize the holding of a referendum on an idea very dear to the left, the 6th Republic.
A political sequence that divides “Stand up the people”, the equivalent of the rebellious France in the series. Philippe Rickwaert militates for the yes, while Michel Vidal – whose features remind those of Jean-Luc Mélenchon – opposes this reform which aims to suppress the election of the President of the Republic by direct universal suffrage.
In this context, Philippe Rickwaert is holding a campaign meeting in Compiègne while the “yes” is in great difficulty in the polls. At the end of the meeting, he finds a dozen journalists in his dressing room for a sequence that is not trivial.
“Bringing out another political word”
In front of the press, Rickwaert attacks his adversaries, including in his own party. “Michel Vidal and Amélie Dorendeu, it’s‘ Satanas and Diabolo ’” he lets go in front of the press who doesn’t miss a thing.
“The off, it is the special moment between a journalist and a politician to have a more relaxed tone and get out of the tongue of wood”, recalls Astrid de Villaines who had followed Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s campaign for LCP in 2017. “It is also an opportunity for journalists to get behind the scenes information that will never be told on a television set, it allows another political word to emerge.”
Like this calculated tackle from Rickwaert for example. With this short sentence, the fine tactician expects to further electrify the referendum campaign by associating the leader of the far left with the president of center right who is reminiscent of Emmanuel Macron.
The (rare) inconsistencies of “Black Baron”
If at first glance this sequence may not seem very real in the eyes of the public, our journalist noticed elements that were not very credible. “This scene initially I did not understand, I first thought that Kad merad was in front of communicators or his close campaign team because the tone is very relaxed, for an off there are many journalists. It almost seems like it’s a press conference in the dressing rooms, some even record with their cellphones! In general the off has a confidential side: the candidate or the politician will take some journalists in small committee and that will remain a whisper, which is not the case here. ”
In this scene, we also see Rickwaert undressing before the eyes of the journalists. Again a scene that Astrid de Villaines never attended. “I was quite surprised, but at the same time the series is so realistic in other respects that I imagine it was a real scene that may have happened with a politician that I did not not known personally. ” Maybe with Julien Dray, historical framework of the Socialist Party, which inspired the creators of the Éric Benzekri and Jean- seriesBaptiste Delafon.
When journalists break the news
Moments after this off-scene, the news reached Vidal’s ears in his HQ, through his counselors, dumbfounded. Not really a surprise for our reporter. “In the end, there is no off, journalists know it, politicians do too. When a politician says something, even on condition of anonymity, he knows that at some point it can come out. It has happened many times in political history. ”
One of the most striking examples dates back to 2002. In the midst of the presidential race, Lionel Jospin criticizes off Jacques Chirac during a discussion with journalists. In a plane which brings him back from Reunion Island where he had undertaken a lightning visit, he judges his adversary “worn and aged”, as you can (re) discover in these France 3 archives below.
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Reported by the press, these words had a devastating effect. Favorite of this presidential, the socialist is overtaken after this projection, little to the taste of the voters.
“This practice is common among political journalists who feel at the time that the information they have gathered is more important than the trust they have been able to build with politics,” said our journalist. “This information is then revealed to the general public.”
See also on Le HuffPost: Huguette and Raymond from “Scènes de Ménages”, too rare examples of “old” on TV
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