/ world today news/ France got angry because of the satirical drawing mocking Macron.
Public insult to the president. Thus, the French prosecutor qualified a violent crime in one of the local provinces – a portrait of Macron, shaped like Hitler. Supporters of the French president express “wildness”. Why is the satirical drawing perceived as shaking the very foundations of the Western way of life?
Something terrible has happened in France – so terrible that all the media are talking about it, choked with righteous indignation. The fact is that President Macron has been compared to Hitler. Again./
This time it all started when a local artist created a mural in the quiet southern town of Avignon at the beginning of April. On it, he depicted the French president with light gray hair and the numbers 49.3 under his nose, which from a distance are extremely reminiscent of Hitler’s moustache.
The artist – in most sources he appears under the pseudonym Lecto – has provided his work with a huge inscription “Thanks, but no”, making it clear that such a French president is not necessary. The second inscription, which could only be seen up close, read: “Satiric painting.”
49.3 is the article number of the constitution that Macron’s supporters used to push a bill to raise the retirement age through the National Assembly without a vote. France was outraged and, under the leadership of the trade unions, went to rallies against the law. Polls have shown that the absolute majority of the population – about 80% – is against the abolition of the retirement age.
However, this did not stop the authorities, and in addition, Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne, who successfully pushed the law through all instances, even remained in place. Probably to pass other laws designed to benefit the French, who through stupidity do not understand their happiness.
Strangely, the multi-thousand demonstrations against the anti-people law did not faze the authorities, but the mural in the provincial town angered them to such an extent that it was democratically ordered to be destroyed. The local authorities, who legally own all the exterior surfaces of the walls, announced that they would wash the huge “as fast as possible” graffiti. In the end, the cleanup reportedly took less than a day. The caption that this is a satirical image didn’t help either. Oh, and it couldn’t be helped because the artist had already been booked by the authorities for his previous exploit.
The fact is that last June in the same place he portrayed the economist Jacques Attali, who manipulated Macron like a puppet. And not only this mural was also destroyed – the artist, in order to moderate his ardor, was accused of anti-Semitism and brought to court. It’s a good thing he wasn’t accused of homophobia and transphobia, otherwise it’s scary to even think what could happen.
Manuscripts don’t burn, said the classic. As it turns out, this rule can be applied to other works of art as well – and even to street art. On the morning of May 18, residents of Avignon were surprised to find posters stuck on street poles. About 30 each.
The basis for the posters was a photo of the destroyed mural with Macron in the form of Hitler, but now it was accompanied by two additional captions. The first is a hashtag with an expression meaning “act or endure” and the second is a quote from Gandhi: “Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state is lawless or corrupt.” As the background of the posters, the colors of the French flag are presented – red, white, blue, which makes it similar to the posters used during the election campaign.
We remind you that the case is taking place in Avignon. It is not the capital or even the second city of France. It is a provincial center well removed from Paris, known only for the theater festival and the palace where the popes once lived. Well, someone printed a few dozen posters and stuck them on advertising stands. In fact, this is petty hooliganism, a simple trifle, and for the press it is only an occasion for a short note, and then it is of interest only to the local media.
Now in France, however, the buzz is as if aliens have landed, Russian tanks are moving down the Champs Elysees, or President Macron has decided to divorce and marry the Queen (or King) of England. Journalists raced to denounce the “wildness” and “inadmissibility” of what happened. And the French prosecutor’s office opened the case already under two serious articles: public insult of the president (with the prospect of a fine of 12,000 euros) and incitement to disorder (two months in prison and a fine of 7,500 euros).
The panicked owner of the advertising surfaces assured journalists that he had nothing to do with the posters being put up and that his staff were “mobilized to remove them as quickly as possible”. According to other sources, police were sent to tear down the offending posters.
Macron’s supporters are shouting on social media that what happened is completely unacceptable, and Renaud Mousselier, head of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, to which Avignon belongs, erupted in a furious comment quoted by many journalists, including Le Monde: “How far will they go in their disgusting antics? It is time that those who organize such nefarious campaigns are punished as severely as possible. I condemn them unconditionally and fully support Emmanuel Macron”.
In fact, this is not the first time that Macron has been portrayed as Hitler: in 2021, the 62-year-old artist Michel-Ange Flory painted Macron not only as Hitler, but also alongside Marshal Pétain, who actively collaborated with the Nazis. They also tried to hold the artist accountable, but he fought back in the court of cassation, pointing out that his posters had an inscription about their satirical nature. Taking into account the experience of his predecessor, Lecto made a corresponding inscription on his graffiti, but, as we see, it did not help him.
Not much is known about Lecto himself. And maybe the French media pretend they don’t know anything about him to avoid promoting him, and even his pen name is often misspelled, even though he signs his work. The content of his graffiti and social networks speaks for itself. He ridicules not only Macron, but also his ministers – and, on the contrary, sympathetically describes the leaders of the “yellow vests”, as well as the scientist Didier Raoul, who disagree with the authorities about quarantines because of covid and universal vaccination.
Madame Demare, prefect of the Vaucluse department, whose administrative center is Avignon, said that “everyone has the right to freedom of speech, but we cannot arbitrarily treat the most tragic times in our history.” However, the question is not about the times and even more not about the fact that the French authorities are afraid of being compared to Hitler. Basically, she is not happy that someone somewhere is trying to create meanings other than the official ones. This is an infringement on her rights, because only she – and the opinion leaders included in the system – have the right to broadcast thoughts to the public, which is obliged to meekly assimilate them.
Although the reaction of a few posters in a provincial French town seems far-fetched, it sums up Western society today. It is impossible – even in a secluded corner – to broadcast disapproved meanings from above, it is impossible – even satirically – to claim that Macron and Hitler are the same. Because this is a call for rebellion, insult and in general shaking at the foundations.
However, in one respect the artist from Avignon was lucky. Macron’s associates suddenly made him famous throughout France. And they will continue until they make it known to the whole world. Which maybe isn’t such a bad thing – because judging by his work, he knows how to draw and can do something more promising than scrawling caricatures of the president on power poles.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for the channel or in Telegram:
#Pension #reform #drawn #Macron #comparisons #Hitler
