Judgements

I admit that I watched "The Girl from Paris" on Friday, long before I did any readings for the week, despite it not being due until Wednesday. I just have enjoyed the movies this semester too much to resist!

I was originally just going to write about the perspectives in the movie of women, but after the readings I realized that women weren't the only group of people that face stereotypes, people from isolated rural places (like farms) also have many stereotypes. Therefore, I want to discuss how both are represented in the movie.

As can be seen, especially in the beginning, women are viewed as incompetent in many ways. Sandrine is told constantly that she cannot accomplish her dreams, that she is a fool for wanting to create a new life for herself, and even that she cannot survive for long without a man. Even as she demonstrates her dedication to becoming a farmer, she does not receive much credit until it helps someone else. For example, the man who shows her the farm tells Adrien how competent she is to convince him to sell. Adrien himself does not seem to believe that she can succeed until he defends her because the other farmers tell him that he should have sold to one of them.

Interestingly, these same interactions seem to highlight the stereotypes of farmers. He exclaims at various points that people from the city believe that they can farm better and are more competant just because they have more education. When he is not behaving like a hermit, however, he very clearly demonstrates his competence. Not only can he do farmwork, he demonstrates just how much more difficult and strategic it is than most people typically think. In fact, he is even shown doing things like fixing complex machinery that are thought to be more intellectually challenging.

1. The Girl from Paris /Une Hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps (dir. Christian Carion, 2001)