a controversy that Emmanuel Macron himself initiated

Since the support shown by the President of the Republic for Gérard Depardieu in the program “C à vous”, the controversy has continued to grow. This climate will weigh on the transition to the new year while Emmanuel Macron will make his wishes on Sunday.

Emmanuel Macron, who will present his New Year’s greetings on Sunday December 31 in the evening, is preparing an initiative in January. With the backdrop of a Depardieu affair which will have occupied all the space. The President of the Republic made an appointment with the nation at the beginning of January and the country will have lived through at least eight days of a controversy that Emmanuel Macron himself initiated.

It all started with the presidential interview in “C à Vous” on Wednesday December 20 on France 5. The law on immigration, passed with pain, supported by the French, an object of division within the majority, was suddenly supplanted by the Gérard Depardieu case. The question was whether Emmanuel Macron did not go too far in defending the man he described as “an immense actor, victim of a manhunt.” Not a word for the supposed victims. While violence against women was made a major cause of the five-year term in 2017.

The president would have wanted to light a counterfire to the immigration law but he would not have done it otherwise. The newspaper The worldwho reported doubts from his wife Brigitte, saw it as an opportunity for the head of state to address an older electorate who was resistant to Wokist theses.

Difficult to escape the Depardieu surge

Everything, from the start, is excessive in this controversy. All ! And firstly, because it is the triggering element, the sexist words and attitudes of Gérard Depardieu, broadcast two weeks previously in “Complément d’investigation” on France 2. Excessive, too, the raging debate since then, between those who want to erase the ogre from the screens, from the collective memory. And happily sit on the presumption of innocence… and those who defend him staunchly. What followed was a battle of stands, that of around fifty artists in Le Figaro to say “Don’t delete Gérard Depardieu”, versus that of MeTooMedias in The world to criticize Emmanuel Macron’s position. In this story, which occupies an exorbitant place in the media space, you are for or you are against! There is nothing in the middle, no room for nuance.

This climate will weigh on the transition to the new year. It’s difficult to escape the Depardieu wave. It tells of our inability to debate calmly, to understand social issues at their true value. In this confrontation, we find ourselves face to face: men against women, the ancients against the moderns, the silent majority against the wokes.

A week with Gégé and France was on fire. At the beginning of December, Emmanuel Macron spoke of sending a message of unity to the French… good idea! It is time for this country to learn to talk to itself again. It’s never too late.