Star host, daring journalist, formidable critic: media artisans have fueled the imagination of film and series producers for ages. However, they do not go out of their way to caricature the Fourth Estate, which often leaves viewers with a negative view of the profession.
The most recent film by French director Bruno Dumont bears witness to this. France, in theaters on November 5 in Quebec, features Léa Seydoux in the role of a popular host and television reporter who does not hesitate to go into the field to report the misery of the world.
His notoriety, however, rests much more on his nerve and beauty than on his journalistic talent. Whether on board a migrant boat crossing the Mediterranean or in a war zone, France de Meurs likes to put itself forward and stage its reports. With “action” and “cut”, she plays with reality and deceives her viewers who see nothing but fire.
One day, distracted, she crashes a scooter and tastes the dark side of her popularity. Press people lashes out, the TV star sinks into depression. She questions her family and her job, which she leaves briefly to finally come back again, without changing her working method. May the information-spectacle continue!
Director Bruno Dumont recognizes it straight away: his film is intended to be a satire of the media world. “Like all satire, it exaggerates. But as in any exaggeration, there is an element of truth, ”he maintains in an interview with the To have to.
In his eyes, the world of cinema and that of television journalism have more in common than it seems. By working with sounds and images, by making plans, cuts and editing, “both offer fiction”.
“When we see in a report that a journalist rings at someone’s house, but the camera is already inside [en train de filmer la personne qui ouvre], it’s staging, he believes. It’s okay, but it’s still lying to viewers. “
“I do not condemn the profession, insists Bruno Dumont. […] It is a profession which is noble, because it conveys the truth of the world, but at the same time, it is stuck in an industry which forces him to profitability. [et] to do anything. And it is this contradiction that his main character embodies.
Ready for anything
Journalists with more than elastic ethics and deontology, the small and the big screen have seen tons of it. Information professionals are often portrayed as people who will do anything to get information. scoops and taste the glory. For that, they do not hesitate to lie, to manipulate, to cheat. They are also sensationalist, biased and distort the facts.
“What is a shame is that it is always very romanticized, it does not represent the real profession”, deplores Marie-Ève Martel, journalist for the daily The Voice of the East. “We do this job for the public good, not for personal glory. […] We respect very strict ethical and deontological standards, we base ourselves on verified and double-checked facts as well as on transparency. “
I do not condemn the profession. […] It is a profession which is noble, because it conveys the truth of the world, but at the same time, it is stuck in an industry which forces him to profitability. [et] to do anything.
In fiction, caricature is often taken to the extreme in his opinion. She gives the example of the series Clickbait, available for a few months on Netflix. “One of the characters is a journalist, the ambitious classic who wants to make his mark and obtain the exclusive interview with the victim’s wife. […] He ends up crossing the line: he breaks into someone’s house, he steals a phone, he uses the information to achieve his ends. “
Other examples? The Richard Jewell case, directed by Clint Eastwood in 2019, which is based on the true story of a security guard falsely accused of planting a bomb during the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. In the feature, journalist Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) offers sex to an FBI agent in exchange for the identity of the suspect in the investigation. The scene created a controversy, the daily The Atlanta Journal-Constitution having threatened to attack the director for defamation for having distorted the facts and harmed the image of their journalist who died in 2001.
A journalist who sleeps to get his hands on privileged information is a scenario seen and reviewed in fiction. Just think of the character of Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) in the series House of Cards, who has sex with Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey), Democratic Party Whip in the House of Representatives.
Even in romantic comedies, media professionals are routinely portrayed as manipulators and liars to achieve their personal glory (27 dresses, Just married, How to lose your boyfriend in ten days, to only cite a few).
“Even if it is presented as a work of fiction, it still gives a biased image of our profession and in the long run, it can be damaging to the image of the profession”, insists Marie-Ève Martel.
Cynicism
The professor at UQAM’s Media School Pierre Barrette is not surprised to see this type of scenario multiply, recalling that films and TV series are going “in the direction of the wind” and project, certainly with exaggeration. , the prejudices that circulate in society. “There is a certain cynicism towards the journalistic community. The media are no longer perceived as a counter-power, but as a power which goes too far, which uses its privileged position to seek advantages – financial for example – from other powers. “
He also argues that portraying reality would not make such good entertainment. “A journalist spends a lot of time sitting at his desk, on the phone, looking on the Internet, it is immediately less interesting. And this is valid for any profession: teacher like me, doctor, paramedic, model… It’s always frustrating to see your own profession represented in an exaggerated way. “
Marie-Ève Martel nevertheless believes that fiction could better educate the population about the essential role played by the media, rather than fueling mistrust towards them. She gives as an example the film Spotlight (2015), taken from a true story, that of the investigation bureau of the American daily Boston Globe, which exposed the sexual abuse scandal within the Catholic Church in 2002.
For his part, Bruno Dumont is intractable. “To make cinema, we look for the tragic, the grotesque. To find the real life of a journalist, you have to go into the documentary. “
France hits theaters on September 5.