That French stereotype we all love to hate: over-philosophizing and gazing wistfully into the distance. Often with a black beret. And a cigarette.
The first of two perfect examples of this is a very ill-advised 1968 song and video by two legendary figures --Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. I can't decide whether my favorite part is the "woo-oo-oo-oo" vocalized record-scratching sounds in the background or the fact that this was meant in all seriousness, without a trace of irony. If the humor lies entirely in its humorlessness, is it really the actors we are laughing at? Or are we laughing at a shadow of our own humanity reflected, as Sartre describes, through the existential...Oh what the hell. Just watch the video.
The second video is, in fact, created to be humorous. Though I am not at all a cat person, I think this captures a certain "je ne sais quoi" about the French perfectly. Yes, I know Henri has an atrocious French accent and sometimes translates idioms word for word, but I think this is a winner whether you read the English subtitles or listen to the "original" French soundtrack. Hey, can seven million youtube viewers be wrong (why yes, yes they can; just look at "Gangham Style")?
The first of two perfect examples of this is a very ill-advised 1968 song and video by two legendary figures --Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. I can't decide whether my favorite part is the "woo-oo-oo-oo" vocalized record-scratching sounds in the background or the fact that this was meant in all seriousness, without a trace of irony. If the humor lies entirely in its humorlessness, is it really the actors we are laughing at? Or are we laughing at a shadow of our own humanity reflected, as Sartre describes, through the existential...Oh what the hell. Just watch the video.
The second video is, in fact, created to be humorous. Though I am not at all a cat person, I think this captures a certain "je ne sais quoi" about the French perfectly. Yes, I know Henri has an atrocious French accent and sometimes translates idioms word for word, but I think this is a winner whether you read the English subtitles or listen to the "original" French soundtrack. Hey, can seven million youtube viewers be wrong (why yes, yes they can; just look at "Gangham Style")?
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