Going into the intimacy of Marine Le Pen, is it activism? | Slate.fr – Slate.fr

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After many weeks of denial, we will have to face the facts: apparently, within a few months, a presidential election will take place in France. The time to choose between plague, cholera, and genital herpes. I made inquiries and I regret to inform you that no, unfortunately, we will not be able to cut it.

To get in the mood for the countryside, nothing like the return of the show “An intimate ambition” (M6), in which Karine Le Marchand curls up on a sofa and toasts with political figures as if we were in a brunch scene from Sex and the City. On the program, hard-hitting and uncompromising questions like “The future, do you think about it?”, “Did you gain weight? [pendant le confinement]? “ or “Do you feel like a phoenix?”.

“An intimate ambition”, this is the opportunity to learn a lot of fun facts useless and absurd on our political personalities: the fact that the baby of the sister of Marlene Schiappa was called GORBATCHEV, that Valérie Pécresse has a fetish for cheese (same), or that Rachida Dati can slip on three chocolate bars before going to bed (politicians: they’re like us!). We also discover that Pécresse has the same nesting coffee tables as the rest of the world, thatAnne Hidalgo love to sing, and that Nicolas sarkozy likes Anne Hidalgo.

Women politicians

This week, the show is entirely devoted to “women politicians in power”, an editorial choice that provokes a whole bunch of contrary emotions: on the one hand, it’s nice to think that there are enough female candidates. and elected to fill an entire evening. This format at least has the merit of drawing attention to the specific difficulties that women encounter in the spheres of power.

We see for example the sequence where Marlène Schiappa was criticized for being late in the Assembly, when she had to take care of her sick child. Or Valérie Pécresse who, after having detailed the sexism that reigned at HEC during her studies, affirms that “The guilt of the bad mother, we put it on women politicians, and that explains why some women do not want the leading role”.

On the other hand, Anne Hidalgo’s husband has to be heard claiming that he is “Hyper feminist”, because he cooks and does the shopping. And that of Marlène Schiappa explain that he has “Recovered a lot of mental load” to support her in her work. That these men be immediately awarded the Legion of Honor.

And then, it’s quite sad to be still at the stage where women are grouped together in a box dedicated to them, rather than being treated as politicians like the others. A reproach that we can address against the show, but which will be erased quite quickly, since the program will lose interest in their function in favor of their role as girlfriends (girlfriends whose speaking time is counted down by the CSA, anyway). Karine Le Marchand makes it clear from the first seconds: “This show is not militant.” Can we make (and watch) a political program without activism? This is the challenge of the evening.

On the program, therefore, of this non-militant Sunday, a dive into the“privacy” by Marine Le Pen, Anne Hidalgo, Valérie Pécresse, Rachida Dati and Marlène Schiappa. A single girl from the left out of the five guests: a militant choice or a simple representation of the modern political spectrum in France? That would make a great theme for a presentation at Sciences Po, just like the first part devoted to Marine Le Pen, which will undoubtedly give birth to magnificent subjects of Grand oral. Like: “Normalization of the extreme right: what consequences have Marine Le Pen’s cats on French political life?” Or: “Depoliticize reality does it amount to repoliticizing it for the benefit of far-right felines? “

If there is one thing for sure, it is that the Rassemblement national (RN) communication team has learned the lessons of the internet: when in doubt, balance pictures of kittens. While Anne Hidalgo, Valérie Pécresse, Rachida Dati and Marlène Schiappa received Karine Le Marchand at their workplace, we discover Marine Le Pen at home, eating crumble and cuddling cats. (As for Valérie Pécresse, we will still have the opportunity to see her simulate a game of Trivial Pursuit with her family).

“And you Mistinguette, what do you think of European migration policy?”

In another sequence, we see the figurehead of the RN planting bulbs in his vegetable garden, then presenting us “Those she loves and who accompany her in the mission she has given herself” (personally, the only missions that interest me are those carried out by Ethan Hunt). We are also told that for the past few years, Marine Le Pen has been living in a shared apartment with Ingrid, her childhood friend, and that she nicknamed the latter Beelzebub – to think about.

Finally, after three hours of broadcast, we haven’t learned much, except the difficulty of depoliticizing a program devoted to political figures. Staging the privacy of elected officials in this way may not be seen as a militant act, but one wonders how relevant it is. It is one thing to give an interview to public figures. It’s another to drink with them on their sofa and offer them Côte d’Or chocolate bars, isn’t it?