April 26, 2017

Does it matter that French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has a wife who's 25 years older than him...

... and whom he fell in love with when she was his drama teacher and he was 15?

Here's the mockery in The Daily Mail, by Jan Moir:
How can I get the world to take me seriously if they think I am a mummy’s boy with a wife who is 25 years older than him?...

‘Bibi’, as I call her, was 40 and married with three children when we met. It was complicated, but I knew I had to be with her. Mama and Papa sent me away to Paris to stop the romance, but I wooed her from afar....

Now.... a website has suggested I am secretly gay and live a double life. What? I got so upset, Brigitte had to calm me down with a Babybel and a carton of juice. This wild allegation is impossible!...
You get the level of the humor over there. Anyway, it's a question of judgment, is it not? Does the relationship say anything about the man's fitness to serve as President? I know people will compare it to a man marrying a much younger woman. For example, Melania is 23 years younger than Donald Trump. But Trump didn't meet Melania when he was 38 and she was 15, and he wasn't her high school teacher. It's the short-circuiting of young life that is so disturbing. A 15 year old deserves a chance to develop, not to be snatched up by a much older adult who finds him cute and an easy mark because of his inexperience, his admiration for the person in the teacher position, and (perhaps) some sort of struggle over sexual orientation.

So here's Zoe Williams at The Guardian, pushing back against The Daily Mail:
[I]f Madame Macron were a male drama teacher, leaving his marriage for a student whom he met when she was 15, then, even if they waited until she (the hypothetical student) were 18, as the Macrons did in real life, the feminist would still have a thing or two to say. The double whammy of her being so much older, and in a position of authority, sets the relationship off on an imbalance. The common sense, middle-of-the-road, Delia Smith-style feminist would say, well, after two decades together, we can probably be satisfied that their feelings are authentic, and not the result of some authority fetish on one side, and a controlling nature on the other. But the more hardcore, absolutist, Nigella-style feminist would nope the whole thing, on the basis that a relationship conceived on an unequal footing can never find its balance.

In order to overlook all of that, because the gender roles are reversed, you would have to consider it impossible for a woman to exert power over a man, regardless of her age and position. ...

I’m going to go with: “The heart wants what it wants.” These are dizzy times and we all have fascists to fight.
The Guardian writer uses the old Woody Allen quote. I would have thought you'd only use that if you wanted to criticize what the older person did. And yet I see there's a 2014 pop song with that title, so perhaps the line has different meaning to Zoe Williams.

Anyway, Williams misses the main point, which isn't what we think of the marriage, but what we think of Macron's judgment. He's offering to run a country. His private life only matters as evidence of whether he'd made a good President.

ADDED: I guess that last line — "we all have fascists to fight" — can be taken to mean that nothing about Macron matters. The opponent is Le Pen, and she must be defeated, so brush aside any concern about Macron. Too late for any of that. We're down to the final two. That kind of thinking is so reminiscent of how many Americans experienced the 2016 election. We know how that turned out.

87 comments:

mockturtle said...

Mary Kay Letourneau went to prison.

jaydub said...

Zoe thinks Le Pen's a fascist, so she's going with the typical leftist position of whatever it takes. But, what if she's wrong like the Dems were/are? How do you walk back "whatever it takes" once you realize you made a huge mistake and it took everything you had?

I'm Full of Soup said...

Seems like damaging info about liberal candidates does not come out until it is almost too late. For example, in the recent GA elcetion, no one reported, until election day, that Jon Ossoff could not vote because he did not live in the congressional district.

That said, this Macron news is very weird - if he were a conservative, it would have terminated his political career years ago.

MadisonMan said...

He's offering to run a country. His private life only matters as evidence of whether he'd made a good President.

To run the Country now, not as a 15-yo. I would not like to be judged by the actions of my 15-yo self.

Bob Ellison said...

Judgment is racist.

tim in vermont said...

She has a vagina, why are we still discussing this? Of course she must win!

Ann Althouse said...

"To run the Country now, not as a 15-yo. I would not like to be judged by the actions of my 15-yo self."

Of course, but I'd like to know the extent to which his mental development was stunted and distorted by short-circuiting the usual life events (including, perhaps, coming to terms with homosexuality).

To be enclosed from late childhood in a relationship with an elder authority figure and never to leave that relationship... what does that do to you?

Bay Area Guy said...

It's a typically weird relationship and a typcally French relationship, which may be redundant.

I look back fondly at age 15 in the 1970s. Much thought and energy was devoted to high school dances, beer, learning to drive and 15-year old girls.

Here, however, let us not forget to apply the Milo standard. Since Macron was the kid, he was the innocent victim. His then 40-year old girlfriend, though, has some serious 'splaining to do. That he later married her, adds another layer of intrigue.

I wonder how his stepchildren feel about it.

Another reason to vote for Le Pen.

bleh said...

It's the French way to have a mistress, right? I hope, for his sake, that he's had other romantic relationships with women who weren't his teacher or two decades older than him. Or men, whatever floats his boat.

4chan is pushing the theory that he's banging his 30 year old stepdaughter.

Brando said...

What on earth does this suggest about his judgment? This is taking an oddity about his private life, which is neither criminal nor immoral, and trying to make it into something. As for this "wouldn't we be much harsher on him if he was a young women who seduced an older man" I think the fact is we'd actually be much harsher on the older man in the scenario than we are to the older women. Think about how in pop culture the idea of the "MILF" is hilarious hijinks but a "DILF" would be seen as creepy and exploitative. There's your double standard question.

Meantime, what are these two candidates planning to do about France's economy? If our unemployment rate was just below 10% we'd be talking about that a lot more than the relative ages of the candidates' spouses.

damikesc said...

A rapist as first lady seems like a bad idea.

Virgil Hilts said...

In France the French President is allowed (expected!) to have numerous affairs (and out of wedlock children) with women his own age or (preferably) much younger. I think you're not supposed to have more than one extra-marital mistress at a time (un scandale) but otherwise pas de problème. So it's not like he's exclusively tied to this much older woman until/unless they divorce; so long as they enjoy each other's company, the marriage makes sense.

Kate said...

If you reverse the sexes, you must also mention fertility. Macron married a woman whose clock has ticked out. An older man will marry a younger woman for a do-over on breeding. I don't trust a man who disregards his progeny potential.

MikeR said...

"the Milo standard". Whoa. The Milo standard is that Milo has been pilloried by almost everyone from both the left and also the non-alt-right. This is called enabling a rapist, and apologizing for statutory rape.

Martha said...

I question the judgment of the older—much older—woman involved. Brigitte Trogneux was a married mother of three and 15 year old Macron's high school teacher when their relationship began. Her daughter was/is the same age as her lover. That is so weird I cannot wrap my head around it.

Brando said...

"An older man will marry a younger woman for a do-over on breeding."

If for any reason I find myself married to a much younger woman, I will phrase it as a do-over on breeding. Yes, I no longer work at Hallmark, why do you ask?

Matt Sablan said...

"These are dizzy times and we all have fascists to fight."

-- ... Well, I guess there really is no vice in support of the correct politics.

Honestly, Marcon's private life is just that. After 20 plus years, I'm willing to believe the two of them if they say it is a perfectly fine relationship. Weird; I wouldn't do it, but whatever. Still, I think that's a better defense than: "We have fascists to fight, so our side can do no wrong!"

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Where were these women when I was at school? My teachers were old, ugly and mean, except for Miss Smith (sigh).

MadisonMan said...

Was her daughter named Stacy?

Matt Sablan said...

"4chan is pushing the theory that he's banging his 30 year old stepdaughter."

-- Well, they aren't exactly known for being on the ball all the time. Sometimes they're right... but... then there's the rest of the time.

Laslo Spatula said...

I have a hard time seeing how this didn't stunt him emotionally and psychologically: his development in the world was shaped inside the vessel of her already-formed understanding of the world.

She divorced her husband, who she had married when she was twenty. I wonder if she feels she married too young, without knowing yet what would really be important to her?

If so, does she not see the contradiction of denying the boy his own chance to mature?

Her children are closer in age to him than he is to her (her daughter Tiphaine is only six years younger than he is). How does one love a fifteen year old boy while mothering a nine-year old daughter?

From The Washington Post:

The two first met when Macron was 15 years old at the high school in Amiens where then-Brigitte Trogneux taught a French and a theater class. Whatever you do, I'll marry you!” Macron told her there.

Did she see this as a mature man and not a moonstruck boy? Has their marriage stunted HER growth -- living in a romantic fantasy with a boy?

But then, as Marvin Gaye once said:

We're all sensitive people
With so much to give, understand me sugar
Since we got to be here
Let's live, I love you

So there is that.

I am Laslo.

Heywood Rice said...

That kind of thinking is so reminiscent of how many Americans experienced the 2016 election. We know how that turned out.

I'm going to have to go with Woody on that as well.

a guy walks into a psychiatrist's office and says, hey doc, my brother's crazy! He thinks he's a chicken. Then the doc says, why don't you turn him in? Then the guy says, I would but I need the eggs.

John Enright said...

"The heart wants what it wants" is allegedly a quotation from one of Emily Dickinson's letters.

mockturtle said...

"The heart wants what it wants" is allegedly a quotation from one of Emily Dickinson's letters.

And from the prophet Jeremiah: The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

Brando said...

"Honestly, Marcon's private life is just that. After 20 plus years, I'm willing to believe the two of them if they say it is a perfectly fine relationship. Weird; I wouldn't do it, but whatever. Still, I think that's a better defense than: "We have fascists to fight, so our side can do no wrong!""

Pretty much. Plus, this is France--where it's normal, even expected, for the wealthy and connected to have mistresses. Macron's story seems pretty tame by those standards.

sparrow said...

From my standpoint there's plenty not to like about the wife: she broke up the family to pursue an adulterous affair. That's bad enough, but it's compounded by the disparity in age and her abuse of her position. At this point he's accepted and rationalized this odd situation. So that's direct evidence of bad judgement and disregard for the consequences of his actions (ie the influence on the stepchildren). The continued relationship shows he's likely to double down on his mistakes to satisfy his own desires rather than seek to correct his errors.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Which candidate is going to place a boot in the face of radical Islam?

sparrow said...

Only Le Pen clearly

dreams said...

"Which candidate is going to place a boot in the face of radical Islam?"

Not Macron.

Bob Boyd said...

sparrow said...
"bad judgement and disregard for the consequences of his actions....likely to double down on his mistakes to satisfy his own desires rather than seek to correct his errors."

Sounds globalist to me.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Don't get excited about Le Pen - she will not win.

This Macron guy will win easily, older wife and all.

(new name alert!)

holdfast said...

If Macron were a WWE wrestler, his walk-on song would be "Hot For Teacher".

holdfast said...

Mine would be "Fireball" by Pitbul. Because 'Murica!

dreams said...

Yeah, most people expect Macron to win but remember Hillary and Brexit. I don't have an opinion about who will win.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Dreams - it won't even be close.

Le Pen is not a French Donald Trump. While we would all love to see a strong radical Islamic ass-kicking female win, Le Pen's baggage will prevent it.

dreams said...

"Sounds globalist to me."

He is a globalist.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Teacher...?"

"Yes, Emmanuel?"

"Teacher... I love you."

"Oh, don't be silly. You are a child; I am a grown woman. Our worlds are different."

"But you are the moon and the stars in my night sky."

"And you: you are barely older than the children of my womb."

"My love for you knows no age."

"But you will grow older, and I'll be older yet."

"That doesn't matter. This is a love of Souls, not Bodies."

"You ARE persistent, little man! If we are to do this, we will need to keep it a secret."

"Of course. Our love will only be known to ourselves, and the Universe."

"Okay, Emmanuel: we shall give this a chance."

"Great! Can I ask you two things?"

"Of course, Emmanuel."

"One: can I call you Brigitte, Teacher?"

"Yes. If we are to go forward, you must call me by my name. What is the second thing?"

"Can you suck my cock now, real gooshy-like...?"

I am Laslo.

MikeR said...

Macron will probably win. But ISIL might decide to hack the election, with a terrorist attack.

wendybar said...

Kinda like the male teacher and his 15 year old "wife" that were in the news recently...and like Mary Kay Letourneau...he is in prison.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

AReasonableMan said...
Where were these women when I was at school? My teachers were old, ugly and mean, except for Miss Smith (sigh).


4/26/17, 8:02 AM

So when straight boys are seduced by older women, they're lucky. When a gay man speaks of having enjoyed being seduced by an older man, he's a vile pedophile, even though he was the minor who was seduced, not the older seducer. Why?

What is the difference between an older woman seducing a straight boy and a older man seducing a gay boy?

I find both situations creepy. I think it's an abuse of the adult's power. But I'm consistent that way.

Bob Boyd said...

"Does it matter that French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has a wife who's 25 years older than him and whom he fell in love with when she was his drama teacher and he was 15?"


It's just a phase he's he's going through.

Sebastian said...

"even if they waited until she (the hypothetical student) were 18, as the Macrons did in real life, the feminist would still have a thing or two to say." Of course. Since feminism is the theory that women re special.

In a case of adult rape of a 15-year old (assuming it in fact occurred here), the question is not about the "judgment" of the teenager.

But Macron is a moderate pro-EU pro-open-borders, otherwise blank-slatish moderate lefty, ditching the socialist affiliation of his former boss Hollande to run as an "independent." The trick worked.

traditionalguy said...

Marring Daddy is a tradition as old as the Patriarchy, but marring Mother is a French one started by the our on King's courtesans.

But a boy loving Cherie has trouble when Mother dies.

MayBee said...

Nobody really means "the heart wants what it wants". They really mean, "I think this is ok even though you think it's icky".

I do think he has a great name, though. It's such a great name for a French Prime Minister.

traditionalguy said...

Damn spell check. The Bourbon Kings named Louis.

Jupiter said...

"His private life only matters as evidence of whether he'd made a good President."

He's a fucking Communist! It doesn't matter where he sticks his dick, it's where he wants to stick his hand they'd better watch out for.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

exiledonmainstreet said...
But I'm consistent that way.


No, you remain a humorless old partisan hack who happily defended an advocate of pederasty just the other day.

mtrobertslaw said...

Perhaps they are soul mates, a relationship that is said to stand outside of time. Of course this archaic idea is out of favor today and therefore doesn't exist.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

AReasonableMan said...
exiledonmainstreet said...
But I'm consistent that way.

No, you remain a humorless old partisan hack who happily defended an advocate of pederasty just the other day."

I'm in my mid-50's, ARM. I see you've picked up on the silly "you're OLD!" taunt from Ritmo. Actually, I think I'm a bit younger than most of the commenters here. How old are you?

And you appear to be making light of pederasty in this thread. Really, if it's fine for straight boys to be seduced by older women, why does the same standard not apply to gay boys? I've said numerous time that I do not approve of either scenario, so you're clearly and obviously lying about that too.


exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

And I am certainly not humorless. You have made me laugh plenty of times, although most of the time I'm sure it was unintentional on your part.

Anonymous said...

Our neighbors down the street have a fifteen year old boy who is good friends with our family. I'm 35. The very notion makes me shudder. Our culture is so base, it makes me sad for my children. (And I include Trump in that indictment.) -- Jessica

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

You ducked the fact that you endlessly defended an advocate of pederasty just the other day. You are the complete partisan hypocrite. You are exactly the sort of person who weighs down these comment sections with your mindless, humorless partisan hackery. But I guess you have nothing else going on in your life so we have to tolerate your pathology until you tire of this distraction from your empty soulless life and move on to inflict your pathology on some other benighted souls.

Static Ping said...

Teachers should not be romantic relationships with their students. Married women should not be having affairs with 15-year-olds. Women should not be having romantic relationships with boys younger than their oldest child. There are all sorts of good reasons why the above assertions should be honored.

That said, it seems to work for them. Rules are typically designed without exceptions in mind. My guess is 99% of the relationships that violated the rules above would be complete disasters. Maybe the two that could make it work found each other. Maybe it doesn't work and they put up a good front.

As to leadership, there have been many good leaders who were weird or eccentric. There have been many normal people who have failed miserably. You should vote for whomever you think will work best. My opinion is everyone but Le Pen wants more of the same and more of the same is cultural suicide, so you know where I stand. If the French reject Le Pen and do not change course, in the future a true Fascist is the best they can expect. The worst is much much worse.

I Callahan said...

Mary Kay Letourneau went to prison.

In France, she'd have been celebrated...

buwaya said...

The irresponsibility is worst on his part, towards producing heirs of his body, for the sake of his family, clan and tribe.

The wife also was irresponsible towards her own family, but she doesnt matter.

I cant fault M. Macron for immorality, as such.

In French terms the personal morals of its leaders are not terribly significant, as pointed out above, and M. Hollande the incumbent himself has had a complicated personal life, having four children without ever having married. Not that Hollande can be said to have been a success.

Le Pen herself, not a very good Catholic it seems, has had two husbands and currently seems to have a live-in lover (there should be a term for a male mistress these days, shouldn't there?). So no great difference vs M. Hollande.

As far as leadership goes the problem with M. Macron is not morality as such, but masculinity. That may or may not be an issue as a matter of leadership. History is full of successful edge cases. Frederick the Great and Eugene of Savoy come to mind.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Another candidate for the bad writing and bad thinking trophy:

"the extent to which his mental development was stunted and distorted"

"short-circuiting the usual life events"

"to be enclosed from late childhood in a relationship"

Next we'll see a Girls post on how Hannah stunted and distorted Elijah's mental development. No, only cougars can stunt and distort? Only teachers? Only cougar teachers? Newt Gingrich would like to comment.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"You ducked the fact that you endlessly defended an advocate of pederasty just the other day."

And you ducked the fact that Milo said he does not advocate for any change in the consent laws.

And again, I ask, why is it so much worse for a gay boy to be seduced by an older man than it is for a straight boy to be seduced by an older woman? If gayness per se is not wrong, they should both be morally equivalent, no?

I think they are - and I think both are wrong.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

ARM, be honest. You disliked Milo and excused the riots at Berkeley before the controversy about what he said became public. You jumped on that and are flogging it to death because you are happy to see a conservative/libertarian voice shut up and any tool to do it with is fine with you, whether it's a ginned up scandal or antifas hitting Trump supporters over the head with bike locks. You have already made it clear that you are indifferent to 1st Amendment protections for conservatives. That is the real root of your feigned disgust for Milo.

Regarding the topic of this thread, I personally find it incomprehensible that a mature woman could become infatuated with a gawky 15 year old - I don't care how smart or cute he was. However, the bigger problem facing France is not Macron's personal life. It's that France is nearing the abyss and is seemingly unwilling to change course.

buwaya said...

Complicated personal lives are not a new or modern thing of course, and in Europe hardly limited to the French.

I, we, are descended from a 19th century woman who was the acknowledged mistress of at least three Spanish officers/adventurers, who "married" her on their deathbeds, I suppose in order to legitimize the six children (it is unclear who among the three, if any, were the actual fathers, we were ghetto before ghetto was a thing), and not least, probably, to collect the government pensions. There are some novels in all that.

And more yet. In our own case, in the 19th century we have bigamy, abandoned women and children, marriages of convenience, etc. No priests fathering bastards, but that wasnt rare by any means.

The past was never quite as neat and orderly as some like to think.

Infinite Monkeys said...

I was beginning to doubt Le Pen's chances until I read this:
Rene' Saunce said...
Don't get excited about Le Pen - she will not win.

This Macron guy will win easily, older wife and all.

(new name alert!)

4/26/17, 8:29 AM

Freeman Hunt said...

From my standpoint there's plenty not to like about the wife: she broke up the family to pursue an adulterous affair. That's bad enough, but it's compounded by the disparity in age and her abuse of her position. At this point he's accepted and rationalized this odd situation. So that's direct evidence of bad judgement and disregard for the consequences of his actions (ie the influence on the stepchildren). The continued relationship shows he's likely to double down on his mistakes to satisfy his own desires rather than seek to correct his errors.

I think sparrow has the right insight.

The woman should have done time, and one hopes she would have if they'd lived here.

Kevin said...

"I guess that last line — "we all have fascists to fight" — can be taken to meant that nothing about Macron matters. The opponent is Le Pen, and she must be defeated, so brush aside any concern about Macron."

Do not think of anything - not of the candidates, their past deeds, their present entanglements, their contradictory policies, their total lack of success in lesser matters - do not think of anything, anything at all, beyond "they are all fascists and I must not be one of them".

That's what Tom Perez's t-shirt should really say.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Newt Gingrich also married his high school teacher, but she wasn't that much older than him. Maybe about 8 years older.

When she aged, he got another wife, and when she aged he got a third wife.

cubanbob said...

AReasonableMan said...

Regarding the hot teachers, I got to admit I agree with you on that. Never was that lucky when I was in High School. What some commenters here don't get (in their reverse PC( is that 15 year old boys have sex on the brain 24/7. They want to get some all of the time. They usually don't know how and are awkward and shy but they want it. The woman isn't tricking the kid into sex ( like a man tricks a young girl), she is giving him what he wants.

Whatever else one can say about French politics, they sure are interesting, much more so than ours.

Biotrekker said...

From "Harold and Maude":

Priest: "I would be remiss in my duty, if I did not tell you, that the idea of... intercourse - your firm, young... body... commingling with... withered flesh... sagging breasts... flabby b-b-buttocks... makes me want... to vomit."

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"What some commenters here don't get (in their reverse PC( is that 15 year old boys have sex on the brain 24/7. They want to get some all of the time."

Of course they do. And that includes gay boys. That is not a shock to anybody who remembers their teen years. If teenage boys were given everything teenage boys want the world would be a dumpster fire. Ideally, the adult in the relationship should have the maturity to exercise some self-restraint.

The 16 year old boys I knew were delighted when an older person bought them beer. That does not mean it is a good idea to buy 16 year olds six-packs.

Unknown said...

"The Heart wants what it wants" is actually an Emily Dickenson quote - "The Heart wants what it wants - or else it does not care". I always assumed Woody Allen was referencing Dickenson.

Laslo Spatula said...

Daddy Issues America...

Yes, I am a thirty-one-year-old teacher, born of well-to-do parents, who is sleeping with one of my students. Yes, Patriarchal Society would condemn me if it knew. However, I choose not to be judged by people who cannot understand The Depths of a Woman's Heart. The fact that my Father would not understand is just another reason why I want nothing to do with men like my Father: I will NOT choose a Life of Male-Dominated Misery...

I know what you must be thinking. "Poor little rich girl, what does she know about misery...?"

I know. Outwardly, I was everything a well brought up girl should be. Inside, I was screaming...

I saw my whole life as if I'd already lived it. Always the same narrow people, the same mindless chatter. I felt like I was standing at a great precipice, with no one to pull me back, no one who cared... or even noticed...

And I've never spoken of my Student Lover until now... Not to anyone... A woman's heart is a Deep Ocean of Secrets. But now you know there is a boy who is my student and that he saved me... in every way that a person can be saved...

So say what you will: it matters not to me. My Heart WILL Go On...

I am Laslo.

mockturtle said...

Laslo, you must know Mary Kay Letourneau! ;-) BTW, we lived in the same neighborhood but I didn't know who she was until the SHTF.

Sebastian said...

Look, we all know that only men and priests, especially male priests, can be rapists, especially of youngsters. Mary Kay got a bad break.

Laslo Spatula said...

My 11:36 comment is the set-up for my Theory that "Titanic" was the Biggest Daddy Issues Movie of All Time.

And became a Huge Hit because of Women With Daddy Issues.

Maybe I'll pursue this on a later Post that intersects with The Theory.

I am Laslo.

Earnest Prole said...

American progressive sexual politics do not translate well into French, and vice versa.

buwaya said...

I blame Romance novels. The female fantasies these indulge have created or reinforced social memes that have done all sorts of damage.

The Church used to put all these things on the Index, and when it was impossible to keep up local Bishops would certainly prohibit their use or acquisition by Catholic schools and institutions, even after the formal end of the Index. Even Catholic ones were rejected, like "The Thorn Birds", where there is no happy ending.

A few years ago I noticed some nuns picking up a pile of books for their quarters, and in there was "The Thorn Birds". Nuns reading "The Thorn Birds" explains a lot about modern times. I am not sure precisely what, but a lot.

The Church could do a lot worse than to re-institute the Index.

Laslo Spatula said...

Laslo: My 11:36 comment is the set-up for my Theory that "Titanic" was the Biggest Daddy Issues Movie of All Time.

buwaya: I blame Romance novels. The female fantasies these indulge have created or reinforced social memes that have done all sorts of damage.

"Titanic" was a Romance Novel on film.

The Laslo Convergence.

Beware.

I am Laslo.

buwaya said...

"Titanic" was a Romance Novel on film.

Yes of course it was. Its a bit difficult to escape Romance novels, their themes are now standard, and inserted into all sorts of media. This goes back to the late 18th century.
Their effect on everything else is not often mentioned though. I think it is a fruitful field of study.

The female fantasy is now a genuine, and absurd, unscientific and illogical expectation resulting from the overconsumption of mass media.
Its a bit like how alcoholism became a great social problem with the invention of distilled liquors.

FullMoon said...

They were married in 2007, when he was 29.

walter said...

My very hot French teacher (French surname and all..was reprimanded for revealing attire at work) in a very un-Fab small town of WI gave me a ride home for some reason.
It never occurred to me a "detour en route" might have been possible...though I'm sure I wished it. Why French? Spanish was taught be a very well groomed gay man...Fab in his own way I suppose.

Daniel Jackson said...

Earnest Prole said: "American progressive sexual politics do not translate well into French, and vice versa."

This is exactly the theme of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. American sensibilities do not go over in France--at all.

As for "stunting his growth," well he seems to have done fine in the banking and political world. His wife has done well regarding her choice of "men" and his step-children are helping out in his campaign.

Margaret Meade was want to say that we all have three loves of our life: the first is with someone older who teaches the way of the world; the second is with someone younger where we return the favor; the last is with someone our own age.

It would seem that this young man, not burdened with the hunt chose to stay with a sure thing.

Again, this guy came out of nowhere, knocked the fat cats of the established Left political elite from their expected place in the finals to face down another person from beyond the fringe who is also not on the Left.

And he is a young guy. The entire drama is like the Michael J Fox character in Family Ties: a conservative born to flower power parents.

Caroline said...

I.C.K.

tim in vermont said...

It was Spain where Hemingway disappointed his local friends by acting American, his riff on France was that it was simpler because it was all about money.

Darrell said...

Macron is a hard Leftist posing as an independent moderate. The rest is a distraction. The Left covered its bases in case voters wanted to upset the apple cart. He is the new boss that will be the same as the old boss. He is the Soros open border timebomb and slayer of the beloved France. Marine is the only alternative as Trump was here.

mockturtle said...

He is the Soros open border timebomb and slayer of the beloved France. Marine is the only alternative as Trump was here.

Right, Darrell! She's the only one who sees the number one problem. And the numbers two, three and four problems are irrelevant if number one isn't solved.

Oso Negro said...

Althouse said:
Of course, but I'd like to know the extent to which his mental development was stunted and distorted by short-circuiting the usual life events (including, perhaps, coming to terms with homosexuality).

To be enclosed from late childhood in a relationship with an elder authority figure and never to leave that relationship... what does that do to you?


Good God, how judgmental! Perhaps it gives him fantastic orgasms and an endless feeling of being adored. All this neo-Puritanism on age diversity in relationships seems odd in an age where homosexuality is mainstream, celebrated, and nearly mandatory.

rcocean said...

C'mon - this is France we're talking about.

The French REALLY believe (unlike Americans) that their private lives are private.

So, what if Macron wanted to marry a 50 something woman when he was 29. He could be using the marriage to cover for his addiction to 15 y/o boys, and...

The french don't care. BTW, having sex with 15 y/o boys is A-ok in France.

rcocean said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rcocean said...

A couple years ago, there was some IMF French dude who was caught raping a maid in NYC. Then a couple French chicks came forward and said he'd raped them too, but hey, he was a socialist, so they let it slide.

But what really upset the French, isn't the rape, its that he didn't tip her.

So, he never became President of France.

And now you know the rest of the story.

Zach said...

The common sense, middle-of-the-road, Delia Smith-style feminist would say, well, after two decades together, we can probably be satisfied that their feelings are authentic, and not the result of some authority fetish on one side, and a controlling nature on the other.

Who among us is qualified to judge the power dynamics of another person's marriage? They proved that they knew what they wanted by continuing to want it.