A good friend of this blog, and captain of his own blog, Port McClellan, recently posted on the reasons to root for, hold it, FRANCE in the World Cup final. Yes, he urged red-blooded Americans to root for our favorite non-enemy enemy! Outrageous indeed. His reasons are historical, not soccer or sporting related. You can read his reasons here.
I won't sift through his "reasons," that's being done fairly thoroughly in the comments to his post. Instead, I'd like to throw out my "French Challenge"--a challenge I've offered Francophiles for the better part of 15 years. And, yes, I know at least one reader--maybe more--is indeed a big Francophile.
At some point in my school years it became apparent that the French were widely perceived as arrogant. This is also a charge leveled against Americans. I started thinking about French vs. American arrogance. It became clear that French arrogance is tied to historical successes, not modern ones. They are quite fond of themselves, it seems, and this is based on a beautiful language, fashion, art, food, and wine. All are commendable, but none are modern inventions or offerings to the world. Their arrogance is not tied to anything they, or their parents, or their grandparents have done!
Thus, the French Challenge, is to come up with ONE thing that France has contributed to the world in the LAST 100 YEARS, that has had a profound effect on our lives. Basically, give me some reason modern Frenchmen should have so much pride in themselves and their country! It must not be an add-on to an earlier invention, a refinement of something created before, or something esoteric.
So far, in 15 years, only 1 person has "passed" this challenge, and it was by identifying a person from France--not the Curies by the way, so save that guess--that changed the world we live in (for the better) or the way we look at it.
So, go ahead, comment on the contributions to the world in the past century made by Mr. McClellan's beloved French.
Sacrebleu,
Thomas More
Here's a nice list of French inventors:
http://inventors.about.com/od/frenchinventors/
Posted by: MBMc | July 10, 2006 at 06:20 PM
MBMc, I would have given you Jacques Heim and Louis Reard. But their "invention"--which does indeed contribute to the world, I guess--was a "re-invention" according to the very site you referenced!
Other than that, there's only two in the last 100 years on the list--and one just changed the landing gear on a plane!
Any more takers?
TM
Posted by: Thomas More | July 10, 2006 at 06:32 PM
Without the French, we would not have such a splendid metaphor for entrenched, linear static thinking.
I give you the Maginot Line.
Posted by: Jay Cline | July 11, 2006 at 09:41 AM
Hmm...French contributions...
There's always the white flag, but that was long before the 20th century.
Alright...no more ragging on the French.
I will, as MBMc exhorts, rise above the pc quagmire and say that I am eternally grateful to the French for sowing the seed of one of the greatest forms of musical expression: jazz.
Posted by: Portia | July 11, 2006 at 10:56 PM
I am grateful for Facconable shirts, Grey Goose vodka, and Champagne.
Posted by: MBMc | July 12, 2006 at 08:53 AM
Ahem, that was Faconnable shirts.
Posted by: MBMc | July 12, 2006 at 08:54 AM
A couple of notes on MBMc's favs: in my original post I stated that relying on refinements or past innovations does not satisfy the Challenge. I named fashion, food, and wine as important French contributions--but none are modern (within 100 years.)
So the shirt--whichever way you spell it--and Champagne are obviously out as offerings.
Leaving Grey Goose. First, it is vodka, which was known in Poland as early as 1405 and Russia by the 18th Century. It's not French and it's not modern. "They" (which is really "us" as you'll read below) simply refined something that already existed.
Second, and most importantly, Grey Goose was invented by an AMERICAN!!! Mr. Sidney Frank.
I am rather intrigued/amused by Mr. Cline's offering of "entrenched, linear static thinking"--that might pass the test!!
But, ultimately, Portia is right, we must stop ragging on the French, but why must they make it so easy?
Jazz (seeds at least, I will always list jazz as an American invention), food, MBMc's shirts, wine, they have indeed contributed a lot to our enjoyment in life. The point still stands that their government's decision to act as permanent spoiler to the U.S. does not sit well, and could be easily remedied to our, their, and the world's benefit.
TM
Posted by: Thomas More | July 12, 2006 at 09:18 AM
Does Jacques Cousteau count? He invented the aqua lung among many other things.
As far as enriching our lives, how about the French film March of the Penquins? It definitely enriched our knowledge of...penquins. (I really did enjoy it, btw.)
Posted by: Dee | July 13, 2006 at 05:40 PM
Dee-
Congratulations! As I mentioned in the post, only 1 person has come up with a satisfactory answer in some 15 years. It was, and remains, Cousteau. The SCUBA tank really opens up our understanding of the undersea world, and changed a lot about how we understand so much about the living world.
Very nice pick.
If there are any others, I'd love to have them sent in.
"March" was a good movie, but, come on...Change the way we live, think, etc.? Probably not. (I liked it too, btw.)
TM
Posted by: Thomas More | July 13, 2006 at 09:11 PM