Sarkobsession

I caught a glimpse of him in the street, the week before the first round of the elections last April. I'd like to say our eyes met, but there were too many bodyguards.

I'm talking about the now-president of the Republique, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Last night, rather disturbingly, I dreamt about him:

I have no idea what this means, but I certainly find him strangely compelling. His fascinating hyperactivity; the passion with which he defends his ideas; the way he looks up from under his dark eyelashes like Princess Diana did (maybe he does this because of his height variously estimated at aroud 165cm).

And he has the personal appeal of an actor. Have you noticed how extreme his facial expressions are when he's photographed? When he looks stern, he could be playing Macbeth at the Comédie-Française ; when he laughs, he could be presenting children's television. When he looked at Cécilia, well...

He also has a good head of right-wing hair. I've always had a bit of a thing for it's iron-clad inaccessability.

In early May this year my friend Isabelle wisely predicted a wave of strikes in the Summer if Sarkozy gained the presidency. I waited for them all the vacances. It was like a phoney war, but the serious action didn't arrive until October.

Now they've been around for a month and, after the wobbly end of the transport strike last week, politically I'm in a no-mans land.

Supporting strikers in France is part social grace. Unlike the UK where grumbling is a competitive sport, in Paris it would have been rude to complain when the trains didn't run. As commuters congratulated strikers in the street, it made for an almost festive atmosphere. And in the metro, people waited in eerily polite silence for the reduced service.

I used to be left-wing or rather, I still want to be. I just don't quite know what 'left-wing' is any more. The continuing currency of traditional left-wing ideas is one of the things I like about France. Trouble is, I find I can't object to the things even Sarkozy has so far only tentatively paid lip service to. Things which British socialism has been letting under the radar for such a long time that they seem part of the package: privately run national services; removal of subventions; easing of employment laws...

Maybe in the UK, we've reached something a little like post-feminism - a state of mind which allows for enjoying the possibly conflicting delights of emancipation, lipstick and high heels.

I guess you could maybe call me a 'post-socialist'.

The other trouble is that Sarko seems to believe in a lot of other less acceptable things too. The question I find so confusing is, is he right but repulsive, or wrong but wromantic?

Polls will be taken. Your votes here, please...

TAGS: SARKOZY, DREAMS, GREVE, HAIR, HEIGHT, NEW LABOUR, TORY, 1066 AND ALL THAT.

Comments

[Alice]

Excellent post, Badaude! I loved this... And I loved how well you conveyed your ideas -- much better than the mumbo-jumbo that I was tring to formulate into some semblance of sense on my blog... And I see exactly what you're saying: there is something compelling about him, and yet at the same time he also makes me skin crawl! Talk about contradiction...

[badaude]

Oh you're too kind! But I think you have it right too: while the French are trying to speed up, we Anglos are trying to claw back any semblance of relaxation left in our cultures (read my friend Tom Hodgkinson's books, 'How to be Idle' and 'How to be Free' for further details). As for Sarkozy, maybe, as UK politician, Anne Widdecombe said of then Conservative leadership candidate, Michael Howard, 'There's something of the night about him'. I'm sorry I didn't include Mr Howard in my survey of Political Hair. His is certainly an interesting case.

[delphine]

Gosh...I think you are I are maybe in sync? Last night with friends...we watched Pagnol's "la femme du boulanger"...and I swear the actor reminded me of Sarkozy! Just a bit...
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd0vPZ6TTwc

(of course physically, de villepin was more my type)...but I too have a little crush on Sarko...although le hic arrive bientôt...I don't agree with him politically. oh well...:)
delphine

[badaude]

That's uncanny. You just have to hold your little finger in front of his moustache. Though I like to think that Sarkozy is a little more buff due to all that jogging... There's a poll today to choose the president's future companion on French AOL. Vote wisely! http://partenaires.aol.fr/contenu/dossiers/100076836/index.html

[La Belette Rouge]

He is cute and sexy and very passionate and powerful--why wouldn't you dream about him? I would like to :)

Here is my uninformed analysis of your dream. ;-) Your dream ego (i.e., you) is more powerful and bigger than the inner masculine. The inner masculine, in the past may have had a more powerful leadership role in your psyche and now you can barely hear that voice. Perhaps your inner feminine is gaining authority with your ego.
However, I could be totally wrong about the dream and it could mean you saw Sarko on the news before you fell asleep and had just been thinking about Alice in Wonderland or some third, yet to be determined, meaning.;-)

Love your history of left and right wing hair. Are those with center parts or comb backs more likely to have centrist leanings?

[badaude]

Maybe centre partings do belong to the centre, politically, as, come to think of it, both left and right-wing policitians (in the UK at least) eschew partings (the left because it would be too borgeoise and the right becase their hair is often some kind of odd, self-defining, gravity-defying, free-market construction). The current acting leader of the centre Liberal Democrat party in the UK is pretty much bald. I generally look upon bald politicians as a blip in the statistics (see William Hague and Tory Hair) so I'm not sure he counts. Their previous leader, Charles Kennedy, parted on the left which is, I'm sure, significant.
Thanks for your dream analysis. We'll see whether it has any effect on my future posts...

[La Belette Rouge]

I love your new self-portrait illustration. Was it windy the day you drew it?

[badaude]

In fact it was snowing. Well not quite, maybe - see the new illustration I've just posted above...