Why Is America Obsessed With France? 

Nothing more american than doing a video about France and mentionning only Paris 😂 cheers from à random french guy

Kinda funny how all this idealisation of France is centered around Paris, meanwhile you have French people from outside this city that also complain about parisian snobbery

What's funny also is how french food is seen, as a real' classy gastronomy whereas in reality, majority of french food recipies come from the french working-class (from the people) and were made with basic food you find in the france's fields. Even wine is a popular tradition (even though less and less).

I lived a long time in Paris, "wonder" and "romance" are definitely not the words I would use to describe it. You mentioned it in passing but the Japanese are waaaay more obsessed with Paris than Americans, to the point where they can get a thing called Paris syndrome, where they get disappointed that it doesn't live up to their dreams

The funny thing about me being Brazilian is that we think the same way about the United States here. Everybody wants to be American and most businesses have an English name here.

As a French student in the US, I cannot state enough how well you nailed it. This is so accurate. Thank you!

Can I just say that France is so much more than just Paris? I'm just saying that because it irks me so much when I see people going on a touristic trip to the most touristic places in Paris, and then complain about Paris being ugly with too many tourists...

As a parisian, let me tell you paris is a beautiful wonderful city, but it's also hella overpopulated, cramped, overwhelming and expensive, and some of the people who live there have a tendency to think they're better than everyone else. In most of these ways it's actually very alike other massive cities like New York or Shanghai (tho paris is definitely much prettier imo), they're amazing to visit, but not so much a great place to live in.

10:30 "[France] is a diverse metropolis", lmao this is the most Parisian thing I've ever heard

Greetings from Paris, France! Loving your work for years now.

10:27 “France is a diverse metropolis”? An example of French snobisme: France is a country and Paris is the metropolis ;-)

French here, awesome video you nailed it. Just a note on France, it hasn't much to do anymore with what is depicted in movies from the french new wave. The only way to get a feeling of that french way of life would be to visit some rural parts of France where life hasn't changed much in the last 40 years. My best advice for you if you visit France would be to visit atypical villages, you'll meet warming people and see things that you don't know anything about. I saw that you planned to stay 4-5 days in Paris, good call, don't spend more than 4 days in that city. And visit a bunch of vineyards to get drunk in the wine cellars !

Paris is a beautiful city, but some of the smaller parts of France are really nice too. To talk about "France" though you are talking about a culture that goes back at least a thousand years. There's a lot to it. There's victory, defeat, occupation and conquest. There's culture, and then there's the demolition of other cultures by French intellectuals. Like any other country who is and was a world power it has a lot of self-contradictory things about it. It has things to love and things to hate. Like any other first world country really.

As an American student who has been learning French for a while and plans to study abroad there, it's interesting to see how others view the culture! I certainly always saw their culture as classy and in touch with art, but I've also been taught that the *true* France lies far outside the center of Paris, in the rural towns and much smaller cities, where the culture is much more visible and less overpowered by Parisian life

I love when american actors flex their french but as a french native I need to put subtitles on to understand what they just said. Or when they use a french canadian man to play a french man though their french accent is nothing like what you could hear in France. xD

In Mexico, we fought two wars against France (3 if you count the involvement of Napoleon on Mexican Independence) and still, dictador Porfirio Diaz, who fought those two wars, was obsessed with the classyness of french culture. People in Mexico City were wearing coats and scarfs on a 90F day because it was "snow season in Paris".

What will always amaze me is that France has the best military record ever, yet some people decide to focus on one 5 years war that they lost because they didn't want another one

Perhaps also the fact that after ww1, a lot of American/foreign intellectuals and writers like Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso, (aka The Lost Generation) lived in Paris and it became a big part of Paris‘ history. Hemingway even wrote the book A Moveable Feast about his years as a young writer in Paris and all the interesting people that he met and the cafes/bookstores they went to, I know I definitely had francophilia for a while after reading it lol

Excited to see your channel hit 1million subscribers, because you certainly deserve it.

Nice to see you in my subscription tab again! I've watched you for years and get excited everytime to see your uploads.

I was just SO excited to see clips from Trouble in Paradise. It is one of my favorite classic films, and no one else has ever heard of it!

9:10 "How out of place a Formula 1 driver feels on a NASCAR track." Meanwhile, Raikonnen, Villeneuve, Piquet Jr., Montoya, etc. all had stints in Nascar. Also, F1 is racing at COTA this weekend, which also hosts NASCAR, and Daniel Ricciardo is driving Dale Earnhardt's car around the track to celebrate his Monza win. Side note: Jean Girad bears an uncannily resemblance to Simon Pagenaud, a French driver, Indy 500 winner, and IndyCar champion. Side note #2: Manouche Jazz (think French stereotype acoustic guitar music) is an interesting amalgamation of US and French culture. Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli reinterpreted American Jazz harmony through the lens of French-Romani stylings. In turn it inspired a certain pop musician/inventor by the name of Les Paul.

My biggest issue with this is that American media often leans hard into stereotypes when representing other cultures. What makes it worse is that the people of those cultures will lean into that stereotype too when abroad if they believe it will give them social capital.

A big thumbs up for the Fleabag reference! Gosh I need to watch this series again!

Love how you put that chekov's gun on the left shoulder and fired it

I love videos where filmdetails are overanalysed, but its really, really well done. Very classy.

Great examination of a topic I wasn't even really aware of

As an American that can be classified as a francophile based on the definition explored in this video, I like the French language, French cuisine, and historically French architecture. Heck, even traditional French music, aka chansons/songs from the 50s-80s, I really really like depending on the artist. France is a changing/dynamic country however, and that is important to understand. Just as 80s US looked very different culturally than today's US; so did France. So just because you like France a lot, you may actually mostly like certain parts of its history or pieces of its culture that were more relevant at one time than another. Is there a certain degree of elitism? Yes, but a lot of things that appear "fine" and exclusive appear that way, such as people who enjoy fine-dining a lot, a strong preference towards classical music, or expensive cars/clothing. I love different things about France; I just think some elements are very beautiful and elegant.

This was super interesting. Great job.

great vid!

As someone born in Iran who’s lived in Uk most of my life and has visited Paris /France few times , it’s beautiful but as you say it’s more the idea of it that sounds better then what it is

This is brilliant, man. Love your videos

1:20 "my flight got canceled for some reason" Ahh yes, I understood that reference.

French viewer here. I loved every second of this. Keep up with the good work

France has been a long-time ally of the US. I love the French people.

The funny thing is that us French people are obsessed with America. We have the same kind of love/hate relationship with you guys. For many french becoming american is a dream. The start up companies love using english gibberish to try to sound like you. It's pretty pathetic sometimes, I must say.

Interesting. I can't say that I never picked up on that ambivalence but it's nice to see a vudeo essay on the matter. Well played

I think US citizens can have 2 shocks: when they come to Paris the first time, discovering that everything and everyone is not quite like they imagined. And then when they come back for a longer stay, and actually get to know France and French people. :P

I never thought I would see a serious explanation of a meme.

As a French Canadian and growing up in a culture that is pretty much a mix between French and American culture, I always thought this whole obsession with France in the American media is cringy and so not accurate.

As a Czech I just want to say that many movies located in Paris were actually due to financial reasons shooted in Prague. Les Misérables (1998) for example.

Talledega Nights is so UNDERRATED and I’m so glad you talked about it here in your video. Such an interesting analysis on America’s complex relationship with France. As a person who isn’t a fan of “that” type of comedy (aka most early 2000’s movies with Will Farrell & Jonah Hill) I can say Talladega Nights is genuinely great! P.S. Baby Jesus is the best Jesus!

that subtle filter over frame in the meme transition

March 2020 was not exactly the best moment to visit Paris, everything was closed and there was nothing to see nor anyone to meet. I hope you will be able to come to Paris someday soon, you will be more than welcome! Greetings from the parisian area.

Great video.

I'm French and I never understood America's ambivalence with France... until I watched that video :) Thanks a lot for making this eye-opening video! Greetings from Paris Come visit sometime !

I really enjoyed this video, and as a french, I've seen this thing in my french point of view and, yes, Hollywood seems obsessed with France. Every time I see an american movie that shows us France with my mother, she is like "this is so cliché". But Hollywood is not only obsessed with an ideal France that is not real but only with Paris. In your video, there's a lot of pictures of France, real or stage set, but it's Paris every time, and I think it tells us an other thing about this american vision of France, like there is only Paris in France (and when you're french, you think that Paris is a dirty town with grumpy people). France is waaaaaay more than Paris, believe me, and even here whe don't have a lot of movies to show us that (french movies happens almost all the time in Paris because the parisien people are making all the movies). And In France, even if we are indeed bunch of proud elitist, I think we have an inferiority complex about USA and its cultural hegemony. (And for everybody who saw The Queen's Gambit, "Pastis" is from Marseille, not Paris xD)

Omg Dexter is literally saying SCRUMBBLED EGGS WITH CHEESE 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

i'm sorry about the cancellation of your flight, hope you'll get to visit us soon and find a French to give you a taste of both the real France and the one from the movies. Thank you for your work (and Jean Girard is also my favorite French in american movies) Bons baisers de France !

Great video! As you said this doesn’t only apply to American movies. I think Michael Gambon’s character from The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & her Lover is another great example for a wannabe classy Francophile.

As a frenchman I loved your video

Loved this, been on my mind lately after watching "You" and the main char ends up in Paris and you hear someone with an American accent before you even know that's where he is hehe

Well done.

A great video as always. Until the last second I was hoping to see the Simpsons clip when Hank Scorpio asks Homer what his least favorite country is, Italy or France.

Lmao watching this as a frenchman living in Paris is hilarious. Paris is stinky, noisy, ugly, overpriced, and overall not a great place to be 90% of the time imo. People are incredibly rude and the city is filled to the brim with crazy dangerous people walking the streets. However once one has come to terms with that reality, you can come to appreciate the really good stuff that this city actually has to offer, such as beautiful and historical buildings, museums packed with art that you couldn't find anywhere else in the world, some damn good bakeries and that sweet evening Paris atmosphere. It's definitly not everything it's cracked up to be so you can and should throw that image of Paris that hollywood has manufactured out the window. That being said it is certainly worth checking out.

Come to Provence instead of the tourist trap that is Paris! We've got great food, fabulous scenery and we're a friendly bunch if you can manage a few words in french, most don't speak americano.

I think this is really revealing about how Hollywood media tries to appropiate any culture. As a mexican I see directors like Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez (who actually is from latino descent) trying to look hip using mexican characters, using mexican slang or writing dialogue in spanish and it always sounds awful. Not even gramatically correct. Both of them look like american tourists trying to be cool around the locals and always embarrasing themselves.

Thanks for the video bruh

Hope you can come visit us in Paris someday. With this video, you earned a warm welcome and our friendship

It's not just France, it's all of Europe, but you do have to check a few boxes first: 1. Main character is a female teenager from America that has either blonde or brown hair and is gorgeous-looking. 2. All the men she likes are dropdeadgorgeous, clever, talented, rich ánd absolutely adore her. They speak perfect American, with a slight accent. 3. The beforementioned guys will drop everything in their hands when she walks past and the first moment they meet, the men act awkward, stutter, drop their drink, blush and ask for her name, before blurting out; 'You're...so gorgeous!' The American will remain totally cool through this, because American girls get this sortof response every day. That's what happens when you're American, your radiant appearance just makes everyone week in the knees. 4. She then shows off a few of her talents, because she is ofcourse a very clever American girl. She can change a carwheel without getting her dress dirty, break a nail ór spill a drop of sweat. The foreigner is very impressed and is honoured she chose him to drive around with. 5. A very handsome man has noticed the American girl too, but he is a bit more dark-eyed, dark-eyebrowed and wears a leather jacket that is rougher than the one that Weaknees is wearing. 6. Both are heavily flirting with her and are aware of almost all her cultural aspects and her interests. Except for the modern ones, because those things haven't reached Europe yet. She has to teach them how to eat with a fork, how the Wifi works and how to wear jeans. The silly Europeans are not used to that sortof fashion. 7. She's very kindhearted and accepts his pet-goat as part of the deal. The goat is usually very shy, but he absolutely adores the American girl, that is very good with animals, because her dad was a military man that was also a farmer and she had horses and he was a doctor, so he taught her everything. 8. The sketchy, slick one invites her over and tricks her into going to a restaurant with him. She isn't very impressed, but she's polite, so she stays on the date. He then tries to kiss her, she screams and punches him in the face, which knocks him out in one, clean go. Luckily the other guy is there to witness how she's independent and he's mightily impressed with this gorgeous girl that is also very tough, without being masculine or muscle-y. 9. They walk home, leaving the man unconcious in his car with no problems (because Europe is filled with sketchy situations like that and one more won't be noticed) and then he pullss her closer and kisses her. She thinks his kissing is okay, but he is impressed by her American style of kissing and thinks she's very exotic. 10. The girl goes to work and finds out he works there too, which was ofcourse predictable, because Europe only has one office per country, since every country there is teenie-tiny-small. The girls in the office are quite masculine, with heavy eyebrows, square jaws, dark eyebrows and black circles around their eyes. Their make up is unsubtle and harsh and they have their hair in an oldfashioned bun. They're anything but sexy. They hate her. 11. She asks why they hate her (and why they are so unsubtle and rude about it.) One other, hot guy, explains it's just the culture, but not to worry, they just don't know any better. He whispers he's an American, that moved there a few years ago. He smiles at her and winks, she feels more confident and starts questioning the lady's ideas immediately. Everyone is shocked by the bold move, but then Ami-guy says he agrees with her ideas and finds them modern and new. Like, youknow, Americans are. America is, after all, the centre of fashion, inventions and new things, that are very useful, beautiful and practical. Made by beautiful, practical and tough people that know what they are doing. A slow clap starts from the first colleague, the rest joins in and even the unsexy colleague with the shit-idea has no choice but to sit back down and give the folder with the project to the American, that may now instantly get promoted to assistant-manager. 12. Everyone respects the lady now, but mister Weaknees feels insecure and thinks she's forgotten him. He speaks to the BoringBun and she says that she likes him. Right as America-lady walks in, she pressed her lips onto his. He pushes her away in disgust and nearly vomits after tasting her disgusting lips that smell of onions and old balsamico. America-lady is understandably upset and runs off, through the rain. 13. European cities are falling apart, so while running, she trips on a shitty road and hurts her ankle. She's in a gigantic puddle of water, because Europeans are too lazy to put some cement on there and probably think it's charming to have holes in the road. She cries and walks off, after which Weakness punches a wall and screams that he's been so stupid. How could he not have seen that she was the one this whole time?! He shouldn't have doubted her and been intimidated by her beautiy and her skills. Why was he so insecure, OH, he should go after her right now. 14. American lady sits at home, spooning ice cream into her lipsticked-mouth and cleaning the perfect 3-4 streams of mascara in her eyecorners. She's watching tv, but wait...something...something is happening. She sees the Eiffeltower in Paris, lighting up and it says 'Gloria" in shining letters. The same with the windmills on Kinderdijk, the Berlin wall, the Trevi-fountain. Every single European thing is lighting up with her name. She wonders why, dries her tears, puts on new lipgloss and there's a knock on the door. Mr. Weaknees has arrived in a suit, holding flowers, telling her he's sorry and that she's the most gorgeous and beautiful American girl he's ever seen and she puts all the Europeans to shame. "Please will you be my wife", he asks her, "because my heart cries when I imagine spending one day without you. I cannot bear to be away from such a stunning girl, please let me treat you like my Queen.' She tells him a one-liner that he doesn't understand, because sometimes he speaks English and sometimes not. She translates it for him and he smiles, very relieved and kisses her. A cameracrew has walked in, to find the source of those 'Grace'-lights and video's their hug and kiss. She immediately gets a call from her family in America, they've seen her on tv and she's famous now. Ellen wants her on the couch, Conan wants to hear her story...but especially your parents are so proud of you and want you back home. 15. She travels back home, but has to leave him behind, because he couldn't possibly cope with her fame, given his Italian insecurities. He tells her that his heart is broken and he will never love another girl again, but he totally understands and thanks her for teaching him how to eat with a fork. And how to make proper spaghetti, the Brooklyn way, that is múch tastier than the Italian one. She waves him goodbye, he cries one tear on his perfectly tanned face and she leaves him, his dreamgirl, the American girl from America. 16. She travels home, her family meets her and the press is instantly interested in her story. But she's just tired for now and the interviews will be given tomorrow. They zoom out, a big American flag is shown waving gloriously right above her and The End.

You forgot to mention revolutionary road movie and the obsession to live in Paris and in the words movie Bradley Cooper found his romantic papers there .

One great example is the Valentine’s Day episode in “Hey Arnold!” from the 90’s. There is that dynamic you describe about expectation vs reality in relation to France and Frenchness, but also towards love. Dynamite episode.

Ironically enough, the original Chef Boyardee (who founded the food company and named it after himself) really was an accomplished chef in his own right.

Man, that meme callback was executed to perfection. NYSI is a master class in practical implementation of your own reference material

Very interesting! Greetings from France!

Good job. Now we need to see the one about how the French obsess with the US.

Ending with Mad TV was genius lol

My theory is that the world's obsession with France (Paris) and the romanticism of Paris, comes from how it's been depicted in American cinema (and literature), which is world wide. There is also the association of 20th C prolific writers, artists and musicians - some of who were American, to France (Paris), being that a lot of well known creatives from all over the world resided there, or developed cliques/movements there. That is the only way I can rationalise the profound fixation with that city.

They are so obsessed with Paris only haha that makes it even funnier

The video was great it's true that as someone French and not even from Paris those idea of the city you can see in movies always looks wierd and over romanticized compared whith what is know. At least now I know why :)

We need the conversation about burgers scene from pulp fiction in here

It's probably my favorite cuisine, and from what I can tell, parts of the country are quite stunning, I can probably leave the rest.

That's a great analysis. However, I think it simplifies culture of 19th century south, which derived it's ideas of "classiness" not only from french, but in great deal from contemporary Great Britain, and from Walter Scott in particular.

Respectfully very good editing but a simplistic essay

Magnifique!

I read the title as why is America obsessed with FINANCE, and it took me until the 4th minute to realise why he kept on talking about France

Would be great to get your take on Japanophilia in the West, sort of similar to the Francophilia talked about in this video.

I am French and an important event has changed the relationship between Hollywood and France. The decision in 2003 of France to be opposed to the war in Iraq. After the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, almost all American allies supported the US in the invasion of Iraq, except France. France refused to go to Iraq and was opposed to the war. As a result, there was a real French Bashing, first by the Bush administration and the media and then by Hollywood. In many movies or series French classism became snobbery and the French became cowardly and not reliable.

Reminds me of a scene from The Wire where a ganster on the rise goes to a fancy restaurant, his girlfriend telling him that his money will make him fit in, but it's apparent to him that he lacks cultural currency.

I was Born and raised in America (California), this is all I know about France/French/Paris: 1. French Fries (McDonald's) 2. Mona Lisa 3. Disney's "Anastasia" 4. Baguette 5. Merci 6. Eiffel Tower 7. The Louve (Tomb Raider) 8. Beret hats 9. ? I can't remember what else

This is funny because Porfirio Díaz, a former "president" (Dictator) of México, was obsessed with France too. It is well known that he was very fond of the country and strongly believed that México should be like it. He brought the french fashion and several other things to the upper classes. Heck, he even fled to France when he resigned to his presidency and I think he's buried there

10:31 Niiiice...

I am French and living in Paris. Let me tell you : the romanticized idea of france that American have is not based in reality at all. They have this poetic idea of the country, they seem to think France looks like a 50s movie where everyone is so sophisticated and fancy. Let me be clear : Paris architecture is gorgeous in the center of the city , even breathtaking in my opinion . But we don't live in this fantasy world. We take the bus. Ride the subway. Step on dogs shit on the way to work. Some parts of Paris are extremely "ghetto" and you will get mugged there. We buy kebabs at 5am while shit faced. We wear sneakers and jeans. Watch Netflix and listen to rap. None of the stereotypes are true (except maybe the fact that we love to complain)

"Obsessing over France is not strictly an American phenomenon..." it's primarily a French phenomenon.

Tres interessant!

I think our country has always had people obsessed with other countries ❤️ Y’all ever heard of Brazil >:D

What you said at 10:33 is so important. Applies to American youtubers creating content in France too imo. The country is alive and not solely an experience. It feels like all the people who don't fit the stereotype of what *French* looks like -- because of race or class especially -- are simply erased and that's quite violent

As a dutch person I find bretagne to be a pretty region, that is about it, france is not my thing. When it comes to big cities i rather go to Vienna than Paris.

And then there's the British relationship with France. We love your wine so much that we make special trips to fill the boots of our cars with it (a friend of my parents had a customised van for his Calais wine runs) and we like going skiing in the Alps and wandering around Paris as much as anyone. Yet we love to make fun of the French for losing wars, rudeness, and being better at sex and food than we are. Nothing captures this quite like the Blackadder quote, calling the French a nation that 'eats frogs and would go to bed with the kitchen sink if it put on a tutu'. Wly really. 😍

10:39 But they did go there, didn't they?!

I have this theory that the reason franco-american relations are so contrasted is because we have two pretty similar countries but with very diferent attitudes. Sometimes, when I'm, I like to make a list of similarities between the two.

Americans really have to stop thinking of just Paris when thinking about France.

Through both positive light and negative light, I think Americans see France as escapism.

I was waiting for a scene from Rush hour 3 where they make the taxi driver sing the American anthem!

Altough uneven, the omnibus film "Paris Je t'aime" has a couple of shorts that represent this obsession and misunderstanding very well: the Coens portrait of an American tourist terrorized by sexy and intense locals and Alexander Payne's quite mean but endearing mockery of a lonely tourist's attempt to speak French and experience the city. Anyone interested in this subject should give it a try, since it has other shorts that show aspects of the city that escape stereotype (immigrant communities, heavy transit, social inequality, etc.) or kind of play with those commonplace things we associate with the city (art, love affairs, mimes!).

nice thumbnail :)

In Casablanca, Paris is an idealized memory, not just an abstract idea.

As a French-American living in Paris, I love this hahahh

Not one home alone reference "bring me back something french"

hope you'll be able to come to see us in france very soon, it's not what you see in most american movie, but I promise you it's worth it