Another spat between France and the US building up?

[woolybanana]

This time the French want to protect French culture from the free trade zone talks about to start with the US. But is it not another French myth that they are so different. Or is it just a way to guarantee good livings for a lot of actors/artist/musicians etc.

I can see no reason for protecting French cinema as it produces so much mediocre tat (though with some jemels), and French TV is well, rubbish. So, keeping alive a load of not very good bookshops, not very good authors.

Why are they bothering?

Over to you Norman for a reasoned debate.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/07/france-culture-war-united-states

[Quillan]

Lets face it the Americans don't have much culture and what they have is not that old compared to Europe. Whilst I agree that if you are talking about a business, which film making is, then there should not be any restrictions. Businesses stand and fall on their product, if the French film industry is worried then it needs to make better films, the type people want to see.

That aside suffering from a lack of culture and in a belief that the world revolves around it America has no problem writing history that can be a bit light on fact. We all remember Braveheart and Robin Hood and just recently I have watched 'Vikings', yet another TV series from the US that suffers from a lack of historic fact even though it has been pushed as being 'based' on fact. The issue I have is that young people see these type of films as being a way of a replacement for having to learn basic history at school and so these films and programs become almost a documentary of fact when they are not. History is an important part of culture, it what makes us and part of what we are. Re-writing it to make it exciting with total disregard for fact has become quite common practice amongst the American film and TV producers.

[woolybanana]

But, Quillan, think of the superb TV series that the Americans can produce, like House.

And their non-Hollywood film industry is booming - just look at the number of film festivals that they run, headed by Sundance, of course.

And their, theatre, for example off off Broadway venues.

And JAZZZZZZZ.

[Quillan]

I don't have a problem with that it is the historical drama stuff I have a problem with. I watched Hyde Park on The Hudson last week, absolute cr*p even though it was based on some letters found in more recent times. The truth and the film are somewhat different. Don't mind if they change their history but leave Europe alone.

That aside as you say there have been some excellent films but there has also been some excellent British and French films. Film 4 has some excellent films on from all over the world including Iraq and Iran for instance. Never knew they even had a film industry. So if France is talking about culture that's one thing, if they are talking about America having a grip on the film industry as a whole then France needs to compete better.