En Angleterre, ‘comportement anti-social’ (anti-social behaviour, ASB) est un terme employé par toute la classe politique britannique et par les autorités. Il a été introduit je crois par le Labour sous Blair et aujourd’hui les trois grands partis prétendent tous ‘tackle crime and anti-social behaviour’.
Entendre ou lire ce terme me surprend toujours après deux ans en Angleterre car il serait inimaginable en France. Signe que la pensée politique française est toujours immature sur ce sujet, nous n’avons de terme qui soit ‘politiquement correct’ c'est-à-dire factuel, neutre, utilisé par tous, pour désigner ces comportements agressifs récurrents qui, sans constituer vraiment des délits, affectent terriblement la vie des habitants d’un quartier (incivilités, intimidations, chiens, alcools, bruit, vandalisme etc) créant le sentiment d'insécurité. Ces comportements ont en commun d’être également difficiles à traiter par la police, le code pénal et les services sociaux. En français, ‘incivilité’ est vague, suranné, faible, et ‘petite délinquance’ ne rend pas compte des actes de désordre gratuits. Chez nous, pour désigner les ASB, la droite se sent obligée d’employer des mots polémiques (racaille, karcher etc) tandis que la gauche a toujours du mal à sortir de l’idée que ces comportements sont la conséquence sociologique de la pauvreté et que leurs auteurs doivent être traités avec indulgence. Même la personnalité la plus décomplexée de la gauche, Chevènement, utilisait un terme amusant mais trop paternaliste (les ‘sauvageons’) par rapport à la réalité subie par les victimes des ASB. Je trouve désesperant que les socialistes aient à un certain moment abandonné l'électorat populaire de banlieue à la droite et à l'extreme droite en refusant de traiter avec vigueur les ASB, qui touchent pourtant d'abord et avant tout les gens les plus fragiles (les pauvres, les vieux, les femmes, etc).
Je suis sur que si quelqu’un employait le terme ‘anti-social’ en France, il provoquerait une levée de boucliers parce que le terme serait associé à la diabolisation de mai 68 (assumé désormais officiellement par la droite).
Nommer, définir et qualifier juridiquement un phénomène social est une condition nécessaire, mais non suffisante pour le traiter, mais c’est un début. Les anglais ont mis en place les anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) des jugements qui avertissent officiellement le responsable. Toute récidive à la suite d’un ASBO devient automatiquement un délit. 80% des anglais approuvent le principe des ASBOs mais seulement 39% pensent qu’ils sont dissuasifs. Les petits voyous vont en effet souvent considérer un ASBO comme un 'badge of honour'…
28 octobre 2007
'Curb your enthusiasm' by Larry David
Curb started in 2000 on HBO. Five seasons have already been shot. Season six started in September 2007. It is a mocked-autobiographic comedy series about the rich and acclaimed co-creator of Seinfeld, Larry David, in his late fifties, living comfortably in LA, leading a semi-retired and essentially idle life, wandering with his lazy weirdo friends, and the odd celebrity.
Curb develops some of the recurrent themes of Seinfeld: the bitter irony of daily life, embarrassing situations, social blunders, the little moral dilemma. Like in Seinfeld the plots are beautifully knitted so that two or three sub-plots collide perfectly in the last scene. ‘Boire le calice jusqu’a la lie’ is the French expression when already in a humiliating situation something happens to make it even worse. It’s the negative version of ‘the icing on the cake’ and it’s what usually happens to the Larry character at the end of each episode. The show makes a point of the moral non-sense of life: sometimes Larry plays nasty and pays the price, sometimes he gets away with it; sometimes he even tries to be good and deadly coincidences lead to a catastrophic outcome for which he is to be blamed.
Because it’s HBO, the format is more cutting edge than Seinfeld: real location filming with hand-held cameras, a crude look and editing, no canned-laughs to ease the embarrasment, very few written dialogues and a visibly a lot of (brilliant) improvisation (‘retroscripting’) packed with swearing. In one word, an adult series. In addition to Larry playing ‘himself’ and the minimalist ‘cinéma-vérité’ photography and dialogues make the viewer a voyeur of real-life embarrassing situations.
More subversive yet, the themes. Larry David is not afraid to use dodgy and explicit situations (Larry embarrassed by his wife’s pubic hair in his throat…) and politically incorrect themes, making fun of handicapped people, religion, illness and even death: the casual and cynical way with which Larry takes the death of his mother and even exploit it socially. Even more revolutionnary it is a comedy show based on a character that is supposed to be realistic and at the same time not lovable at all: never-happy, unfair, selfish, rude, susceptible, jealous, you name it.
The only reason why ‘Larry’ may be sympathetic to us is because he is a street-wise, working class guy in a rich neighborhood. The grumpy New York comedian lost in smiling LA. The Brooklyn Jew lost in a gentile world. Larry reflects our own fear of social exclusion and social blunders.
Curb develops some of the recurrent themes of Seinfeld: the bitter irony of daily life, embarrassing situations, social blunders, the little moral dilemma. Like in Seinfeld the plots are beautifully knitted so that two or three sub-plots collide perfectly in the last scene. ‘Boire le calice jusqu’a la lie’ is the French expression when already in a humiliating situation something happens to make it even worse. It’s the negative version of ‘the icing on the cake’ and it’s what usually happens to the Larry character at the end of each episode. The show makes a point of the moral non-sense of life: sometimes Larry plays nasty and pays the price, sometimes he gets away with it; sometimes he even tries to be good and deadly coincidences lead to a catastrophic outcome for which he is to be blamed.
Because it’s HBO, the format is more cutting edge than Seinfeld: real location filming with hand-held cameras, a crude look and editing, no canned-laughs to ease the embarrasment, very few written dialogues and a visibly a lot of (brilliant) improvisation (‘retroscripting’) packed with swearing. In one word, an adult series. In addition to Larry playing ‘himself’ and the minimalist ‘cinéma-vérité’ photography and dialogues make the viewer a voyeur of real-life embarrassing situations.
More subversive yet, the themes. Larry David is not afraid to use dodgy and explicit situations (Larry embarrassed by his wife’s pubic hair in his throat…) and politically incorrect themes, making fun of handicapped people, religion, illness and even death: the casual and cynical way with which Larry takes the death of his mother and even exploit it socially. Even more revolutionnary it is a comedy show based on a character that is supposed to be realistic and at the same time not lovable at all: never-happy, unfair, selfish, rude, susceptible, jealous, you name it.
The only reason why ‘Larry’ may be sympathetic to us is because he is a street-wise, working class guy in a rich neighborhood. The grumpy New York comedian lost in smiling LA. The Brooklyn Jew lost in a gentile world. Larry reflects our own fear of social exclusion and social blunders.
25 octobre 2007
The Armando Iannucci Show
I have discovered yet another gem of British Television comedy. Armando Ianucci is a Scottish writer and comedian, son of a Naples father. He created and co-wrote the Alan Partridge shows with James Coogan as well as 'The thick of it' political parody; both are awesome. In 2001 he also wrote The Armando Ianucci shows. It is available in DVD. You must have it. It is a kind of mocked documentary on modern life, it is based on outrageous and embarrassing situations, like Alan Partridge, but goes further in the weird non-sense. It is a much more innovative, even more disturbing, personnal format (no canned laughs eg).
Ianucci himself is playing ‘himself’ in these surreal sketch show. Ianucci has something of Woody Allen and Larry David (Curb your Enthusiasm), physically and in the dark, bonkers-existentialist thoughts, mocked-metaphysical casual chats looking at the camera. Example:
'There are only two things in the world that give us absolute total happiness: one is unwrapping a newly bought DVD; the other is seeing other people fail.'
Absolutely a must of British TV with I guess a drop of remote Scottish humour that somehow seems to connect with the urban Jewish wit of Allen and David.
The official website with sketch clips
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