America Through French Cinema

Lucky LukeI am taking a French film and culture course in which I have to view 3 French films currently in theaters over the course of the semester. I have several issues with this aspect of the course, but overall I believe it is worthwhile. However, everyone in the class must vote to select the film, so there is a good chance I will end up seeing films that I have no interest in. Such was the case this week, when I had to see Lucky Luke, a film so awful it made my head want to explode.

Jean is a young boy living outside of Daisy Town, Utah in the mid-1800s. His mother is a stereotypical Native American and his father is a stereotypical farmer, straw hat and all. Long story short, one day, and a group of cowboys show up to their home and kill Jean’s parents as he watches through a small hole in his bedroom door. He proceeds to escape the house and ride off into the distance with his horse. Several years later, we learn that Jean has assumed the identity of Lucky Luke. He is a cowboy, but has sworn to never kill anyone. One day, President Wilson asks him to bring peace to Daisy Town, which is now run by the corrupt Pat Poker. After a series of unfortunate events, Lucky Luke has a crisis of identity and his friends Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Calamity Jane must help him to find himself so he can once again save the day.

Adopted from the comic book of the same name, Lucky Luke is one of the most terrible and horribly offensive films I have ever watched. While in Paris, I have never encountered an anti-American sentiment, until I saw this film. Painting Americans as simple, stupid, and accidentally successful, the film comes across like poorly veiled indoctrination video for the youth of France. Furthermore, it shows little responsibility in portraying violence by not only portraying it as funny, but also with out consequence. No one in the film dies, despite several gunshots to the chest and a frayed red handkerchief represents bleeding.

To see this film was utterly shocking. I have a large amount of respect for French cinema, but Lucky Luke seriously offended me. I am not some one who is fiercely patriotic, but I truly took this film as a slap in the face to American history. While other films have mocked this period of history intelligently (i.e. Blazing Saddles), Lucky Luke was all camp without the intelligence or fun.

It was a real disappointment to have such a bad experience with this film. However, it did display that France has a taste for tasteless films, just as America does. I hate to sound like Debbie Downer, but it’s disheartening to see your culture and history projected so negatively in a foreign country and I can only hope that it is not a trend in French film, but an isolated experience.

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