I was in the throes of a nasty case of writer's block when I wrote this chronicle, so I searched for inspiration by opening my tattered copy of the Concise Oxford American Dictionary and found the following definition for the word Chronicle: a factual written account of important or historical events in the order of their occurrence. Naturally, I immediately thought of Facebook where countless millions of people chronicle their daily thoughts and actions; whether those thoughts and actions are important is debatable, but I suspect that many of those who post on Facebook (that includes today's Chronicler) believe their posts are important.
To give you the full context of today's Chronicle. Jason is my nephew, and he recently posted on Facebook a story that is neither interesting nor historical. It seems that Jason had fallen asleep watching SNL and later woke up thinking he was in France because François Truffaut's 1976 movie, L'Argent de poche had started while he was sleeping. The logistics of that transition boggle my mind, but Jason does have every cable channel in the world at his disposal. Jason finished his post with a question directed at me: Uncle Paul, did you ever see this movie?
Rather than respond with a simple yes, I decided to give Jason some important details about the movie and some historical context about myself. I may have gone overboard; I'll share my response with you, and you can decide.
Jason, I have seen this movie multiple times. I own the DVD. The great French director, François Truffaut, directed real people from a village called Thiers.
This film is a celebration of childhood complete with first kisses, kids bored at school, summer camp...). What keeps this film from choking with sentimentality is the presence of a filthy boy who is robbed of his childhood because he is desperately poor. He lives in a shack on the edge of town where he is physically abused by his mother.
INSIGHT INTO UNCLE PAUL'S 16-YEAR OLD BRAIN ALERT. I first saw this movie on a field trip for my French class at the Fine Arts Movie Theatre in Chicago. When the police arrive at the shack to arrest his mother for child abuse, she uses a choice profanity to call the cop, well this is NPR, so I have to find a creative synonym for the profanity that she uses "excrement- head" will have to do. That profanity was like Christmas and my birthday combined. I have to admit that "excrement-head” is not a profanity that I've ever used. It is, nevertheless, profanity, and as such, it was a zillion times more appealing than learning the words for things you find in a grocery store.in French class the next day. Today, I can say that after five years of living in France, and 25 years of teaching French, I suspect that his mother's profanity was much more supple than “excrement-head”. I could find the DVD in my basement to verify this, but that would require movement, and I'm really quite comfortable at the moment, so that's not going to happen.
Anyway, back to the supple profanity, she probably said “espèce de con” which is a profanity of such breathtaking elasticity that there's almost no limit to the number of American profanities that a translator could choose from.
I remind you that I am your Uncle and that title obliges me to serve as a model of politesse, so I will not list the profanities that could replace “excrement-head”... just use your imagination as I'm certain that I've heard you use some of the other profanities.
Jason, I know that you have put me on a pedestal, and rightly so. But I can assure you that 16- year-old Uncle Paul was no different from other 16-year olds. I'm sure that my French teacher was as gobsmacked as I was by the appearance of the word "excrement-head” on the movie screen, but for different reasons. After boarding the school bus for the return-trip home, she valiantly tried to ask her students en français for our reactions to the movie.
I, on the other hand, wanted to ask my classmates “wasn't it awesome when the Mom called the cop 'excrement-head”?
43 years later, and as your Uncle, I feel obliged to recall the most enduring scene for me, and it has nothing to do with profanities. It has everything to do with the sublime beauty of childhood and a teacher who just became a Dad. I get goosebumps when I think of the scene where he breathlessly tells his students about how amazing it is to become a parent.
That scene is so moving that I'm going to go to the basement and find my DVD so that I can watch it again.
43 years later, I can watch this movie as a Dad and as a retired French teacher and without subtitles. So, there you have it: A Michiana Chronicle that is a chronicle within a chronicle within a chronicle. It checks all the boxes: factual, important and chronological.
Music: DOUCE FRANCE by Charles TRENET
