Brigitte Bardot dies at 91

[nATAH 52,295]

1 hour ago, elijahfan said:

She was an old lady, born in the 20s, nostalgic for a society that doesn't exist anymore... Wow, crazy. If you want to crucify every old person with backwards views, good luck with that.

I happily will because it's not f*cking hard to NOT be racist, especially when you are a GROWN adult

[gagzus 16,424]

1 hour ago, elijahfan said:

She was an old lady, born in the 20s, nostalgic for a society that doesn't exist anymore... Wow, crazy. If you want to crucify every old person with backwards views, good luck with that.

If you are alive today and can’t move with society when you lived through historic events happening then YOU are the problem I’m afraid. This goes for all old people, we should hold them accountable because they are for sure the primary reason society doesn’t evolve politically or socially tbh.

Edited 15 hours ago by gagzus

[nATAH 52,295]

2 hours ago, Cavadour said:

Okay. Let's be clear, and let's not put words in my mouth. I do not condone racism or homophobia. I've been member of this forum for years, and I don't think anyone here can say they've detected such tendencies in my attitude. On the other hand, I fight against the sweeping judgments and witch hunts that some people engage in, repeating line by line the memes of the mass media, without nuance or attempting to put things in context, and ending up in a lynch mob or burn someone at the stake, just because they can.

B.B. died at the age of 91 after a tumultuous life that was nothing like the fairy tale of a classic star. She fought some very tough battles that probably embittered her and pushed her to express herself in extreme ways, especially towards the end of her life. She said things with her usual frankness that crossed certain lines, but for which she also apologized and which were also interpreted, exploited, and blown out of proportion out of context by the media and the political world.

In her various books, B.B. once again pulls no punches when it comes to many taboo subjects relating to her country and region, using harsh words for which she has been condemned, but which also highlight a persistent local unease in the face of inaction and condescension on the part of politicians and the government.

Beyond her controversial comments about her dramatic motherhood, on which she spoke candidly, very few people asked themselves what led her to express herself in this way before condemning her as an unfit mother. Once again, she speaks candidly about a sensitive subject, and almost everyone focuses on the shock value of her words and attacks her before even asking what motivated her to say those things.

On that note, I suggest you read, or rather make the effort to translate, this article that appeared yesterday in Elle FR, which intelligently expands on the subject. Once again, without excusing her shocking comments, they do allow us to see through her eyes, or rather “her” eye, since B. B. was amblyopic and almost blind in her left eye:

https://www.elle.fr/People/La-vie-des-people/News/Brigitte-Bardot-et-son-fils-Nicolas-Je-m-en-fous-je-ne-veux-plus-le-voir-3510257

Being 20 years younger than Bardot and a film buff, I still followed her career, her escapades, and her dramas closely. Born and raised in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, bordering France, over the years I also saw her fights and struggles after her career ended, alongside Franz Weber, among others, a fiery Swiss environmentalist who was also widely mocked for his bold stances, which are now considered landmark, and who supported her in the baby seal affair. What I mean is that it is also easier to take a closer look in the media presence of someone who lives in your linguistic community. For example, I find it difficult to understand all the details of Charlie Kirk's career and to grasp the underlying reasons for his dramatic demise. I have a good foundation in English, but I know practically nothing about cultural circles other than the ones in which I live.

In conclusion, I would like to point out that I myself was shocked by some of the racist and homophobic comments made by Ms. Bardot (just as I've been also shocked by derogatory remarks about heterosexuals in the columns of this forum). This does not prevent me from trying to understand, based on what I also know about her (as well as what I share with the GGD community), what may have motivated these comments. Above all, I try to avoid controversy. If someone throws a stone into the pond and yells, I'm not going to rush at them yelling too, because I got splashed. I tend instead to try to find out what motivates such an act. Perhaps this is also because, very often, before I am able to put into words what disturbs, troubles, or bothers me, I am also someone who throws stones into the pond out of spite, and often provoke controversy and hostility because of it.

However, in these cases, there are also sometimes a few people who approach and try to understand my attitude by helping me express what is wrong with me. With age, I also try more and more to be like that with others.

I ain't reading alla that in defence of a racist

[27monster27 14,491]

I haven't seen a lot of people say this, but she was also pro-rape. She implied that women who got assaulted were asking for it on numerous occasions, and whenever people came out about it happening to them she would turn a blind eye.

[nATAH 52,295]

8 minutes ago, gagzus said:

If you are alive today and can’t move with society when you lived through historic events happening then YOU are the problem I’m afraid. This goes for all old people, we should hold them accountable because they are for sure the primary reason society doesn’t evolve politically or socially tbh.

many of my customers/patients are people who are born in the 30s/40s and have no problem being respectful of our multicultural staff, any who are get kicked out immediately

i can't believe i'm seeing people defend racist attitudes just because of old age, themselves also being a minority she was disgusted by

[gagzus 16,424]

15 minutes ago, nATAH said:

many of my customers/patients are people who are born in the 30s/40s and have no problem being respectful of our multicultural staff, any who are get kicked out immediately

i can't believe i'm seeing people defend racist attitudes just because of old age, themselves also being a minority she was disgusted by

I get why people defend old people I really do, HOWEVER, racism - homophobia- transphobia are all learned behaviour. Thus you can unlearn them.

I personally unlearned a lot of transphobia I was raised with in the 90s, and I’m still learning now. You kids should hold these people accountable.

[elijahfan 26,777]

18 minutes ago, nATAH said:

i can't believe i'm seeing people defend racist attitudes just because of old age, themselves also being a minority she was disgusted by

No one here is defending or condoning it, merely trying to explain what could lead someone to such opinions and also that there's more to people than their political affinities.

@Cavadour actually explained it perfectly, but since you won't bother reading their post, I'm not even sure what's the point of having a conversation.

[elijahfan 26,777]

2 minutes ago, gagzus said:

I get why people defend old people I really do, HOWEVER, racism - homophobia- transphobia are all learned behaviour. Thus you can unlearn them.

I personally unlearned a lot of transphobia I was raised with in the 90s, and I’m still learning now. You kids should hold these people accountable.

I'm actually all for educating people and I believe in redemption. People are scared of what they don't know, it's all about having conversations and understanding where people are coming from. The problem tho is that we haven't really changed as a species since the ancient times and we're much more excited by the smell of blood than the boring process of having a discussion.

[Bronco 14,830]

2 hours ago, elijahfan said:

She was an old lady, born in the 20s, nostalgic for a society that doesn't exist anymore... Wow, crazy. If you want to crucify every old person with backwards views, good luck with that.

Thanks

I've already started cutting the wood for the crosses.

There's no excuse for bigotry.

You talk about the older generation like every single one of them is a bigot.

No. The older generation includes the same people who gave their lives to make *our* lives better. 

[Ronk 14,802]

1 hour ago, gagzus said:

If you are alive today and can’t move with society when you lived through historic events happening then YOU are the problem I’m afraid. This goes for all old people, we should hold them accountable because they are for sure the primary reason society doesn’t evolve politically or socially tbh.

Change "all old people" to "many old people".  I'm an old person who is totally not racist, homophobic, or transphobic.  Quite the opposite, actually.

[elijahfan 26,777]

4 minutes ago, Bronco said:

You talk about the older generation like every single one of them is a bigot.

Literally never said that. Only that it's not surprising for a white cis woman born in the 20s living in the South of France to have developed such opinions. And this is not me saying any of this is right, or excusing it. But she's someone who's had a great significance for a lot of people, and at the moment of her passing I would much rather remember what drew us closer together than what divided us. But to each their own, obviously.

[Celloo Deng 55,494]

7 minutes ago, Ronk said:

Change "all old people" to "many old people".  I'm an old person who is totally not racist, homophobic, or transphobic.  Quite the opposite, actually.

[gagzus 16,424]

5 minutes ago, Ronk said:

Change "all old people" to "many old people".  I'm an old person who is totally not racist, homophobic, or transphobic.  Quite the opposite, actually.

The reason I put all old people is because I meant ALL old people should be held accountable for the views they were raised with. You’ve learned and become a better person which is amazing (because me too) and I’m happy you have. Same goes for all the older people who have, but we all still have slightly off kilter views whether we think it or not. For example this year I had pretty negative views of Non Binary people until this year when I actually talked to people who identified as such.

We’re still learning as we get older, and we should be open to the ideas of young people. The children are our future as Whitney once said

[Ladle Ghoulash 31,935]

[gagzus 16,424]

32 minutes ago, elijahfan said:

I'm actually all for educating people and I believe in redemption. People are scared of what they don't know, it's all about having conversations and understanding where people are coming from. The problem tho is that we haven't really changed as a species since the ancient times and we're much more excited by the smell of blood than the boring process of having a discussion.

Oh absolutely, like even our queer ancestors had negative opinions of each other. A lot of old queer men were misogynistic, a lot of older trans people hated gay men, straight philosophers hated queer ones, white heroes like Churchill hated black and queer people it all just goes around and around. Yeah we’re not perfect but I definitely still think we should hold each other accountable for hypocrisy.