A little column known as the “insolite” carried by the Nice Matin provided me with hours of instruction in the French language and culture. The term “human interest” is a close English equivalent.
Articles I remember include:
- A small poodle escaped injury when a car and its occupants were crushed by falling rocks in the Gorges de Cians in the arrière-pays Niçois.
- An elderly British cyclist plunged to her death after missing a turn in the Gorges du Loup.
- The wax statue of former Community Party leader Georges Marchais was tossed into the bear pit at the Paris zoo. . . .
I don’t remember when the transformation occurred, but these days the “insolite” has been replaced with “faits divers.” Is this a more objective term? Or is journalism becoming more “banale,” or insignificant ?
I glanced at the Nice Matin and La Provence yesterday, hoping the “insolite” had returned. Mais non, only the human interest stories appeared.
- La Provence – “faits divers” – a VW Golf reached speeds of 200 kilometers per hour on the autoroute before hitting a Peugeot (fortunately no injuries) and stopping.
- Nice Matin – the rose-colored waters have been drained from the fountain at the Quatre Chemins in Grasse.
- Nice Matin - Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010 – During the holiday season, a time when basement wine caves are well stocked for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, thieves took food, wine, champagne and even the dog croquettes!
In the States, we have human interest stories. The family cat left behind during a camping trip was forced to hike 3,000 cross country to return home. In the beach community of Indialantic, pranksters repeatedly have stolen (and returned) a life-size plastic calf that stands outside of a local ice cream store. Other stories include the post card received 40 years after it was mailed, or the astronomical telephone bill. . . . (we would like to think these are “insolite”).
But many stories, perhaps deemed too insignificant, have been missed by the media.
- For a Halloween party, two sisters dressed as Carmen Miranda, the Brazilian dancer and actress known for the colorful scarves and cornucopia of fruit on her head, were mistakenly identified as a Fruit of the Loom advertisement when they entered a local club.
- A university professor hoping to avoid attracting attention when he left a reception early got trapped in a stairwell and had to call for help.
- A neighbor in a Halloween gorilla costume, pulling a tinfoil space ship, said he went out of his way to avoid police officers who were questioning a crazy-looking man on the street.
- The recent city art fair at which passersby seemed more interested in the food and dogs rather than the displays.
The media do need to keep covering the “insolite” or even “faits divers,” if for no other reason than to provide foreigners with the opportunity to learn about our language and culture.
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