How sad! The man I venerate and consider as my new thought-father, Thierry Marceau, was sentenced to 150 hours of community service work. The punishment might seem like a small one, but it is a grave inequity. Thierry Marceau, instead of a sentence, deserved an award! Indeed, this young man actively worked towards denouncing the media’s stupidity and towards promoting sense (which is, as everyone knows, the foundation of a republican democracy).
Whereas we give the "legion d’honneur" to some former nazis and the medal for Arts and Letters to some promoters of bad music, Thierry Marceau gets a sentence.
Here are the facts. In October 1998, some strange phenomenon took place in the church of a small French village called Delain. Candles would fly, and statues of Saints would move all by themselves. Quickly, and in addition to a few gawkers, fanatics and exorcists, the media came and started keeping the whole country informed on those strange stories involving possessed candles and more. Soon, after many newscasts from hillbilly-country, the question was asked: "miracle or curse?", "is the church of Delain possessed by the Lord or the Devil?" Interviews of local hicks telling about their supra-natural experiences followed. X-files style, except this was for real. All those reports showed a little doubt on the part of the media, but they also worked at maintaining the suspense by concluding that those phenomenon were still very "troubling" and mystically interesting.
So troubling that the police tackled the case. I really wonder if our taxes should go to a bunch of low-brow uniform-wearing would-be Mulder and Scully every time there is a case of flying candles in a church. Anyway, the investigation soon concluded that this was only a little prank played by the young mayor (32), Thierry Marceau. A little prank that, thanks to the media, got out of hand and reached national importance. Quote Thierry Marceau, talking about the media at that time:" So, when we call you to show that we’re doing interesting things, you never come. But when we call about something as futile as that…"
Thierry Marceau has since been sentenced for theft, insult towards public authority (translation: he made fun of the police) and destruction of public goods.
Whereas France is not doing so good in the fight against cults and sects, and against various con artists who exploit a gullible public (fortune tellers and all sorts of gurus, the National Lottery, homeopaths and economic commentators…), we sentence a mayor for trying to denounce all this. Whereas god-crazy reactionaries still have an influence on politics and the media keep the market for paranormal alive, we scold someone who tried, through an example, to show the workings of those idiocies and ridiculed the media’s craziness.
Every Sunday, priests exploit the naivete of their followers with stories about immaculate conception, burning bushes, walking on water and the multiplying of hedge funds. After those stories, the audience gets his purse and helps finance these people’s idle life. None of those priests was ever sentenced for swindle or theft. TV investigates paranormal and "troubling" phenomenon, over-publicizes moronic fortune-tellers. Tabloids and female-oriented magazines capitalize on astrology ("Virgo: you’ll get laid this summer"). None of them was ever condemned. Homeopaths sell the placebo effect for the price of caviar and explain that their little pills must not come in contact with the patient’s hands, lest the effect be lost, which goes to show that their medication is as good as sucking one’s thumb. But that is legal.
Thierry Marceau truly contributed to the awakening of the consciences of the masses, because his little manipulation was, indeed, "troubling". Let’s hope that the people he fooled learnt something about their own credulity. He also showed the limits of the media’s code of ethics and professionalism, as well as the way they keep lowering the level of the information they deal with. If we don’t accept the impact he had on human progress, we must still admit that he helped local tourism. His reward: a sentence given by the French justice system (I’m still wondering what the French justice has to do in this sort of private problem).
To Thierry Marceau, from the thankful Republic.
