I've got some thoughts about the storyline starting here.

This storyline was written well before President Bush got his Iraqi war on, and all of the events that have happened the last few months. So it is not, and was never intended as, some kind of satire about the French or their political position. It takes place in France since it is a French card game. I designed Jacques Pierre as over-the-top stereotypical as I could (which isn't all that original, since most over-the-top stereotypical French men are in striped shirts and berets) so that no one who could possibly be offended by it, could be offended by it, since it is over-the-top and in no way based in reality. I even have him smoking a cigarette in my original character sketches. In short, if you are offended by the character, then you have much more serious problems to work out, such as getting a sense of humor. I don't think I even have him say anything particularly outrageous.

And for those conspiracy wackos, the symbol that is regularly shown throughout the storyline is not supposed to be some kind of subliminal "peace" symbol that was altered. It supposed to look like a steering wheel of a car, since the card game has to do with driving. Nothing more. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Oh, and it's also not to be some kind of subliminal advertisement for Mercedes-Benz, either.

But one of the funniest, and irksome, things to have come out recently is the whole "Freedom Fries" thing. I think renaming French fries like that is one of the most hilarious things. Every day as I commute to work, I pass over the French River (though it's not a very large one), and every day I'm tempted to pull over and block out half the sign so it reads "Freedom River". Going to Freedom class and having to do Freedom homework, getting French Stewart to change his name...it's just a funny thing to do.
But...it's also a sign of how we as Americans can go way overboard about things. Sure, I think it's funny, but it's nothing we should be going out of our way to change. This is probably some kind of rumor, so please correct me if I'm wrong...but I think this whole Freedom fries thing started with the cafeteria at the Capitol building changing the name. This scares me a little, since it wouldn't surprise me at all if Congress actually spent time debating this change. I'm not saying they did, but I could see it happening. And that's not cool. Why? First off, Congress has MUCH better things to discuss than what to call a form of potatoes. Then there's the original name ot begin with. What's the number one question people always ask about French fries? "Duh...why are they called French fries when they're not really French?" (And yes, you have to include the "duh"). People generally seem to know that French fries don't come from France, even if they don't know where they do come from (Belgium). They're called French fries because "French-cut fried potatoes" is too long. And it's called French-cut since no one can be bothered to learn how to pronounce or spell "julienne". (Myself included, since that's probably not spelled right).

I apologize for that horrendous swear word I mentioned. Please pardon my Freedom.
posted by Tim at 12:03 AM