From the ongoing Paris Hilton extravaganza to Britney’s painfully slow self-destruction, the North American media is always looking for something juicy to talk about in order to sell some magazines. But in Europe these days, the most exciting gossip concerns a certain politician: French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Sarkozy is in a relationship only four months after divorcing his wife Cécilia. But what really puts the cream on this tabloid eclair is the choice he’s made in his new lover. While Cécilia Sarkozy was a woman the French population barely knew, Carla Bruni, the president’s new belle, is a former supermodel who has also become a famous singer over the last four years. Before she started dating the political elite of Europe, she was linked variously with Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Kevin Costner, and Donald Trump. In 2006 she was quoted as saying “I am faithful—to myself! I am bored to death by monogamy.”
These are not the characteristics usually seen in a First Lady, and for the last month the press has hounded the couple as they travel Europe, making them the most sensationalized European couple since Prince Charles and Lady Diana.
Never before have the French people looked so closely into their president’s private life. Neither had they seen any former president pictured with two different women in less than a year.
While former French president François Mitterand hid the existence of a daughter he had outside of his marriage, and Jacques Chirac was also known to have extramarital affairs, Nicolas Sarkozy’s private life is very much more accessible to the public. This is probably because he likes to talk about it, and in accordance to the “transparency” he promised would characterize his presidency, he happily discloses many aspects of his private life. Transparency is a great characteristic for a leader to have when he’s talking about cabinet appointments or budget decisions, but does transparency mean that we should know everything?
Did the idea of “change” that Sarkozy campaigned under also include a change in how the president’s private life would be seen in the public arena?
Although a lot of people actually enjoy sneaking into the president’s private life and discovering his love stories, most people are now getting bored at all this media coverage, keeping in mind that he is their president and not a rock star. This is decline in the president’s popularity.
As the president is enjoys himself with his new friend, France is worried he’s put aside his role of world leader. After all, who couldn’t forgive the man for ducking out of a late meeting a little early to rush home to his supermodel girlfriend? According to French newspaper L’Est Républicain, “He forgot that he should have a romance with France and not with himself and his paramour.”
In fact, some French people are getting positively anxious. It is true that Sarkozy’s political projects seem to make sense and that he has many great ideas for France, but his over-activity is sometimes disturbing and his relationship with the media is a striking example of this excess.
France has teetered on the brink of socio-economic crisis in recent years, with riots in the immigrant enclaves of Paris becoming commonplace. There are major issues that need to be tackled, starting with the low standard of living many French citizens endure. This is an issue that Sarkozy has said is his priority, but he has yet to deal with. Fixing France’s problems is where Sarkozy should put his energy, not talking to the press. For gossip, we should always be able to rely on Paris—but only the heiress variety.
