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Originally Posted by CleverCowboy
I really cannot think of an incident in Alizee's early career that would be the direct cause of her being disliked by a significant number of people. She played a Lolita image, but since when is that offensive to the French? Did they all of a sudden find religion? She was not the first Lolita in France and was very tame compared to Mylene's Lolita years, who's first music video had her fully nude and engaged in soft core porn.
Maybe Alizee was TOO nice. She was soft-spoken, respectful and polite. This gives the haters an easy target. I'm sure there was a good amount of jealousy involved being that this nobody from the "land down under" (Corsica) is propelled to fame. She was the French answer to America's Britney Spears, and it just confounds me how the French do not support their own.
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I couldn't tell you for sure why some people disliked Alizée when MF also exists, but I could guess. MF is hugely successful in France, but I'm guessing not everybody likes her. Let's say 60%-40% or 70%-30% of people that do like her versus do not. Of the MF fan percentage, most of them supported Alizée because she/her career was a project or endeavor of MF/LB, but I wonder if some resented her as some sort of watered-down MF-wannabe. I can definitely see the non-MF fan percentage seeing Alizée as worse than the original. Perhaps, instead of
religion per se, they simply viewed her through a lens of misogyny, which is much more prevalent. MF became an established French superstar, perhaps untouchable, whereas Alizée was a newcomer in skimpy clothing (especially during the MCE era) and thus an easy target to criticism.
As for your latter point, I regret to point out the case of Michael Jackson. Easily the most successful American entertainer who ever lived, and won numerous career and humanitarian awards the world over, including presidential awards from Reagan and H. W. Bush. And yet the American public found ever increasing ways to caricature-ize and distort his appearance and personality for tabloid gossip. Yet others like David Bowie, Prince, Freddie Mercury, Elton John (and so many others) then and today are celebrated for their eccentricities. I guess people in America simply could not let go of the issue of his skin color. One of my favorite quotes on this topic is a passage from Nelson George's book "Thriller: The Musical Life Of Michael Jackson"
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"Although Americans, white as well as black, were obsessed with the radical changes in his appearance, the international audiences that passionately supported him, and continue to do so to this day, were never as concerned about how he used to look. They accepted Michael's white face in a way that Americans never have. Many African Americans saw his changing color as sign of betrayal, of self-hate. White American detractors viewed him as a freak (e.g. "Wacko Jacko") whose skin lightening was another example of his weirdness. The rest of the world was less judgemental and more open minded.
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Unaffected by America's tortured racial history, global ticket buyers would come to view the post-Thriller Michael as the one who truly mattered."
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I believe this to be true. Growing up outside of the United States, I remember there was some mystique about his physical appearance, but the focus on MJ was always on his music, dancing, and achievements. When I came to the United States I found that many people didn't share my amazement with his abilities. I found the Wacko Jacko image (especially after the allegations) overtook his actual appearance to the point where people actually think he looks like the awful caricatures made of him than the reality. So I don't think Alizée's (admittedly less harmful image in her country) situation is that unique. Perhaps as the saying goes, a prophet is never appreciated in his own land.
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Originally Posted by CleverCowboy
This was a huge career mistake that I have been vocal about before. It was a terrible miscalculation. "Out of sight, out of mind" and "What have you done for me lately?" are two cliches that come to mind.
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She definitely wasn't thinking about her career, but I doubt she would change that if she could go back. She made the choice to step away from the public eye and being under constant scrutiny so she could focus on being a mother and a wife. As much as we as fans may have suffered the loss of those years of potential releases, I can't blame Alizée for choosing her personal life over her career. She knew what she was doing (having confessed to worrying about being forgotten by the fans during the period between Gourmandises and MCE), and that she may not be able to pick up her career where she left off. If she could make her peace with that, so can I - but that's my two cents.
05-21-2019, 05:49 PM
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