“The French, love and sex”. It’s an ambitious subject that Karine Le Marchand is tackling this Monday evening, at 9:10 p.m., on M6. In this documentary directed by Delphine Cinier, which she produces and presents, the host is interested in our intimate lives.
Through the testimonies of several dozen French people aged 18 to 70, this “societal fresco” questions “How has everything changed?” » in terms of romantic and sexual behavior, for half a century. Polyamory, asexuality, libertinism, routine in couples, desire, the “sextech” sector and even dating applications are discussed.
“Everything has changed”
“For fifty years, everything has changed: our codes, our references, our ways of flirting, of being part of continuity or not… Of choosing a genre or of evolving, of telling myself that I don’t want to experience anything and of claim it. Consent changed everything, #MeToo changed everything, apps changed everything. We are in a period of total change,” declared Karine Le Marchand at a press conference in mid-October.
However, consent, sexual violence, themes with crucial issues, from a societal point of view but also in the private sphere, remain treated here in a more secondary manner. Is it now possible to focus on the French, love and sex, without frankly tackling these subjects?
“My goal was really to be intimate, in raw fragments of words”
In the few extracts – scattered and unedited – shown to a handful of journalists in mid-October (see box), we discover different testimonies, most of them in front of the camera, from the selected panel. Among others, we meet Carla, a sixty-year-old Monegasque woman, single, who is struggling to find love again. There is also the love story between Léa and Elodie, asexual. Ariane and Bertrand were both raised in traditional Catholic values. They share the doubts that have assailed their relationship. As for Noémie and Raphaël, they decided not to live together to preserve their love. We also meet the troop formed by Thierry, Franck and Chris.
“What we wanted was people who have a structure in relation to their love life and who manage to verbalize it. And which also concerned us,” explains Karine Le Marchand.
At the same time, other sequences feature the host, in the company of these witnesses, or with speakers on set. Some provide advice for identifying red-flag on dating applications, others present the different innovations of the sex toy market.
However, not one sociologist or historian appears in the program. “It was a bias,” explains 20 Minutes the director Delphine Cinier. My goal was really to be intimate, in raw fragments of words where people talk but without being in decryption. »
“Slightly off-topic” themes
This documentary nevertheless delves into the past, with archives, in order to shed light on the present. In one of these chilling passages, women testify to the “conjugal duty” imposed by their husbands. The term “rape” does not appear in the spotlight. However, the recognition of violence between spouses, even within the home, is among the notable developments of the last fifty years. We might have expected this subject to be covered, especially since the Mazan rape trial had significant media coverage and had an impact on public opinion.
“It is true that I did not address marital rape,” replies the director. For me, marital rape, beatings, is yet another subject because there is no more love in it. I know that Dominique Pélicot’s trial is shaking everything up and the fact that the hearing is public is a huge step forward for women. But all these themes were a little off topic. »
If the notion of consent can be guessed from a testimony, it is not specifically defined, as can be polyamory, pansexuality, themes developed at greater length. “We fully decipher consent,” defends the director. And the second part of the evening is just about that. » In the press kit, the director specifies that the MeToo movement is notably treated through the prism of “the new position of men in couples and sexuality”.
“It’s already a pretty heavy fresco”
Aware of the issues around these themes, Delphine Cinier underlines that “The French, love and sex” is a vast subject, which requires making choices and being synthetic. Consent but also the mental load, parenthood deserve, she recognizes, to be addressed at greater length.
“We were unable to deal with this very dark side of male domination and what a woman could endure. There are also a lot of men who are touched. Or domestic violence, rape… Obviously, it is at the center of concerns and it determines our love relationship, that is sure and certain. But it would be a doc on male domination, patriarchy,” she believes.
These questions nevertheless appear in small steps throughout the program. Delphine Cinier believes that “for M6”, the subjects discussed are “very modern”. She cites as an example “the deconstruction of the couple” and “the theme of patriarchy which (she) gives the definition”. “We are almost in sociology and I think that makes you want to go further. In terms of archives, in terms of content, it’s already quite a heavy fresco,” continues the director. See you for a new episode?
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