We talk a lot about “feminicides”. We denounce domestic violence. We give a voice to feminists who denounce “toxic masculinity”.
But it’s strange, when in some circles this toxicity comes from people on the left, there’s silence.
If you don’t believe me, read the investigation a French journalist dedicated to Bertrand Cantat, that progressive, well-meaning artist who killed the actress Marie Trintignant.
It causes nausea.
HIS STAR-SHAPED POETRY
Type Bertrand Cantat on Wikipedia and you will read: “In 2003 he killed his partner Marie Trintignant during an argument in Vilnius, Lithuania.”
A fight ? What an understatement!
I had to take frequent breaks when reading Désir noir by Anne-Sophie Jahn (Flammarion) because certain passages were difficult to read.
Like this description of the severity of the head trauma that caused the actress’ death: “comparable to that of a motorcyclist crashing into a wall at full speed, without a helmet.”
The optic nerves were torn out. “A total of nineteen hits to the body (legs, arms, back, abdomen) are registered.”
We are far from a “fight” that went wrong, especially from an “accident”.
- Listen to the interview with Sophie Durocher Marie-Claude Barrette, host of the podcast “Open your game” via QUB radio :
But as Madame Jahn, who investigated Cantat for six years, tells us, the Noir Désir singer, who spent just four years in prison, benefited from a complacent attitude on the part of a certain artistic and media environment.
You see, Bertrand Cantat is a committed artist: “He is close to José Bové and Attac, he supports the Indians of Chiapas, the immigrants, he denounces capitalism.”
In 2003, a filmmaker, journalist and playwright wrote in the newspaper Le Monde: “Bertrand Cantat is more than a friend. He is our brother in scripture, conviction and heart. We love everything about him, his eye on time, his broad shoulders like a horizon, his star-shaped poetry.” Misery! You’re talking about a guy who just beat up his girlfriend? So much so that his optic nerves were ripped out?
Cantat’s friends continue: “Those who knew him, those who applauded him, those who welcomed him to their newsrooms, their rallies, their public gatherings, those who asked for his support, those who shared his determination, be Commitment, praising his artistic talent.” , his humanism, his intellectual rigor, his freedom of thought … cannot forget it and silence the true personality of Bertrand.
So since he’s a dedicated artist, should we sweep the fact that he committed feminicide under the rug?
When Cantat released a record in 2014, Les Inrocks magazine put it on the front page, saying, “An artistic reparation for a Bertrand Cantat who has just erased ten years of silence.”
boohoo! A little more and the assassin would be presented as a victim!
And of course, in 2011, Quebec playwright Wajdi Mouawad asked him to help adapt plays by Sophocles.
Imagine if it had been a right-wing politician who had killed his girlfriend: would all these tartists have turned to him?
- Listen to the interview with Sophie Durocher Rafaël Provost, CEO of ENSEMBLE for respect and diversity above QUB radio :
NO ACCIDENT!
I hope that everyone who has downplayed, trivialized or totally ignored the horror of Bertrand Cantat’s gesture will read Désir Noir.
Because a bastard is a bastard. Regardless of the quality of his work and his political views.
