What style! American hand kissing is formal and done at a distance. Not so Chirac's. He comes in close, clasps the woman's hand with both hands as if it was a priceless treasure, and leans down to it. He looks at it for an instant as if to savor it, then closes his eyes and delivers a passionate kiss directly to the skin; that's the skin, not the air above it, which is customary.
Here he is (above) kissing the hand of German Chancellor, Angella Merkel. She looks happy. Man, one hand kiss from this guy and a woman must feel like she's had a whole nasty weekend with him, replete with ocean breezes and Pina Coladas brought on a tray from the hotel bar. Where did Chirac learn how to do that?
Maybe it's in the air in France, at least that's what Elizabeth Scioling says in her new book (above). She says France is a whole country founded on love stories. Even the word "seduction" is much more in common use in France than in America. You see it in newspaper headlines like "Afghanistan: The French in Seduction Mode." The word has been stretched to mean: to attract or influence, to win over, even if just in fun. The techniques employed include: sensuality, subtlety, mystery and play.
So far so good...it all sounds great...but the rules of French seduction can work against Americans. Smiling, for example. We like to smile and will often smile at everybody we meet, and this grates on some Frenchmen. For the French the smile is reserved for the person we wish to seduce or influence. To lavish it on everybody in the street is to cheapen it. I don't agree, but it's an interesting thought.
I love the way the French speak in old films like the ones by Renoir and Truffaut. Where an American might say," You can meet a girl anywhere, you can't predict where or when," a Frenchman in the films might say something like, "You can find the woman in your life in a restaurant, in a cafe. It starts with an innocent, stupid sentence. 'Can you pass me the salt? Can you pass me the carafe of water? And then...a look!' "
Do you see the difference? The Frenchman excitedly illustrates his thought with examples. His speech indicates that he relishes the imaginary moment when the game of seduction begins.
"Every man has two countries, his own and France," says the old saying, and I concur.
6 comments:
Whoa! Looking at these gives me some new cartoon ideas I can try out. I've never done the seduction poses before where the guy is kissing the girl's hand now that I think about it.
I got declined my first job at Walgreens. Do you have any tips on how to successfully find a job? I've filled out 5 job applications, put that I'm going to Rutgers University, and not one of them has called me so far.
Joshua: A sincere smile makes the recipient feel good and it doesn't cost a cent. What's not to like?
I love the French, but I think they have the wrong idea about this.
Roberto: Maybe you shouldn't have mentioned Rutgers. They want somebody who's not going to leave at the end of the Summer, and who's not overqualified.
Good point. I thought at the time it would have made me a bit more competitive and stand out since people have told me that for a lot of jobs, you need a college degree to be competitive in certain entry level jobs. I guess they were wrong.
On the next job apps I fill out, I'm just going to not put any colleges at all. I never thought of doing that. A lot of my friends who have been admitted to The University of Georgia, the well-respected flagship school in the state that I live in (didn't grow up here which is why I didn't apply there and I don't care for the school that much), have had trouble finding jobs themselves, so maybe it isn't just me after all.
I hate seduction. I don't understand it - at all. I have aspergers, I just want to go up to pretty girls and ask them to have sex with me.
Fuck romance. Fuck courtship and all dating and mating rituals. All I give a fuck about is sex.
Fatlaroy: If possible, you should learn the art of seduction, even though it involves emotions you don't feel. Just act it, like playing a part on the stage.
You have to live in a world of mostly non-Asperger people, so you may as learn how to get along with them. That's what Russell Crowe's character did in the movie "Beautiful Mind." He never stopped seeing visions, he just learned not to acknowledge them while other people were around.
Post a Comment