French Jerk: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Holly''': Jean Paul-Sartre said that Hell was being locked forever in a room with your friends.

 

 

A French character who is depicted as the villain, the antagonist or someone who's just plain mean. Usually seen in comedies.

Often the '''French Jerk''' has just flown in to the United States and meets [[The Hero]]. Upon meeting, the two will go into an argument about whose country is better, with the Frenchman usually winning.

 

 

After the conflict is resolved, however, he often will have grown to love the U.S.A. and isn't as arrogant about himself or his country as he was before. This follows after he is defeated by the Americans or after any interaction between them that resolves the conflict.

 

 

Like any stereotype, bears some relationship to reality (namely, what Americans think the French think of Americans) while being mostly wrong (''actual'' French thoughts on Americans are more along the lines of "constantly-grinning workaholics who are chronically stiffed on vacation; how and why do they put up with that?"). One possible root in reality is because French ''etiquette'' is more formal and polite than American manners, which are more laidback, and as a result, French people might sometimes be perceived by Americans as arrogant and uptight. French humor does tend to be dark, but France itself (and fellow French) comes in for just as much ribbing as any other target.

 

This is more of a [[Characterization Tropes]], unlike, say, [[Eagle Land]] or [[Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys]]. Compare [[Stuffy Brit]].

 

{{noreallife|They would only be [[Flame Bait]].}}

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* France of ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]''. A [[Handsome Lech]] who frequently annoys the other nations with his antics, especially his [[Sitcom Arch Nemesis]], England (who is somewhat of a [[The Mean Brit|Mean Brit]] himself).

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* The Cyclone, Pierre Fresson, from ''[[Thunderbolts]]''. Vain, egotistical, self-serving, and lecherous to the last.

** [[Depending on the Writer]]. He's a tad egotistical, true, but he's not really a jerk most of the time. Hell, he gave up crime after hearing Steve lament the fact none of his enemies ever reformed. In fact, Batroc and Cap have a pretty friendly relationship and he has helped Cap numerous times. It helps that he's one of the few Cap villains that isn't a [[Complete Monster]] (Red Skull, we're looking at you).

* Averted in ''[[The Boys]]'', in which the Frenchman is probably the nicest, friendliest, most genial guy in the entire series. Of course, he'll crush your skull if you make him mad, but still, by the standards of an [[Garth Ennis|Ennis]] story, stand-up guy.

 

* Played with in ''[[Ratatouille]]''. Collette says at one point, "Sorry to be rude, but we're French", which makes no sense since they ''are'' in France. There are some examples of French chauvinism, like the opening narration stating that "although other nations might dispute this fact... the best food in the world is made in France", and Skinner dismissively calling corn dogs "cheap sausages dipped in batter and fried; you know, American."

** Collette's line is "Sorry to be rude, but we're French and it's dinnertime." She was talking to reporters, so it may have been a joke, but she also had a kitchen to get running and Linguini's interview had them running late, so it may not.

* LeFrog in ''[[Flushed Away]]''. "I find everyone's pain funny but my own. I am French!"

* In ''[[Rush Hour]] 3'', the two heroes try to take a taxi from the airport after they land in France. The driver refuses, saying that he does not drive Americans, and begins to list the numerous ways America is second rate to France. After a wild car chase, the taxi driver completely changes his outlook on America, chasing his newfound dream of becoming an American spy, like in the movies in America always show.

* The Rude French Knights in ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]''.

* Pascal Sauvage from the film ''[[Johnny English]]'' lives this [[Trope]], especially when he {{spoiler|burns someone alive with a flamethrower trap in an elevator}}.

* In [[Terry Gilliam]]'s ''[[The Brothers Grimm (film)|The Brothers Grimm]]'' these are plentiful, the film taking place in French-occupied Germany. (Now there's a thought [[Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys|to chew on]].)

* Tomas in ''[[Black Swan]]'' gropes, taunts, and generally over exerts Nina to get the best performance he can from her. Considering {{spoiler|she's batshit crazy, this has a less than awesome outcome}}.

* In ''[[National Lampoon's European Vacation]]'', the waiter the Griswolds run into in Paris is exceptionally rude, telling them he'd serve them dishwater instead of what they ordered (since they "wouldn't know the difference"), and eventually telling them to {{spoiler|go fuck themselves.}}

* The French have been bad guys - sometimes [[Complete Monster|complete monsters]] - in every [[Matthew Reilly]] book they've been in. In an interview, he notes that he's never been published in France.

** He lampshades this in ''Hover Car Racer'' when after having trouble with a famous French racer who is despised by every person outside of France and another less famous French racer the main character asks "is every French person in this sport evil?"

* Detective Giraud in the [[Agatha Christie]] novel ''Murder on the Links''. He gets [[Humiliation Conga|throughoutly humiliated]] in the end by <s> fellow Frenchman</s> Belgian [[Hercule Poirot]]. The point here is that Giraud and Poirot use very different investigation methods. Giraud searches the crime scene and its vicinity for any kind of physical evidence, no matter how insignificant. Footprints, cigarette butts, etc. Poirot compares his rival to a police hound. Meanwhile, Poirot calmly contemplates the psychology of the crime and of the various people involved—getting a clearer picture of what is going on and the context of the various evidence.

 

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

* An episode of ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'' had a French character that Earl bullied in grade school. He held a grudge against Earl, and upon seeing him again, knocked Earl out with a headbutt. Near the end of the episode it's revealed that the Frenchman came to America in grade school to flirt with the women, his accent having a much more sexier effect in America than in France, where it's commonplace. After Earl fulfills the Frenchman's purpose for coming, by taking him out to meet the girls he knew from grade school(including [[Hot for Teacher|one of the teachers]]) and having sex with them, the Frenchman's view of Earl and America as a whole change.

* In ''[[The West Wing]]'', the President's youngest daughter took on a French Jerk boyfriend - much to the chagrin of most of the rest of the cast. For most of his run he was just a little bit of a jackass, derided by the gang because he's French but mainly because he knocked Charlie out of the picture. At the end of the fourth season, however, he gives <s> ecstasy</s> GHB to the daughter, making her kidnapping easier for the perpetrators.

* Henri on ''[[Cheers]]'', who made no attempt to hide the fact that he was going to steal Woody's girlfriend.

* "The Frog Princess" by [[The Divine Comedy (band)|The Divine Comedy]].

 

* [[Eddie Izzard]], on the French in his stand-up show "Dress To Kill":

{{quote|...and France hated them all ‘cause Southern France was collaborating with the Germans, embarrassing! So since then, they've been kind of spiky and kind of, er, French... I'm very positive on the French, my family way back was French, so I go with it, but they are kind of, well, fucking French at times...

You know your own history, right? You don't know who he is, do you?! What was it? The Spanish-American War? The French Banana War? What? The Revolutionary War! Hung out with Washington. Lafayette. Street named after him in New York. Forget it! }}

 

* The French Ambassador in ''[[Of Thee I Sing]]''.

* Doctor Caius of [[Shakespeare]]'s ''Merry Wives of Windsor''.

** Pretty much every (male) French character in Shakespeare, for that matter, though the [[Trope]] is averted in ''All's Well that Ends Well'' and ''Love's Labour's Lost'' where nearly all the characters are at least nominally French, and possibly subverted in ''[[King Lear]],'' in which the King of France is impressed by Cordelia's honesty and marries her despite her recent disinheritance.

** Played especially straight in ''[[Henry V]]'', with the French noblemen being complete and utter jerks. The only exception is Mountjoy the herald (who is not, of course, a noble).

{{quote|'''Princeton:''' Well, sure, Gary, but lots of people tell black jokes. But I bet you tell jokes about French people, right?

'''Gary:''' Yeah, sure I do! Those French people are such assholes.

* The Marquis de Singe from ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]]''. {{spoiler|And is not actually French.}}

** Captain René Rottingham from ''[[The Curse of Monkey Island|Curse]]'' seems to be French.

* Remy, from the ''[[Street Fighter III]]'' series. Though, his Jerk attitude might stem from him being a nihilist, not necessarily French. Abel from ''[[Street Fighter IV]]'' avert this, however.

* George Stobbart's condescending, some-time love rival Andre in the ''[[Broken Sword]]'' series is arguably this.

* ''[[The King of Fighters]]'' gives us Ash Crimson. Snide, condescending, manipulative, and ambushes people when they're at their weakest. {{spoiler|However by ''XIII;'', it's revealed he's a subversion.}}

* Jean Pierre from ''[[Fighters History]]'' isn't as bad as other examples, but he's still very arrogant and vain.

** Leliana, on the other hand, is one of the sweetest characters in the game (though she does have an unsavory past).

* ''[[Phantasy Star Portable]] 2'' gives us Chelsea, the [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|bubbly "French" robot secretary merc]], who, in an aversion, is the nicest character on the space station your character is assigned to.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

** Sad Panda's persona marinades itself in this.

 

* Le Quack, the antagonistic French duck from ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]''. "Stupeed Amereecans!"

** And the Napoleon Bonaparte look-alike, who spouts the same catchphrase.

* Lampshaded on ''[[Futurama]]'', with the one-off joke about the "Republic of French Stereotypes." Nobody likes ''them''.

* On ''[[Dilbert (animation)|Dilbert]]'' the title character goes to the dry cleaners only to be abused by the French-sounding owners. When he mentions that he is not there to complain, they say that they're not French, only rude, and it just sounds better with a French accent.

* Jean "Crook" Duprey from ''[[Spiral Zone]]''.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Race Tropes]]

[[Category:The Jerk Index]]

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]