A large group of dignitaries and military commanders, as well as security agents, gathered to witness a grand parade of soldiers commemorating a momentous event in the history of France and the psyche of its people, The storming of Bastille Prison, which sparked the 1789 Revolution.
This July 14 marks the 100th Anniversary of the Entry of American Troops into the First World War. So, Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump, two radically different men, are leading the party.
Although they may seem similar because both presidents are political outsiders who have taken unconventional steps to win elections, their personalities are completely different.
In contrast to the American’s fearful nationalalism, his counterpart promotes a progressive, proud sense of nation, envisioning France as a country that ” makes our planet great again“.
One produces a litany online abuse while the other has launched a list of MPs which brings unprecedented diversity into the French Parliament. Macron is unwavering, incisive and relentless where Trump is outlandish.
The two men were flanked on Bastille Day by their wives. Comments on Macron’s wedding exposed the misogyny still prevalent in some societies, a misogyny which Trump himself has manifested. Trump’s ego is rampant. He sees himself as a brand.
Macron, on the other, projects a sense of self that is underpinned by intelligence. This means a capacity to learn and reason. This intelligence and the boldness it inspires is what led to this moment of double-take: The French Military Band, in full ceremonial clothing, standing at attention on the Bastille Day Stage and performing a bravura version of Get Lucky by French electronic duo Daft Punk.
Artful Politics
The medley takes some time to develop. The tune is discernible as it builds, with the tuba, trumpets, cymbals, percussion, and bass drum.
The band performs this global anthem with a unique arrangement, combining the military movements of the Elysees with the strange and wonderful quick steps. A carefully choreographed video captures the stiff-chic moves of the band. This reinforces the music while also revealing more depth.
The men’s demeanor on the stage as they watched the ceremony could not have differed more.
Macron’s poise and irreverence embody France’s rich intellectual history. Is there a thread in his attitude of the spirit of rebellion that led to republicanism – the political philosophy that Bastille Day celebrates?
Trump appears to be becoming more and more unnerved by the increasing delight of those around him. He can sense that something is happening but is unable to grasp it. The out-of-place air of his character is what one might expect from a capitalist who has traded celebrity status for real estate notoriety and then used this to gain political power.
Describing these men in this manner is mythologizing them. This event has highlighted the interaction between myth and history.
Bastille Day medley
The French thinker Jacques Ranciere observed that “the foundation of a foundation is a tale, an aesthetic affair.”
Politics, with its notions of democracy and public spaces, and its practice within the Greek tradition, the agora, are also important. In line with French structuralism, the study of culture and language has looked at myth as a way to combine symbols and ideas in order to promote values specific to a particular era.
In his essay collection Mythologies from 1957, Roland Barthes combined storytelling with critique to explore myths of popular culture.
The “Bastille Day Medley,” along with the updated versions of his essays “The World of Wrestling” and “Photography and Electoral Appeal,” would be a good addition to a 21st-century edition of this work.
The French theorist Jean Baudrillard also offers insights into the worlds of celebrity presidents, fake news hypes, social media reality, and historic amnesia, which haunt this time.
In his 1981 work Simulation and Simulacra, he argues there was a clear connection between objects, symbols, and their value in rituals and social practice in pre-modern times. Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle outlines how the industrial era of mass production led to a breakdown of the real and the represented as commodification increased the value of appearances.
Symbols are no longer tied to anything by virtue of processes such as multiplication, imitation, and circulation. The simulacrum has become the new reality. Trump’s camp is known to trade in such simulacra. Its dismissal of critical thought and reflective thought as “elite” also plays a role.
The Daft Punk Medley is striking because it is a combination of two seemingly opposite things: military and popular culture. It is a historical look back, but also a look forward. The world watched as viewers re-anchored the chaotic world of Trump’s messages in a symbolic present.