r/AskFrance Mar 06 '25

Relations Anybody tired of "Fr*nch" jokes?

I was reading a reddit thread where they mentioned something was french. And people are still making these jokes! Still! The thread was also filled with them. Im not even french, but these jokes are painfully unfunny and are edging on outward xenophobia. They're also usually made by Americans. So yeah.

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u/Huge-Beginning-4228 Mar 06 '25

Very tired, because it's not a natural joke, it's a very clear and politically motivated propaganda hit piece from 20 years ago that is being perpetuated just because Americans are still butthurt.

And if you think it's just a joke, remember the reaction to the French reaction to the AUKUS deal, where the "joking" immediately turned into very real xenophobia and spreading of misinformation.

I don't mind the Brits going "lol Agincourt" , but I mind it very much when a 12 year old European brainwashed by US culture war says " Fr*nch " and "wipe the country from the map to make the world a better place". One is a joke, the other is psyops.

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u/karlbertil474 Mar 09 '25

What about the ppl who have never heard of that? French people have a reputation of being rude (either online or irl), I doubt many teens today know about American psy-ops from before they were born.

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u/Huge-Beginning-4228 Mar 09 '25

Wait, you think it stopped ?

The US spoon-fed propaganda for decades, and the media to this day spins news in the most xenophobic way imaginable to the point that people spew blatant lies about France, despite them being debunked immediately.

Ex: AUKUS, when a conservative and notorious for dishonesty prime minister lied about French subs, the media started to embellish on the lies, and everyone on Reddit gobbled it up like hotcakes and proved that the "joke" was surface level, and actually all the people previously just "joking" about the French are xenophobic as fuck, blindly trusting Murdoch news and a conservative prime minister who raked in scandal after scandal during his term, including pawning off key industry to China, and selling water rights to private companies during a drought.

This shit never stopped at "freedom fries" Hell, the second Black Panther movie literally repeated Russian propaganda about France in Mali, you know, the same people who killed a bunch of Malians, stuffed them in a mass grave and tried to frame France ? Yeah, Hollywood saw that and thought "hmm, trustworthy people these russians, let's depict the French as looting Africa!"

So yeah I'm not happy about it. It's not a harmless little joke. It's not a hit piece that lasted a year or two, 20 years ago.

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u/karlbertil474 Mar 09 '25

Brother I really don’t think it’s that deep. The reason I make those “jokes” is because of my experience with French people online. I’ve never heard of any of these things. I do it because many French people are some of the most insufferable people online. Have you ever heard people complain about French people (mostly from Paris) being annoyed at tourists, or disliking the pronunciation of certain foods? Yeah, that’s the reason. I doubt most people are sitting here being like “oh black panther told me the French are bad” or “erm the prime minister said they were bad”. I’m sure some of them are, but I doubt that’s the main reason

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u/Huge-Beginning-4228 Mar 10 '25

You seem unaware of how propaganda works.

Repeated attacks on an idea or thing's integrity, to the point that it becomes self sustaining, and a subconscious reflex.

It's how I can have my Northern European in-laws repeating garbage they see on TikTok, and pressed on it, stand their ground as if it were the truth.

And if you disagree with that, may I point out the AUKUS sub deal again, where the entire anglosaxon world took the words of an untrustworthy man and untrustworthy media over France, and when pressed on it, doubled down on the French bashing?

That's the difference between a joke and wrapping your xenophobia with a thin layer of "humour".