THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – WHY NOT
Born in 1992 in Clichy (Hauts-de-Seine), having grown up with his mother, divorced, in a HLM in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), Mehdi Meklat embodies the example of a trajectory of success in the dazzling and exemplary of the benefits of diversity: joined the Bondy Blog in 2007, columnist at France Inter in 2010, documentary filmmaker and novelist from 2015, magazine creator in 2017. The profusion of talent impresses, the media incense, integration into the cultural world is on a par with these accomplishments. However, all this was undermined in February 2017 during his appearance on the program “La Grande Librairie”, in the wake of which a series of deliberately scandalous tweets posted by the young man since 2011 under the pseudonym of Marcelin Deschamps.
Homophobia, misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism, apology for terrorism, it’s all there. “This son of a bitch had to break his legs” (on Alain Finkielkraut); “Charb, I just want to bugger him with Laguiole knives” (on the designer of Charlie Hebdo who will lose his life in the attack on the newspaper); “Long live the PD long live AIDS with Hollande” ; “Bring in Hitler to kill the Jews” ; “I miss Bin Laden”… Abjection consists not only in calling death on the living, but in spitting on the victims. Words are not deeds, but certain words, knowing certain deeds, demand to be counted as such.
Homophobia, misogyny, racism, anti-Semitism, apology for terrorism, it’s all there
Mehdi Meklat quickly issues a public apology. Its defense system nevertheless operates in all directions. Mistake of youth. Evil literary double. Dadaist diversion of Western violence and racism. Malaise due to his status as a class defector. Scandal oriented, given the proportion of outrageous tweets. A majority of its institutional support is dissociating itself. But opinion about him is divided. Pathetic troller or narcissistic pervert? Immature provocateur or contemporary anti-Semite? We bet that the answer, and the forgiveness of the offense that is dependent on it, is here a very personal matter of moral positioning.
Tipping moment
In any case, Mehdi Meklat’s journey continues. Autopsy, treated in defense of his case, was published in 2018 by Grasset. Then, in the company of his accomplice from the Bondy Blog Badroudine Saïd Abdallah, writing a play performed by Elodie Bouchez (children of reality2018), production of a documentary on reclusive France narrated by Gérard Depardieu (Tomorrow the fire2019).
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