All over the world, women are rightly rising up against inappropriate gestures, attacks, tiring remarks and other abuses by men. In the United States, a concept has developed without yet reaching our borders: that of “rape look“, which designates the looks that are far too insistent even dangerous. And that’s exactly what Patrick Timsit was accused while seated at a table in the Beverley Deli, in Los Angeles, with some French friends, including director Francis Veber.
In the columns of Sunday newspaperthe author Philippe Labro actually recounts a phone call made to Francis Veber – The Goat, The stupid dinner, The closet, The pain in the ass… – during which the director remembered the past: this moment when he thought he would end up behind bars, in America, with Lazard’s dad. “There was a pretty girl at the other end of the room. We looked at it. She came to us. ‘Stop looking at me’, she ordered us, he remembers. I answer that I have a ray of sunshine in my eyes and that I didn’t look at her. She will complain to the owner of the establishment. He comes to yell at us. Tone up. He asks us to leave. We leave. And then, surprise: there are cops everywhere.”
Five cars, fifteen police officers and a helicopter
Welcomed at the exit of the gastronomic establishment by five cars, fifteen police officers and a helicopter, the two cinephiles felt that they were about to have serious problems with the American justice system. All’s well that ends well for Patrick Timsit and Francis Veber, who were able to find our borders without going through prison. “We take our identitieshe continues. In my bad English, I then said to a cop who seemed a little less hostile: ‘I may have looked at this young woman, but 15 cops, 5 cars, 1 helicopter, don’t you think it’s a little too much ?’. She smiled. She set us free. We were able to take the plane and return to France.” Next time, it will probably be fashionable to focus on food…