Is Marine Le Pen well spoken?

March 13, 2015 3:24 PM

How does far-right French leader Marine Le Pen sound to native French speakers?

Having watched this programme, I'm interested in how Marine Le Pen sounds to a native French speaker. Our own British equivalent, Nigel Farage of UKIP, sounds home-counties well-spoken. He could even be described as posh. Is Le Pen the same?

posted by derbs to Law & Government (4 answers total)

Best answer: To my memory, yes. I'm not French, but I did live in France for a time teaching English.

I heard Ms Le Pen a couple of times on the radio, and I was very surprised at how well-spoken she came across. Granted, I might be biased by the general level of idiocy spouted by the average Indian politician, but I remember having a conversation with a colleague who was concerned that people were fooled by how intelligent and well-spoken she came across, and didn't pay enough attention to what she was saying.
posted by Tamanna at 6:45 PM on March 13, 2015

Best answer: She sounds well spoken, it reflects her background as a lawyer and as the daughter of a politician.
posted by furtive at 9:01 AM on March 14, 2015

Best answer: She is indeed very well-spoken, and as Tamanna mentions, it's part of why she's more dangerous than her bloviating father. It's also a lesson in how stereotypes are self-defeating: she does not fit the stereotype of a racist, thus, people have a harder time seeing her as a racist. In spite of the overtly and covertly racist things she says.
posted by fraula at 3:34 AM on March 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks everyone.
posted by derbs at 11:10 AM on March 21, 2015