The Average Guy

Baya nervously meeting with Arthur's Parents

I always love the comical characters in the french movies. They are like the princes and princesses in Disney fairy tales which shows us how perfect the world could be, yet, with the compelling story telling and acting by French actors, writers and directors, French dramas are able to connect the protagonists with reality and give us a sense of hope in envisioning a better and romantic future, whether it’s for love or politics.

The Names of Loves (Le nom des gens) is a story about roots. Baya, a modern day hippy and Arthur, an articulate liberal professor, constantly question the reason of their being and the history of their family. There are limitless factors to account for how we came into being they way we are right now, for instance where did our grandparents come from? how did our mom and dad meet? what did our teachers teach us? It is impossible to account for each and everyone of them but knowing them comforts us because it reinforce our identity as a member of a family with roots, an organization, a city, a nation. It indoctrinates us with a set of value that are worth protecting and fighting for. As the Chinese proverb says: Never forget the past for it could be a teacher in the future.

Nevertheless, it is dangerous not to question history and take it as it is. Endless atrocities in history have proven us the danger of having a single-story of history: fascism, totalitarian regimes and genocides. Arthur, our protagonist which was born into a very French family with right-winged parents, had a constant struggle between his roots of being a noble French countryman and his left-leaning political philosophies, not to mention his political avant garde girlfriend Baya. That’s why Arthur were always having these imaginary conversations with his young-self and his late parents. It is with these dialogues that he has finally overcome the struggle and saw her mom was in fact just having whipped cream for the first time in the Taxi instead of being molested by German soldiers as he imagined. History shall be understood in tandem with continuous questioning so that we could learn from the past and move forward at the same time. How could this be done? Baya’s answer: I’m an atheist, but Muslim is my culture.

History is important, but screw our roots.