BBS: The French

[on:]

So... French is a dead language in the Future, but they have a French section in the head museum?

[Reply #1 on:]

And French phrases (well, the most I rememeber right now is Bender saying "Je suis Napoleon!" and "bonjour" in Insane in the Main Frame, but I'm sure there were others) have been used in the show as well. I don't recall hearing anything about it in the commentary, but it sounds like they just kinda forgot about that little detail, or only meant it to be used for a joke or two throughout the series.

[Reply #2 on:]

Well the way I see it, Futurama mimics Star Trek with its approach to the French language. There are a couple of French characters that appear very briefly in Futurama - Jacques who often sells Leela some ham and despises Nibbler (in a deleted scene of The Day the Earth Stood Stupid) and that kid in The Cyberhouse Rules who taunts Leela with "Stupid as a French guy" (who "looks" and sounds French himself...er I guess) and then of course Charles De Gaulle - all of them, despite the French language being dead seemingly retain French accents at any rate (CDG I guess should retain his accent because he comes from a time when French was still alive) - whereas French seems to be dead in Star Trek with Jean Luc Picard being a Frenchman but neither he or any of his friends and family back in France speak with anything like a French accent, except when pronouncing French names. So basically you could say, there's an inconsistency in Futurama.

However, that aside, I don't see why French phrases can't pitch up in coversation like a Latin phrase can, despite them both being effectively dead. Farnsworth may just have a much lower regard of French than Bender maybe, after all, Farnsworth when you think about it is quite xenophobic...

But in answer to the first point, the way I see it is even though French is dead, the term "French" can exist as the demonym of France. So in other words, the heads in the jars in this section come from France, they are French, thus this is the French section.

 

yay! overly long post time!

[Reply #3 on:]

I agree in part with the Farnsworth being a xenophobe part. And he's the only person, if memory serves me right, says or implies that French is a dead language.

Yes, the French Cabinet is thus named for the heads in the cabinet being from France, yet it is obvious that French is not dead by the fact that De Gaulle speaks it and Lars seems to understand it.

[Reply #4 on:]

You can make that same argument though - there are people that can speak Latin although it's "dead."

Hell, there's some sad sods like me that can speak/write Tolkien's elvish languages despite the fact that they were never really "alive" in the first place.

Also, Esperanto.

[Reply #5 on:]

There was also the "Republic of French Stereotypes" from Bend Her.

Anyhow, why shouldn't the head museum have a French section even if the language itself is obsolete? The whole point of museums is to preserve lost cultures. (Well, one of the points of museums, anyway).

[Reply #6 on:]

 

Originally posted by Sil:
Also, Esperanto.

Volapük!

I didn't know you speak Elvish... That's pretty neat.

[Reply #7 on:]

 

Originally posted by i_c_weiner:
I agree in part with the Farnsworth being a xenophobe part. And he's the only person, if memory serves me right, says or implies that French is a dead language.

Yes, the French Cabinet is thus named for the heads in the cabinet being from France, yet it is obvious that French is not dead by the fact that De Gaulle speaks it and Lars seems to understand it.

In order:
1. In SP3K, the Paris shot in the Year 3000 countdown has all the locals counting in English.  This is probably the only other canon support, though.

2. Well, Charles de Gaulle

Show spoiler

and Lars

are both from a time where French is a living language.

[Reply #8 on:]

Lars and De Gaulle both knew french from the past. If Caeser's head was around he'd probably speak latin. Just because people know a language doesn't mean it's not dead. Latin is dead and people still know how to speak it, just very few people.

[Reply #9 on:]

 

Originally posted by Pikka Bird:
 

Originally posted by Sil:
Also, Esperanto.

Volapük!

I didn't know you speak Elvish... That's pretty neat.

I don't generally advertise the fact when I meet people, because it shows me for the freak of nature I am 

Also, Stephen Fry speaks Latin I believe.

[Reply #10 on:]

Latin still has a special place because of its historical status as a universal language (which French ironically also enjoys) - many countries, notably England, used Latin in religious context for centuries and only really stopped in the 20th century (I think). Latin is still used in many older Universities like Oxford and Cambridge - the sort of background that Stephen Fry comes from of course - and is sometimes available as a optional language in select colleges. I remember watching my mum graduate from Cambridge and a lot of the process had to happen in Latin. Before each college's students graduated, its head had to announce the college to the...um...lady in charge of proceedings in Latin. There was a huge difference between those who confident speaking Latin and those who weren't. The head of my mum's college was confident and actually made the Latin sound fun.

Then a couple of years later my sister graduated at Sheffield and instead of Latin there was Eddie Izzard. I think I know which one I'd rather listen to...

But I digress...

[Reply #11 on:]

 

Originally posted by Sil:
 I don't generally advertise the fact when I meet people, because it shows me for the freak of nature I am   

Also, Stephen Fry speaks Latin I believe.

I've never seen Fry use Latin before. And its Phillip, not Stephen.

[Reply #12 on:]

No, I think they mean Stephen Fry. The English comic actor. You know, from Blackadder?

The point is Latin is a dead language now, but we still have places and objects with Latin names, people who speak and understand Latin, and some Latin phrases in common language (Carpe diem, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?, caveat emptor, habeas corpus).

French seems to share this status in Futurama: There are places like the Palm d'Orbit, people like Lars who speak French, and popular phrases like Je suis Napoleon.

[Reply #13 on:]

I don't recall Lars ever speaking French... When was that?

[Reply #14 on:]

Stephen Fry (and Jude Law for some reason).

Philip J Fry.


 

[Reply #15 on:]

 

Originally posted by Sayna:
I don't recall Lars ever speaking French... When was that?

i don't thinnk he did. Fry spoke with a french accent (I'll show you who's immature...) but i can't remember Lars speaking French.

[Reply #16 on:]

Well, he probably knew of it, seeing as the French langauge still existed during his childhood.

[Reply #17 on:]

Heh... I liked Fry's "French guy-ee" accent when he was talking to "Leelair"!

Hey, Pazuzu Jr's name reminded me... Pazuzu (the gargoyle. That was his name, right?) also had a French accent.

[Reply #18 on:]

Yeah, and they were shown in Paris at the end of that episode. But that was just because Notre Dame is famous for its gargoyles, so it was implied they came from there.

[Reply #19 on:]

Maybe Fry learned a little French on the side when he went back to the past that lead to him becoming Lars! 

Obviously, I myself, don't recall in the movie that Lars spoke French.