I am sitting watching the Sundance Channel on the family tv. We have more channels than necessary but I will admit this is a good station for me to watch French films periodically. Currently, I am watching a documentary on Carla Bruni and I am quite surprised by her. I knew she was accomplished on her own, with out her president husband but I am intrigued by her. There is a particular air about French women that is alluring and capturing but she is also of Italian descent which shows that French eloquence can be learned or acquired. She says the only problem with being French and Italian is with football. She doesn't find that being two nationalities is a large conflict.
She is an amazingly beautiful woman with a captivating voice and there is no surprise about her success. She speaks clear English and takes her ambitions and music very seriously. I think this is a refreshing work ethic for young girls to aspire to.
It was a surprise to me to hear that she is not the biological daughter of the father that raised her. Her mother is very open about this and has no remorse in her life. This sits on me with some weight. "Life goes on" she claims. This is true. Bearing a child that is not your husbands' would generally cause such a stir but not in this case. The family seems so undeterred by this fact and it makes me reevaluate what is important in life. I have been raised to believe that children are the most important, which can be true, but what about love in general. A child's happiness is supposed to precede the parents' happiness? One area of criticism however can be that Carla and her mother appear not to be bothered by this 'affair' but I wonder whether when everything came out if things were different.
I hope my answer isn't going to be too sketchy and some cheap philosophy.
ReplyDeleteFirst thing about Carla Bruni is that she comes from a wealthy family and received the education that comes with such a background, she s not a nobody and didnt came where she is thanks to only her own attribute even though it is obvious that they hugely helped her. I am not trying to discredit her for what she did because she has been quite successful from a professional point of view.
I think that you raise a good point about happiness because i do not think that your life as a person stop when you have kids, I believe that a balance must be reached between the attention you give to your kid(s), your partner and yourself. Omitting one of these would be a mistake. I see kids as interrupting the life of the adults till they leave the house making the parents free to do what they want again. Indeed, to be happy you need them to be happy, well...it does help.
As for the fact that her father isnt her natural father, I think that she learnt that at the death of her family father, so the secret was kept secret long enough (dont quote me on that but I think that it happen in that kind of manner). Their education making it impossible to turn it into a drama as, it is true, life goes on. I believe it must have hurt her family father or her natural one, I dont believe that none of them would felt happy about this situation, as for her mum; she must have went through difficult times too.
here are my annoying questions..
ReplyDeletewhat is this alluring and capturing air that are particular to these women?? is it because they seem less open or natural? more mysterious?
as for her work ethics, she seems to have not been a family woman at all, so how is it refreshing for you? probably because you never thought of life in that way. a work ethics based on ambitions is nice but nothing novel and it can be disastrous too.
i dont really get your area of criticism, as i said they ve probably been hurt somehow..there is not much point talking about that for them probably.
and what s your take on children and parents happiness after watching this?
Your questions are very prompting and I am excited to search my brain for responses...
ReplyDeleteWhat is alluring about them? They are able to appear sane, beautiful, and successful while being individuals with while holding certain information personal and for only them. This is alluring because yes it is mysterious and potentially good for individual personality but this is where the criticism ties in. They appear all of these things on this documentary but I am sure that these issues have plagued them outside of this program. They acted as if it was natural and refreshing to be an individual and make choices for oneself but I imagine there was a lot of pain and insecurity in the family when it all came out. I would have appreciated more probing questions on this topic because there was little discussion of how they might of felt outside of-- "oh it is ok. I don't mind". I think that is a little ridiculous to believe that everything was always ok.
I think that, like you, there must be a balance. Ambitions can get in the way of raising children and having a stable family life. I think that having ambitions early in life before children might help. I think that those things are good to teach to children and financial stability is incredibly important for kids but I think that parents need to be around for their children and I think that it is possible to work and be a loving parent. I think that though ambitions would be rewarding and created personal happiness, my observations of other parents makes me believe that being a parent is the most rewarding. I think if a parents can have personal time and personal successes while being receptive to their children they will be quite close to a balance.
~PB