To answer him, an unstoppable cast of comic talents: Laure Calamy as a trash rapper opposite a disoriented Jean-Pascal Zadi, Camille Cottin who listens to her best friend while having a conversation with herself, Melha Bedia and Lison Daniel who follow a workshop to combat their addiction to bitching… Funny, refreshing and clever.
ELLE. – In “Chamouxland”, the humor is feminine but also feminist…
Camille Chamoux. Equality at work is one of the subjects that haunts me. Although I am privileged, I have experienced a lot of professional injustice, on the radio, on TV, on stage… And humor is the best weapon for social denunciation. Once people laugh, their brains are available, ready to listen to us.
ELLE. – And being a feminist doesn’t prevent you from criticizing behaviors that are a priori typically feminine!
C.C. – I try to create new models, that is to say, women like us, like I see, like I know. But this representation is not necessarily positive. On the contrary, it’s really cool to have neurotic characters, like in the sketch with Audrey Fleurot who thinks she’s super independent when she’s incapable of asking for a raise. Obviously we’re not perfect yet… because we’ve really, really been prevented from being so.
A guy attracted to a funny woman is often intelligent.
ELLE. – For a long time, female humor seemed dangerous…
C.C. – I did a lot of research and, in the history of France, we find more tragic destinies, tortures and guillotines than witty women. While they did indeed exist, in the salons of the 17th and 18th centuries. Madame de Sévigné and Madame de Maintenon were hilarious, but no one talks about it… It seems as if female comedians were born in 1985!
ELLE. – Today, is humor an asset for seduction?
C.C. For me, he was more of a social asset, with laughter as a lethal weapon. But laughter doesn’t seem to me to be a real asset for picking up. On the other hand, a guy attracted to a funny woman is often intelligent, and funny himself. In fact, humor is a filter for assholes!
ELLE. – “The vulva is the pillar of female humor”: was your goal to contradict what the character of Élise Lucide says in the film?
C.C. Absolutely. The world of humor is part of the misogynistic circles, especially around this obsession of producers, mostly in their sixties, convinced that chicks should only talk about girl stuff. However, the interest of our subject lies not in the subjects we deal with but in our point of view.
If the gaze is feminine, the characters will be richer, their faults as well as their qualities will be more accurate. We can all talk about politics, society, couples and intimacy, and not just about ourselves. That’s diversity, and that’s what a new generation of male comedians is promoting, from Tristan Lopin to Hakim Jemili.
“Chamouxland” (62 mins), from July 3, Canal+.
