The Sarkozys' (failed) media spectacle: the beginning of something more?

BarcelonaA minimally cold and detailed analysis of Nicolas Sarkozy's highly publicized arrest in Paris's La Santé prison exposes the former French president's strategy, making him look ridiculous. Early Tuesday morning, the former president of the Élysée Palace for five years—from 2007 to 2012—emerged from a corner of the expensive 16th floor. rounding from the French capital to head towards the penalty spot. The scene was tragic. He and his wife, retired model Carla Bruni, walked down this narrow street, hand in hand and completely alone, towards the corner, where there is a small square. There, the car that was supposed to take him to prison was waiting for them, and it was surrounded by press and supporters. In fact, more press than supporters.

Bruni, one of the tops One of the most acclaimed of the 90s and later decades, she wore all black and no sign of anything that would suggest she was rich. Although she knew half the world would be watching her, she wore practically no makeup or hair, creating a look consistent with the situation. He, who didn't give up his blazer because it seems to stick with former politicians for life, didn't wear a tie, and the predominant color was black. They embodied the pure image of mourning at a tragic moment for the couple, who have seen him sentenced by the French justice system to five years in prison for having financed a presidential campaign with money from the regime of the satrap Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Aside from the media and a few supporters—many of them elderly—all of Sarkozy's children were waiting for them in the small square, including the adolescent Giulia, 14, the only child of Sarkozy and Bruni. The president, born in the exclusive neighborhood of Neuilly-sur-Seine 70 years ago to parents of Hungarian and Greek descent, has three other children in addition to his youngest. First, the two from his first marriage, to Marie-Dominique Culioli. They are the music producer and DJ Pierre Sarkozy, known as Mosey, and the politician and lawyer Jean Sarkozy. Both were waiting for him next to the car that took him to prison, where he will spend the next few years, although given his age and his abilities, which have been very well defended, it is possible that it will be considerably less time than the sentence states. Also present at the farewell reenactment were Louis Sarkozy, the politician's son, and Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz, a relative of Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón with whom he arrived at the Élysée Palace but stayed only briefly.

Warming up (for nothing)

They all displayed a monolithic family unity before the media, which they had been exploiting for days on social media, where they took advantage of the opportunity to spread the call for a tribute to Sarkozy. The idea was to try to surround themselves with citizens who would help them establish the media narrative that this conviction is unjust and that the people are with them. The truth is that if you search on Google Maps for the intersection of Pierre Guérin Street and Rue de la Source, you can see that, at most, three parked cars can fit there. Considering these small spaces, the fact that the space was invaded by print media, and the fact that the call for Sarkozy's children had been covered by every possible media outlet in France, one can quickly conclude that the triumphant farewell to the former French president was a complete fiasco.

In the images of the moment, the voices of the supporters are very loud because they were mixed in with the press. Similarly, the iconic photo of Bruni giving thanks to the people with his hands as if praying is also not natural, since he did it not so much facing the people but facing the video and photo cameras camped there. Once the politician left for prison, Bruni returned home with his daughter, who also made the gesture of prayer looking at the crowdOnly Jean Sarkozy accompanied them. The rest of the family remained on the street, surrounded by people who neither applauded nor shouted anything because they were basically just onlookers who hadn't wanted to miss the show.

Honestly, the epic nature they wanted to give this farewell falls apart. Especially when you consider that at certain moments they even laughed and that the expressions of seriousness or sadness were subjective. In fact, there's a touching moment in which a woman makes a face. selfie with Sarkozy's youngest daughter and she poses for the portrait as if nothing had happened. Perhaps they would have been better off opting for the Urdangarin-esque approach of doing everything at night and discreetly. Judging by how it's turned out, perhaps for the possible consequences of these comings and goings from the president's prison, they'll opt to wait for him at home with a nice bowl of hot broth on the table. It will comfort him more than the heat people's receipt.

Is there an exclusive brewing?

However, perhaps we are missing something, since in the world of celebrities There are always cruel intentions in the background. Considering that in this large, diverse and reorganized family everyone is dedicated to show business, it cannot be ruled out that now that the pater familias won't be able to generate much income, everyone will have to start billing. And we all know that when it's their turn to roll up their sleeves, these people who have never met the working class don't even think about handing out resumes. They tend to take refuge in the media, where the demand they generate is compensated with a good sum of money in exchange for doing very little.

I wish it were the search for a boost of fame is what motivated them to represent this Parisian nativity scene. Hopefully Netflix was waiting for them with the cameras rolling because they are already filming a docureality as if they were the Harry and Meghan of France. Perhaps this will lead to some well-paid press interviews to continue defending the indefensible... For now, we know that the youngest daughter has an open Instagram account – which must have grown a lot these days – where she is very active and that all of Sarkozy's other children live off his public image. Even his ex Cecilia defended him on social media before his imprisonment! Perhaps dreaming of a reality It's too much. But they're all too smart—in this field—to let all that attention and all that power go to waste. Especially since they'll never get it back.