La vie sexuelle can you help this guy out?
Some time ago, Lord Potato asked me why the French are so into esotericism, since we emphasize our rationalism so much. I answered him: "You don't realize it, but you've answered your own question. How? Think about it, the French are an elegant (in the sense of being), rational nation that cultivates intellect as a field of style. But a human is more than just style and intelligence. Hypnosis, spiritualism, astrology, tarot, magic are the ways in which the French respond to spiritual needs, while maintaining the imperative of style. It's both shallow and over-intellectualized. Like France". The French love to seduce their intellect with style and in style.
Moreover, the French do not have the restrictions typical of Puritan cultures. Nowadays they may seem dissolute, but deep in their hearts, even the Dutch have a strong sense of cleanliness. "Edgy" is a typically puritanical concept because it refers to attempts to break cultural purity in an extreme way. But when we run away from purity, we still remain in the power of this concept. Romance cultures are mentally Catholic, more emotional, but (pay attention now) more permissive because they are more restrictive. The Putitan is free, but he is alone, in terror of his own purity. The individual morality of a Catholic is blurred in the larger community, and therefore there is less individual responsibility. Think about attitudes towards extramarital sex in France and the USA. In America it always ends with "I am very sorry, on my behalf I apologize to everyone, there is no justification...". In France it's more like: "- Don't worry, honey, I've been sucking our gardener's cock for three years. - Lul. Owned."
In addition to all this, there is the tradition of France as a state patronizing the arts. The French, even the peasants of Provence, like to pretend they know art. There's a lot of posturing and emptiness, but that's a separate story. This posing is both from the side of the creator and the recipient.
Note, however, that "typically French games" ceased to be created with the internationalization of markets. Now, with the exception of Japan, it's the same mush tailored to North American tastes.There are no more "wacky French games" because cultural puritans will not allow them to exist on a wider market (note that the most interesting games nowadays are created by one, several-person teams). Worse yet, it begins to spill over into the rest of your life. Recently, some crazy wench was offended at the Angoulême Festival because the comics presented lacked "diversity", so this year there were only comics by Arabs and feminists.
Eh.