Source
r/AskFrance•
hellocaptin

What do you think about people from America decorating rooms in a Paris theme?

Culture

First off I want to say sorry because I don’t speak any French...(well actually I have been to France so I learned a little but all I remember how to say is “excuse me, do you speak English?” Hahha)

But back to the question...

So people in America often decorate their rooms in a Paris theme and put up paintings of the city, have little Eiffel Towers on the shelf, and just put up all kinds of random Paris/France themed stuff like art and decorations.

I never really thought of it as that weird until today when I saw a video of someone with an American themed room lol. I thought it was a little strange then realized we kinda do the same thing with y’all so I thought I’d make a post to see what people from France think!

Would you think that is weird? Funny? Normal?
Do people in France ever do the same thing with other cities/countries?

***Just to be clear, I’m not asking if you would be offended by it...I’d assume that wouldn’t offend any reasonable person so if it does bother you I honestly don’t care to hear your opinion haha.

Posted May 17, 2022, 3:56 AM UTC · edited

1568
galrad311•

I've seen some teenagers having a new York theme for their room

67
AnonymousBlobfish•

Yep been there can confirm

12
hellocaptinOP•

Yeah it’s definitely more of a thing with teenage girls now that I think about it, but some of them never grew out of it I guess and kept the decorations when they grew up and moved out! Haha

1
Quetzalcoatl__•

I personaly don't care at all and I guess most French people wouln't care too.

I've seen a few people decorate a room or their home in a foreign theme: African, South Asian etc but I'd say it's not common

43
Elegant_Bad_4293•

i think its still kinda common, i know a lot of people having themed room, like american theme (im french) (by alot i mean 2/3)

1
maryww•

Would you think that is weird?

no, it's common here to see NY theme decorations, but it's tacky for sure!

34
hellocaptinOP•

Oh, it’s tacky here too! Haha.

Neat to see that you guys do the same thing with New York though! That is kind of what I was thinking about when I asked the question.

4
xodirector•

I don’t care, they can do what makes them happy.

But just as a note, most French people would consider this extremely tacky and Parisian people would never display an Eiffel Tower in their apartment. Ever. Not with a gun to their heads. Not because they don’t love her (most do) but because, again, it’s tacky to display a fake one.

Unless you’re 13, tacky is punishable by social death in France, just in case it’s not clear.

28
hellocaptinOP•

Well I’d hope you wouldn’t be offended or anything, I was just wondering how that would be viewed over there.

Turns out people decorating their room in a New York City theme is a thing in France so that kinda sounds like the same thing.

I’m sure if I saw someone NYC themed room in France (or anywhere really lol) I would trip out!

2
Elegant_Bad_4293•

they wouldnt be offended, especially if its a foreigner

1
hellocaptinOP•

Yeah I wouldn’t think so! Weird thing to be offended about

1
memestockwatchlist•

Parisians wouldn't have some picture of the tower in a frame in their apartment? That seems odd to me. It's not usual for people living near a major landmark to have some representation of that landmark on display in some form in the US.

1
xodirector•

No, they wouldn’t, unless maybe the picture had some sort of intrinsic and immediately notable artistic value.

A lot of French people and especially Parisians are very particular about good taste. Rules are unwritten but rather strict, and less is clearly more. Go to Paris and you’ll find that most people adhere to some sort of normcore dress code, that is why.

I don’t know exactly how to explain why a photo of the Eiffel Tower in a Parisian apartment would be frowned upon. I guess it’s a mix of national pride being considered tacky (French flags for example are also frowned upon unless on an official building or during a sports game, you can thank WW2 for that), and the Eiffel Tower being very cliché as a symbol of Paris/France. And anything cliché is, you guessed it, considered poor taste.

One consequence of this is that Americans are not generally considered to be beacons of good taste in France, and that’s putting it mildly. What will be interesting is to observe how that changes in the coming decades, considering how ubiquitous American culture has become among the younger generations.

Edit: grammar

1
memestockwatchlist•

How strange. I spent some time in Paris and Toulouse this past week and actually saw some French flag/eiffel tower decor in flats from the view of the AirBnBs we've been staying in. I considered it inconsequential. Regional tastes can be quirky.

1
xodirector•

AirBnB decoration is the epitome of tacky anywhere you go though. Live laugh love levels.

Unless they’re the actual homes of actual people, but these are unicorns now on Airbnb.

1
deyw75•

Parisian people would

never

display an Eiffel Tower in their apartment. Ever. Not with a gun to their heads.

that's exagerated.

0
Elrosan•

Thanks Captain Obvious.

6
xodirector•

You think?

1
kompassity•

Only the French who have taste

1
hellocaptinOP•

Clearly it’s exaggerated a little...lol.

But to what extent? Would you say it’s fairly common to see?

1
ItsACaragor•

Yeah London and NY themes are a thing here and people who overdo it are generally considered as having bad taste.

23
hellocaptinOP•

Neat! And yeah, same here lol. Either a child or an adult with bad taste. Though they do try to make the Paris decorations look nice, just the general idea is tacky

1
KaxoH•

You can complete your decoration set with a pic of Paris mayor. So parisienne.

13
hellocaptinOP•

Omg and y’all can put up a big picture of Cuomo in your NYC themed rooms! Perfect! 🤣

3
Golendhil•

New york or London themes were actually fairly common among teens in the early 2000

And to be fair I couldn't care less

9
metamec•

New york or London themes were actually fairly common among teens in the early 2000

I remember les bébés rockeurs (Plastiscines, Second Sex, BB Brunes, etc.) having an obsession with London and sometimes Liverpool around that time. I suppose references in songs are contagious to the fans and trends are easily started.

3
hellocaptinOP•

That’s what people are saying!

You could find some London themed stuff but it would be a lot less common. For some reason Americans like France more lol. Maybe something to do with the revolutionary war? hahaha, idk

2
Simple-Freedom2346•

You are free to be tacky in the privacy of your own home. Just please don't inflict your tackiness on the public.

8
hellocaptinOP•

Why are so many people answering this as if I was asking for permission? Haha

1
Ashtreyyz•

nooooo you can't have a picture of a baguette it's my ancestor's heritage you're appropriating my countwy

jk no one gives a fuck in fact please do propagate our culture as much as you can

7
hellocaptinOP•

Again, not asking for permission...just wondering what you guys thought about it!
But I guess it’s good to know we do have permission? 🤣

1
EcchiOli•

Might that refer to the so-called "cultural appropriation" thingy? If it is, to be frank, in France, we don't give a single flying coitus.

Adopt any French style (but make sure to place somewhere a little Brittany flag, https://www.reddit.com/r/unexpectedgwennhadu/ , at this point it's a cultural meme, you'll find people brandishing this flag or placing it somewhere, in literally every continent and country, it's weird), feel free to do so, it won't look weird, it will just look like a choice and a declaration of personal tastes. Nothing more.

6
metamec•

Cultural appropriation is more about people identifying so hard with an ethnic identity that they end up reducing it to a stereotype. Hoshi (Mathilde Gerner) is probably the best French example of this; not some random Jean Doe plastering his living room with London or NYC emblems. ;)

3
hellocaptinOP•

Thank you!!! Lol.
Why do so many people think I’m asking permission and this is a question about cultural appropriation or something??? Is that like a really big topic in France right now?

I was wondering if y’all would laugh at it, or think it was strange, or something along those lines. I wouldn’t guess anybody would be offended by it! But for some reason that’s what almost everyone is assuming I mean lol

1
rafalemurianLocal•

It's not weird and people do it too here (not with Paris of course) but I'd say it's considered bad taste for decoration.

3
E1lemA•

We do the same with the UK or America (mostly teenagers do that)... So I don't think we get to complain.

3
Subject-Search8973•

Nobody cares.

2
EfremNeftalem•

Didn’t know that it was a thing - not that I am surprised either.

I approve the other comments : nobody cares. It would be considered kitsch and tacky by French guests, and it screams « Tourist ! ». But, other than that, yeah, we just don’t care.

Don’t hesitate to display a Kaamelott poster, though.

2
hellocaptinOP•

I’ve never seen that show but I’ve heard of it! Should I watch it???

2
EfremNeftalem•

Hm… Depends.

If you are not fluent in French, it will be difficult. I think a sub version exist, however… considering how much the comedy of the show rely on worldplay and French humor.

It is like subbing Monty Python in French. We did it, we even dubbed it. However, a lot was lost in translation. (It is as cool as Monty Python, though.)

Nevertheless, if you want a taste of French humor with a great web-series, I recommend The Visitor from the Future. There is a English Sub on YouTube (for whatever reason), that is not bad (some other production of the team Frenchball are also subbed, I guess they have in mind the potentiality of being watched by non-French speakers). Same vibes as Kaamelott, but with in a steampunk universe. But you can’t display a poster of this show, as it does not exist, sadly.

1
outsider959Local•

It's not weird for me. In France we have mostly 3 city decorations : Paris, New York a'd London

2
hellocaptinOP•

Ahh so in other parts of France you mind find decorations related to Paris that locals might actually put up? (Meaning they aren’t just for tourists to buy)

2
outsider959Local•

Yup!

2
IseultDarcy•

It's fine, it was a thing in france for a while to (mostly 2000s teens). But I've seen examples of what you're talking about... it's often... very ugly.

2
stupidFlanders417•

So, the first time my wife and I visit Paris together was in 2016 for our 10 year anniversary of us being together (5 years married). We picked up an Eiffel tower souvenir and a small painting of the Statue of Liberty in front of the Pont de Grenelle

When we moved here (Paris suburbs) she wanted do display them like we had them in the US. I tried to argue "Do you have any idea how weird that's going to look if we ever manage to make friends and have company over. That would be like having an Empire State Building statue displayed back home." My argument was not successful.

2
hellocaptinOP•

Well at least it’s not a whole room decked out haha. Have you managed to make any friends who mentioned it?? Lol

1
stupidFlanders417•

2 years, zero friends (I'll blame COVID, sure, that's the reason) so I guess it was a moot point

2
hellocaptinOP•

I’m sure Covid has put a dent in things though. I’m an extremely social person and ever since the rona hit I’ve really struggled. It’s changed life so much. And idk about you but I’m completely remote now too. I honestly hate it, I’m so lonely...lol

1
stupidFlanders417•

I'm actually the opposite. I'm really introverted andhave having the vocabulary of a 3yr old here makes socializing difficult. But I almost like that I don't need to. I guess I'm kind of lucky with that because one think I see a lot of in r/expats is people dealing with the loneliness of being away from friends and family. Even when I lived in the US I only saw my friends 2, maybe 3 times a year and my family is all over the country so I never saw them as it was

For me the past two years have been great working from home, not having to commute, not having to awkwardly sit at social lunches. But, I can only imagine how hard it's been for people that actually feed off that social energy

1
CooIBanana•

In the 2000's it was popular to decorate one's room with the colors of England among the French youth (maybe it was also the case in other countries I never noticed).

1
Bylusa•

I cringe

1
Falendil•

I can’t imagine anyone giving a shit.

That being said, that sounds tacky.

1