DADDY: A PLAY | A French Teen (Virtual) Sex Worker?

Here's (part of) the synopsis for Marion Siéfert's intriguingly named Daddy:

From her very first shows, Marion Siéfert has staged childhood, not to soften us but to make her demands and her revolt against the world of adults heard [...]

This time, the heroine of her new show is thirteen years old. She lives in the provinces, in a family where money problems are daily, suffocating. So she dreams of leading the life of the stars and influencers she sees spread out on the networks. 

She escapes by playing video games, these role plays where dozens of players meet online. The avatar she chose for herself falls on that of an older man, who drags her into another game, Daddy. He fills her with skills (the winnings or gifts specific to these games), on condition that she submits herself to increasingly troubled trials...

On the Daddy stage, real life fades away in favor of a digital reality where everything can be bought and changed.

As the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe is not in New York, we did not see Daddy; so, let's rely on Laura Cappelle's New York Times review "Daddy Review: Deeper Into the Internet’s Darkest Corners" (May 11, 2023)

Cappelle wrote that Daddy was a "sharp" [age-gap] play that took place in the "internet’s dark corners", but that Mara, the play's nymphet ,was "groomed" and exploited for profit. 

With “Daddy,” a sharp, no-holds-barred new production [...] Marion Siéfert has ventured even further into the internet’s dark corners. In it, a 13-year-old is groomed online by an older man [27-year-old Julien] and gets lost in a virtual reality game that exploits teenage girls for profit.

[Note: Without seeing the play, one may be wary of Cappelle's grooming accusation, because in Emma Cline's Daddy, one may allege that 16-year-old Alice was groomed into selling her panties to men, but an 18-year-old Alice would have been, à la Sami Sheen, a (teen) sex worker.]

Cappelle went on to share that Mara (15-year-old Lila Houel), a quite nymphet, lived in southern France and played online games as an escape, which is how she met Julien, but interestingly, Cappelle wrote that Julien was Mara's "online partner in crime" and that the age-gap couple gamers had an "easy intimacy".

Reality is no match for screen entertainment in “Daddy.” The central character, Mara, is a quiet teenager from southern France [...] [who] whenever she can, Mara escapes to the brighter landscape of online gaming.

In an unnamed video game, she joins Julien, a smooth-talking 27-year-old who is her frequent online partner in crime. The easy intimacy they have built is showcased through a spectacular video sequence: On a screen the size of the Odéon’s stage, we see a 3-D game designed by the video artist Antoine Briot in which Mara and Julien’s avatars who shoot at enemies with assault rifles before hopping on fluorescent skateboards.

Intriguingly, in addition to being a smooth talker, Cappelle described Julien as "clean-cut, in control [i.e., powerful], smoothly scary". In other words, per Olivia Fox Cabane's The Charisma Myth, Julien was charismatic and attractive. Yet, Cappelle implied that Julien groomed Mara with compliments, whom consequently lost her free will and was forced to: "[...] perform routines that earn them points with fans."

The groundwork is laid for the abusive dynamic that ensues. When they first meet outside the game, on a video call, Mara confides in Julien that she dreams of being an actress. He compliments her, and tells her about “Daddy” — a new game that allows players, Julien says, to become avatars sponsored by sugar daddies, and showcase their talents to a “fan base.” 

In the end, despite the plays focus "on the dynamics of child abuse, and the erosion of Mara’s individuality and willpower by Julien." And the: "[...] scenes of verbal and physical violence [...]", Marion Siéfert's Daddy was a New York Times Critic's Pick. 

THE BEAUTIFUL PERSON (2008): A French Teen Student-Teacher Sexual Affair

The Beautiful Person (2008) [La belle personne] is about a French love triangle between Mr. Jacques Nemours (Louis Garrel) - a lycée [i.e., high school] teacher. Junie (Léa Seydoux) - a 16-year-old transfer student. And Otto - Junie’s boyfriend. 

In addition, Mr. Nemours is having an affair with Marie, a redhead student, whom tells her boyfriend, “I’m not coming with you tonight,” before she arrived, unannounced to Mr. Nemours’ apartment building. 

Mr. Nemours: “Why are you here?”

Marie: “Guess. Can I come up?”

Marie’s teacher doesn’t allow her to “come up” - this time. (Previously, they had teacher-student sex four “quick” times.) However, Mr. Nemours informed Marie that he wanted to end their age-gap affair. 

“Please just leave.”

“You’re ashamed of me. That’s the truth, you’re ashamed.”

“No. I’m not ashamed. I just want our relationship to stop here. I’m breaking it off.”

“Four quick fucks! You call that a relationship?”

“Fine then. You screwed a teacher.”

“Why are you lying to me? Why not say there’s someone else? Who’s next in line?”

But there is someone else. You guessed it. Junie - the new brunette student. Consequently, before Mr. Nemours kissed Marie on the cheek, he said, “Go on. It doesn’t mean we have to be enemies. OK?” To which Marie replied, “[B]ut it’s very painful to leave you, sir.”

Two interesting conversations about age-gap slash teacher-student affairs took place in a café. After noticing that Mr. Nemours was admiring a photograph of Junie, the propriétaire said, “Young girls ought to be respected.” To which Mr. Nemours replied, “Loving them isn’t disrespecting them.” 

And in a conversation between Mr. Nemours and a math teacher, the math teacher warned, “You shouldn’t fool around with students. It’s too easy.” But Mr. Nemours replied that it wasn’t easy, that he was “love-sick” for Junie, but that Junie couldn’t resist loving him too. 

[Note: The math teacher’s stance that it’s “too easy” to “fool around with students” could be misleading, because in the majority of non-fiction and fiction teacher-student relationships, it’s only “too easy” if the student is initially attracted to her teacher. And this attraction is very often attained without any grooming on the part of the teacher, because, we would argue, most teachers don’t have the audacity or know-how to groom a student; however, admittedly, most teachers, to their often ultimate dismay, do not have the ability to resist the allure of a nymphet. Hence, the plethora of age-gap and student-teacher relationships in fiction and non-fiction. Concepción de León wrote in her New York Times review of Art of Love (2022): “And the film reinforces the fiction that it is often younger women [students] who seduce older men [professors] and not the other way around.” But de León has it (mostly) wrong and the film has it (mostly) right. Thus, Mr. Nemours is an anomaly.]

Mr. Nemours said, “It’s not easy with her. You’ve got no idea […] I’m in a total love-sick mess […] I’m just head-over-heels in love […] I know I’ve got to calm down, get a grip, but I can’t. I just can’t […] That girl will never love me. I’m lying to myself. She can’t not love me.”

Mr. Nemours’ pua technique of assumed attraction was correct, because Junie informed Otto that she was “fleeing” the lycée to avoid falling in love [with Mr. Nemours].

“I’m going away to protect myself from someone here. The truth is, I’m fleeing.” 

“Someone you’re in love with?”

“Someone I don’t want to love […] I’m going away not to fall in love. I respect you Otto. I’m telling you that because I care for you.”

“You care for me but love another.”

Subsequently, to appease Otto, Junie let him massage and kiss her bare fountains - behind the lycée. But Otto was determined to find out Junie’s love interest; so, he asked a classmate to be a spy. And the spy discovered and reported to Otto that Junie’s love interest was Mr. Nemours. Consequently, Otto committed suicide. #smh

In the end, Junie informed her “handsome” teacher that she feared having an affair with him, because she couldn’t “survive” if he left her “to love another”.

“If I give myself to you, you’ll go off […] I’m not a fool. You’re handsome. Everyone likes you […] one day, you’ll leave to love another that you will find more pleasing. And I won’t survive. Not to mention the jealousy. “

“It won’t work Junie. You can’t hold out against our love.” 

And knowing that Mr. Nemours was correct about her not being able to resist their teacher-student love, Junie left Paris. 

The Beautiful Person (2008)  was based on the novel La Princesse de Clèves (1678). And Léa Seydoux won the Best Actress category at the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur and the Female Revelation of the Year Trophée Chopard Award for her role in the award nominated film.

King Louis XV: The Jeffrey Epstein of the 18th century? | Parc-aux-Cerfs' Virgins & Sex

14-year-old Marie Antoinette & Louis XV

We first, indirectly, learned about King Louis XV's (open) nympholepsy via Vladimir Nabokov but not Nabokov's Lolita but Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle. Nabokov wrote:

“Of the many ancestors along the wall, she pointed out her favorite, old Prince Vseslav Zemski (1699-1797), friend of Linnaeus and author of Flora Ladorica, who was portrayed in rich oil holding his barely pubescent bride and her blond doll in his satin lap.”

Brian Boyd annotated on Ada Online that the bride being referred to is Princess Sofia Temnosiniy and per Ada’s family tree, Princess Sofia Temnosiniy was approximately 14-years-old when she married 72-one-year-old Prince Zemski. 

François Boucher's Girl Reclining

In addition, the Prince’s son, Peter Zemski, married Mary O’Reilly. Boyd wrote: 

“John Rea [NABOKV-L, 30 November 2004] suggests that Mary O’Reilly may also echo Mary Louise O’Murphy (or Marie-Louise or Louison Morfy or O’Morphy, 1737-1814), who became mistress to Louis XVI of France [...]. She is said both to have been [Giacomo] Casanova’s mistress first, or to have been noticed by him, and to have been at fifteen the model for [François] Boucher’s famous painting, Girl Reclining [...].”

Casanova shared in Histoire de ma vie that when he spied 13-year-old O’Murphy in the nude, he found her so alluring that he commissioned a nude portrait of the nymphet. 

It’s not clear how King Louis XV discovered O’Murphy. One theory he that he saw Casanova's commission and requested to see the original. Another theory is that she was recruited by Madame de Pompadour - the king’s official chief mistress. Reportedly, King Louis XV impregnated O’Murphy, but she had a miscarriage at 15 but gave birth at 16 to the king’s illegitimate child.

And per Nancy Goldstone's AirMail post "The View from Here: It wasn’t all cake and Versailles for Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France…" (September 18, 2021), O’Murphy wasn't the only nymphet King Louis XV procured, because he kept a brothel, Parc-aux-Cerfs, of nymphets. So much so that Goldstone dubbed King Louis XV the possible Jeffrey Epstein of the 18th century:

While we are on the subject of who might actually have been responsible for the abject poverty and unrelenting misery that would eventually explode into the French Revolution (and who has to date gotten off scot-free from any blame for the deplorable conditions under which the general population labored), may I just make a small, quick case for the repellent Louis XV, the Jeffrey Epstein of the 18th century?

For nearly 50 years prior to Marie Antoinette’s arrival, Louis XV reigned over France and, during that time, pursued a corrupt, predatory, entitled, and contemptuous agenda. Government bored Louis. He spent his days hunting and spending lavishly on ostentatious entertainments, luxury goods, and sex. (He conveniently kept a brothel called Parc-aux-Cerfs, which specialized in young women, on the palace grounds.) Aristocratic privilege flourished during his rule, and the gap between the wealthiest 1 percent (who paid no taxes) and everyone else grew.

Geri Walton elaborated on Parc-aux-Cerfs in the post "Parc-aux-Cerfs and Tales of Louis XV’s Harem" where she wrote that, in addition to O’Murphy, Madame de Pompadour procured a bevy of beautiful virgins for the the king:

[...] organized a constant stream of very young beauties to entertain the bored King in his bedroom. The beauties were housed at a small house in Parc-aux-Cerfs purchased in 1755 by the King. This house was later described by some people as a seraglio. The King did not visit the beauties at the little house but rather had them escorted discretely to and from the palace when he requested a rendezvous, and, from all accounts, most people at the time had no idea anything inappropriate was happening.

The bevy of beauties that Madame de Pompadour supplied and supervised were low-class but supposedly virginal women. 

In addition, Goldstone wrote that 60-year-old Louis XV attempted to seduce 14-year-old Marie Antoinette:

When [14-year-old] Marie Antoinette first arrived, Louis XV kept showing up at her private apartment first thing in the morning, angling to get into her bedroom, and often pulled her onto his lap, demanding a kiss, until she figured out how to avoid him.

Incidentally, King Louis XV reminded me of Emperor Augustus whom I wrote about in The Allure of Nymphets due to his passion for deflowering virgins:

Matt Ridley related in the New York Times Notable Book The Red Queen that, Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire from 27 BC to 14 AD, had “a passion for deflowering girls” and according to Roman historian Suetonius, the virgins were procured by Augustus’ wife. 

Teen Seduction & Age-Gap Sexual Affair of François Mitterrand

On episode 58 of the Air Mail's "Morning Meeting" podcast (Oct 22, 2021), Ashley Baker said, "You know we love a good sex scandel here on "Morning Meeting". Especially when it involves French politicians." 

Subsequently, Baker and co-host Michael Hainey related that François Mitterrand, the former President of France, had [at least] two mistresses. And [at least] one of his mistresses, Claire, was 50 years younger than Mitterrand and that Claire was 18 when she seduced the former statesman. 

Lara Marlowe elaborated in The Irish Times post "François Mitterrand’s last, secret love – living a triple life" (Oct 3, 2021) that 18-year-old Claire waited for hours outside of Mitterrand's apartment before she invited him to lunch - in her apartment:

Claire moved to Paris at the age of 18, to study law. In rebellion against conservative parents, she became an avid socialist. For four years, she and a friend stalked then president Mitterrand, waiting for hours outside his apartment in the rue de Bièvre, following him on his trips to the provinces. In 1988, he accepted Claire’s invitation to lunch in her tiny apartment in the rue du Four.

Hainey referred to Mitterrand and Claire's affair as a "Spring Winter" romance. And Baker shared, "That's a memoir I'd read!"

Sue Lyon & James B. Harris

But don't think that Baker's a teleiophile. After she erroneously said, "This movie [i.e., Lolita (1962)] wouldn't be made today," Baker made it clear that she didn't approve of the age-gap affair between 14-year-old Sue Lyon, Lolita's star, and James B. Harris, the film's 32-year-old producer. However, on episode 52 "J.F.K and the Radcliffe Girl - 60 Years Later", Baker said, "I love this story," which is about a sexual affair between 20-year-old Diana De Vegh and 40-year-old John F. Kennedy. #confused

Lastly but interestingly, in The Night of the Iguana (1964), Charlotte Goodall (17-year-old Sue Lyon) entered Reverend Shannon's bedroom and seduced the Episcopal priest (38-year-old Richard Burton).

France May Set [Official] Age of Sexual Consent to 15

Amanda Arnold reported for New York Magazine's "The Cut" that "France Is Finally Setting an Age of Consent":

On Tuesday, the country announced that it would finally set the [official] age of sexual consent [...] at 15.

I inserted the word official, because France does have an [unofficial age of consent]. Arnold wrote:

While current law criminalizes sexual relations with a minor under the age of 15, these cases are typically prosecuted as an offense that carries lighter penalties. In order to bring more serious charges of rape, prosecutors have to prove that violence, force, surprise, or coercion were involved, even in cases where the victim was as young as 11 years old.

Psychologist Muriel Salmona related that the dark side of the allure of nymphets is problematic in Europe - especially in France:

“The figures on violence against children are bad for most of Europe,” psychologist Muriel Salmona told the BBC. “But in France there is a current that tolerates sexual violence against children.”

Arnold reported that, in 2018, there was an attempt at setting an [official] French age of consent, but it was (unsurprisingly) blocked by men's groups:

In March 2018, the country introduced a package of laws intended to combat the prevalence of misconduct, which included fines for sexual harassment and set the country’s age of consent to 15. However, following pressure from men’s groups, the age-of-consent law was scrapped after a government report concluded it would result in “an assumption of guilt.”

Lastly, in recents weeks, protests have erupted in France. The protests were prompted by a case involving "Julie" who between the ages of 13 and 15 periodically had "group sex" with French firefighters whom stated the the age-gap group sex was consensual:

Cries intensified further in recent weeks, as France’s highest court prepares to hear a high-profile case involving a woman who says she was repeatedly raped by 20 firefighters over a two-year period, when she was between the ages of 13 and 15. (The woman, who has been dubbed “Julie” by the French media, is now 25.) Three of the firemen said they did in fact have sex with Julie when she was a minor, two of whom admitted to having “group sex” while on duty, though they argue that relations were consensual.