“I grew up in cruelty with a dysfunctional family”: Frederick Lopez talks about the violence he was a victim of
One day, Frédéric López said to himself that he was going to take Muriel Robin to the Pygmies, Bruno Solo to the Mongolian horsemen, Melissa Thureau to the Maasai, for three weeks of total immersion and in a hostile environment, and it would be filmed, To be edited, classified and then broadcast on TV. meet in unknown country At just 20 years old, she is regularly breaking viewership records – and longevity – on France 2. What reassures us about humanity? A little, no doubt. “The public, in each program, will see the population surviving in very difficult conditions without any complaints and, on the contrary, always with joy. Because, in the middle of the desert, or beyond the polar circle, necessity rules: we need the other. Then the feeling of belongingness takes you forward. Therefore unity is necessary. We, in the West, have lost it. However Covid proved us wrong: we were able to come together and stand together. It’s great, isn’t it? ,
The ray of hope in the face of adversity, the obstacle that we overcome, the ordeal that we transform: Frederick López has nurtured the passion of so many since his debut on television and radio. Being crowned “the Frenchman’s favorite presenter” upsets some people. We find him naive or, on the contrary, so cynical that he makes it his business to ride the wave of good feelings. This makes him laugh: “I’m not surfing at all, I’m underwater, I’m working very hard!” At a rate of one year and one weekly job per episode, it’s hard to imagine him drinking the ocean of our concerns through a straw, toes out. “In any case, this show is a drop in the ocean in an uninterrupted flow of anxiety-provoking images and speeches. But I care about it deeply: When extremes are rising everywhere, what does it mean to say “don’t be afraid of the other?” ” Touching. So, this birthday we are going to celebrate together on our “Diwan”.
Psychology: How have these twenty years passed? meet in unknown country Have they changed you?
Frederick Lopez: This is a very special experience. Quite unheard of, even. Unlike an ethnographer, I am not an expert on any population and I do not study the communities that welcome us. But, in all four corners of the world, I was able to share time with indigenous people who were often despised in their own countries, to give them a voice, to create a connection between them and the audience watching us. For.
I thought I would experience encounters in extreme conditions with humans who are the complete opposite of who we are. What I discovered is much more global: humanity, wherever it is, has an incredible capacity for adaptation and cooperation. It profoundly changed my perspective on it. And, at a time when we could have sunk into a certain pessimism, it made me optimistic. Since then, I have gained confidence in others.
The common denominator of all your programs is the concept of flexibility. Why is he so dear to you?
FL: My work requires a lot of time, energy, and sometimes even some sacrifices, so I need to find meaning in it. For reasons I can’t explain, I have always been very sensitive to the suffering of others, and I have a deep need to create inspirational programs. I have had the privilege of speaking to millions of people and it is very important to me that they come away from my show with a little more confidence in themselves and in life. They tell themselves that, on this earth, there are wonderful people. And that no matter what the test, there is always an end.
In A Sunday in the Countryside All my guests talk about the obstacles they had to overcome to get here. They are flexible. Like we all are. The poet Christian Bobin said: “When you look into someone’s eyes, never forget that this person has already been through hell many times. »This sentence lives with me in every moment of my life.
What kind of obstacles did you have to overcome?
FL: I didn’t like the first fifteen years of my life. I grew up in a family that today we would say was chaotic, with a father who was very authoritarian, sometimes abusive, sometimes cruel. I grew up in fear until the age of 15. That day, I faced him, and I was never afraid of him again – I was never afraid of anyone again, really… Afterwards, I was very angry with him. And for years. But from what his brothers and sisters told me, I learned what he too had to endure because of the violence when he was a child. It was a hundred times worse than me. He grew up, became a father without any other context and repeated what he had suffered. Only by understanding this was I able to forgive him.
What is extraordinary, in the almost literal sense of the word, is that he even went ahead. He, at over 80, is the opposite of what he was: he is a very gentle man, who values his sensitivities, and takes great care of me – even in the middle of summer, when I Go out into the garden. [Rires] This is very rare, I realize. But it still says that humans can change.
To find out the entire interview with Frederick Lopez, head over to our new issue of Psychology Today, on newsstands now!