The Television Will Not Be Terrorised
Paul Lemaire and Vincent Burger
To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution in 1988, TF1 produced a live TV rendition of Louis XVI’s notorious 1793 Revolutionary trial that led him and later his wife, Marie Antoinette, to the guillotine. This campy, pompous and historically inaccurate late 80s TV reenactment featured a cast of eccentric French celebrities, lawyers and actors, ranging from the elite to the downtrodden.
An analysis of this forgotten media event and its key players leads us down a rabbit hole where a nation’s history is plundered like a carcass in a rabid race by its own media, politicians and pundits to harness its emotional power and cultural significance…to what end, we are not sure, as we cling to the wildly and unpredictably swinging left-right pendulum.
The 1988 television audience was asked to act as jury and vote over the phone for the king’s acquittal or conviction. Tune in to find out their verdict.