Brigitte Bardot: France's next president?

Brigitte Bardot, the 1960s French bombshell turned animal rights activist, may run for president in her country's 2012 elections. The one-time screen siren, now 76, would run as the candidate for the Ecology Alliance, a party which campaigns on an animal rights platform. Bardot has become famous not only as a friend of the animals, but also as an opponent of Muslim immigration to France and homosexuality. Would she stand a chance against Sarkozy?

Now, she just a sad, cranky bigot: While you may remember Bardot as a "sensual and irresistible goddess," says Michael Cosgrove at Digital Journal, in France she is considered "a sad sick joke or a crank or both." She has been fined four times for incitement to racial hatred towards Muslims, has described gays as "fairground freaks," and has associations with France's far right. With that kind of baggage, she'd be a trainwreck.

"Opinion: Will Brigitte Bardot run for French presidency?"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But maybe it's time for an un-PC politician? Bardot may have said things that are not politically correct "by 2010 standards," says Pete Wedderburn at The Daily Telegraph, but at least she speaks her mind. And her concern for animals is heartfelt. "Would it be so bad to have a leader genuinely driven by passion for something less obvious than winning elections and seizing power?"

"Could Brigitte Bardot make a refreshingly un-politically correct politician?"

Just imagine the turmoil if she won: As president, Bardot would ban halal meat, says Ken Pottinger at French News. When even a "timid presidential bid to extend the retirement age by just two years" results in riots and fuels blockades and widespread strikes, just imagine what chaos this move would provoke. "The mind boggles."

"Viva Green Bardot for president of France"