After 23 years on the air – a feat in itself – the show The Mavericks will take his final irreverent bow in December. Télé-Québec decided to do so because of a new “global programming strategy”.
In addition to Laurent Saulnier and Patrick Lagacé, Richard Martineau’s main partner in co-animation remains Benoît Dutrizac. Bold par excellence, it has often been described as a “talk show” when fortunately, it is not really.
I say fortunately, because in televisual terms, with rare exceptions, the “debate” is reduced to a spectacle opposing two monologues clearly drawn in parallel. It is the antithesis of reflection, discussion and critical thinking.
It is a shock of ideas from which emerges not the light, but the shock for the shock. Like two gladiators before Caesar, the televised debate seeks to entertain above all.
Stand up
Far from the debate-spectacle, with its long and detailed interviews, The Mavericks on the contrary, offers a place of reflection. The discussions are fascinating frankly and sometimes spiced up with the well-felt disagreements of its facilitators with this or that guest.
However, in the niche “cultural broadcasts”, little by little, this formula has become a crime of lessee ratings. Bravo to Télé-Québec for having stood up for so long.
The Francs-tireurs formula is also a victim of the ambient ultra polarization, increased tenfold by the “mirror effect” of social media. As long as one constantly seeks the perfect reflection of one’s own position, any nuance or questioning is necessarily eliminated.
It is no coincidence that “conspiracy” abounds so much. More and more, the great questions of society are in fact reduced to a war of words and clans – the “for” and “against”. The others are ignored. The invectives launched in anonymity to the other “camp” invite themselves to the rider.
Thank you. Really. A lot.
The trend is global. In Quebec, with the burial of the national question after decades of political and intellectual effervescence, we too have fallen into it.
First clue: the student strike of 2012. It quickly became impossible to discuss education without falling into or being rushed into the clan of “for” or “against”. Here as elsewhere, it is the triumph of wedge politics – the politics of polarization.
This rocking movement was confirmed in 2013 with the charter of values of the Marois government. Here again, it is impossible to go into the complex subject of secularism. It was absolutely necessary to be identified as “pro” or “anti” religious symbols. A limited aspect of a large question.
As a punishment, anyone daring to take a more analytical and nuanced view was called a multiculturalist, Trudeauist or federal collaborator. Disagreement is no longer enough. We must also denigrate.
In this climate where the “good” of some become the “bad” of others, on the days of a program like The Mavericks were obviously numbered.
Her mission is to entertain, that’s for sure, but she carries it by presenting the facts and diverse perspectives that illuminate them in the best possible way for her audience.
In this, The Mavericks has been able to avoid the trap of the bad western opposing the “good” cowboys to the “bad guys” who must be kicked outside the village before sunset.
Thank you. Really. A lot.
–
