How come the french are stereotyped as swarthy ''dago'' looking types in american and british films

[TheBlondeSalad]

Blame Hollywood and its stupid stereotypes.

[Nehellenia]

Well, that's how it works and it changes over time.

Meanwhile in Korea and Japan, French people are supposed to be all blondes and blue-eyed, romantic and artsy, which is as far from the truth as the stereotype already discussed.

Clémence Poésy must of set the bar pretty high

[TheForeigner]

I don.t know about English being ugly, but Hollywood has been often very anti-English as well. Just look at the pseudo-historical film Braveheart and how English people there are made to seem evil, ugly, vicious and even shorter and more brunet than the noble, strong, brave and fair Scots and of celtomaniac fantasies on both sides of the Atlantic. Maybe a different thread should be made of that awful movie. And it's true that sometimes Southern European swartiness is exagerated by Hollywood, like in an old movie about conquistadors in Mexico with Tyrone Power, where the ''Spaniards'' had probably so much makeup that they were more brown than the Indians. But although especially Spaniards are portrayed as unusually exotic in Hollywood films, at least it's rather true that most Southern European dagos are rather swarthy. French are made to seem as simply geographically more northern Southern Europeans and even on some ''anthropological forums'' some Americans and Asians were saying French are''obviously Southern European''. By the way, how much of the general French population today is descended partly or wholly from Southern European and to a lesser extent other European and the more assimilated Algerian immigrants and in what parts of the country are they concentrated. Are they overwhelmingly an urban and suburban population group or are they concentrated in considerable numbers in rural areas too? How much has this affected the physiognomy and especially pigmentation of the white French population?

[Rudel]

I don.t know about English being ugly, but Hollywood has been often very anti-English as well. Just look at the pseudo-historical film Braveheart and how English people there are made to seem evil, ugly, vicious and even shorter and more brunet than the noble, strong, brave and fair Scots and of celtomaniac fantasies on both sides of the Atlantic. Maybe a different thread should be made of that awful movie. And it's true that sometimes Southern European swartiness is exagerated by Hollywood, like in an old movie about conquistadors in Mexico with Tyrone Power, where the ''Spaniards'' had probably so much makeup that they were more brown than the Indians. But although especially Spaniards are portrayed as unusually exotic in Hollywood films, at least it's rather true that most Southern European dagos are rather swarthy. French are made to seem as simply geographically more northern Southern Europeans and even on some ''anthropological forums'' some Americans and Asians were saying French are''obviously Southern European''. By the way, how much of the general French population today is descended partly or wholly from Southern European and to a lesser extent other European and the more assimilated Algerian immigrants and in what parts of the country are they concentrated. Are they overwhelmingly an urban and suburban population group or are they concentrated in considerable numbers in rural areas too? How much has this affected the physiognomy and especially pigmentation of the white French population?

Immigrants are almost exclusively concentrated in towns. I live in a big village and while I see some once in a while, they're really anecdotal.

People with some sort of Southern ancestry are common, but you rarely can tell them apart unless they're from recent (post 1960's) Portuguese immigration.

[Stimpy]

I think that I've been to persuaded by Apricians that all French look like North-Euros, which is pretty much the reverse.

I met a swarthy, almost middle-eastern looking French tourist on the pub here just the other weekend and when he said he was from France I asked ''But where are your parents from?'' and he just said ''France.'' and looked offended.

[Damião de Góis]

People with some sort of Southern ancestry are common, but you rarely can tell them apart unless they're from recent (post 1960's) Portuguese immigration.

What's the difference between them and recent spanish and italian immigrants?

[Sikeliot]

Southern French look very similar to northern Iberians, but that's not "swarthy and hook nosed", just Atlanto-Med more or less.

[Peyrol]

According to the antrophoras,''Midi / Occitans'' french are some kind of mystical pseudo-maghrebin population.

Very far from the reality, as for many hollywoodian and antrophoras stereotypes.

[Rudel]

What's the difference between them and recent spanish and italian immigrants?

Most Italian immigration occurred between 1850 and WWI (with lessened continuation until the 1950's), so their descendants are mixed. It's common to have an Italian grand-parent, it's not to be fully Italian in ancestry.
Plus most of the immigrants were from Piemont and overall Northern Italy.

Spanish immigrants came mostly with the Retirada in 1939.

Portuguese workers came more recently, have less mixed and often have retained links to Portugal (it's common to see Franco-Lusitanians going back to Portugal during summer-time).

[TheForeigner]

Hm, if southern european ancestry is so common and maybe common even in villages, than maybe it's not so strange to see modern french as dago looking. Cause usually the french are seen in films as southern european looking and even with same mentality or atitude I think. Even french film margot somehow had northern french aristocrats and bourbons played by swarthies with italian and iberian surnames. I was also surprised to see that real bourbons in those pics even seemed slightly southern, so i guess even the valois and bourbons had their frankish blood much diluted and mixed with gallo-roman elements. So are contemporary euro-french more southern looking than some generations ago after all or even since older times, although of course the bourbons have nothing to do with this. Apparently jean reno is of ethnic spanish ancestry and degaulle from lille. in romance flanders.Overall are the french much different from italians and iberians in looks or largely the same , as often stereotyped? In angloamerican media typically a darker type,like often a jew will play a french character and I've noticed darker french actors are favored in english language films, like indeed jean reno or alain jourdain.