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France de Meurs (Léa Seydoux) is one of the most famous TV journalists in the country with which she shares a name. By now she’s used to wild-eyed fans swarming her for autographs and selfies when not exclaiming how much they love her; she can’t so much as visit the suburbs without a barely-disguised paparazzo crouching in some bushes a few yards away. 

This constant attention doesn’t bother France much. She’s not the type of celebrity reporter to worry whether her association with a story becomes a distraction in itself. She’s a media personality more revved up by notoriety and pristine image-making than good journalism, attending press conferences more interested in nabbing headlines about her behavior at them than getting answers and directing subjects to pose a certain way when war reporting in North Africa. A take in which she manages to eke out a tear is practically visual gold — maybe even more important than the story on which she ostensibly wants to shine a light.

Read the full column on 425.