In front of the Saint-Jacques church in Dieppe, dreamy and surrounded by books, a young girl poses dressed in a red tank top with a slight neckline. Directed by the author Jim, the poster for the comic book festival in Dieppe, scheduled for July 22 and 23, represents Marie, heroine of her intimate story Une Nuit à Rome. On June 20, the festival featured the artwork on Facebook, before posting a different one two days later, summarily edited. A stack of books now covers the girl’s chest.
A change desired by the municipality which subsidizes the event up to 1500 euros and provides a logistical part. “When we saw the poster, we alerted the association to the risk of controversy that it could cause, declared the deputy mayor in charge of associative life, activities and the fight against discrimination in Dieppe information. (…) To announce an event that touches all audiences, we thought that the representation of a young woman in a lascivious pose, with a certainly light neckline, did not enter into the vision that we have of the fight against discrimination .”
Reluctantly, the festival complied with the municipal requirement: “I do not agree with the town hall, but what matters to me is that the festival takes place in the best possible conditions, in calm and a good spirit, considers Jean-Pierre Surest, president of the Norman comic strip association. The organizer was supported in this by the designer, who accepted without worry to modify his poster: “The organizer is nice, I hold on to him and don’t want to complicate his task: we all know the job that represents a festival…” he declared to the Parisian, reached via social networks.
As soon as the new poster was published on Facebook, strong reactions multiplied on the web, some denouncing censorship tinged with prudishness and fueling a new controversy.
A controversy that the designer considers to be “a storm in a teacup”, according to France 3 Normandy and which leaves the organizer speechless: “All this takes on a disproportionate proportion. And above all, I am flabbergasted by the violence of certain comments circulating on social networks, ”he laments. “I don’t do politics, I take care of a comic book festival that I really like and which always attracts more visitors.”
