TOUGH BEING LOVED BY JERKS is an odd name for a film. For after all, it will be more taxing if not downright dangerous to be hated by jerks and, in particular, jerks who are petty, vindictive, or just plain evil, not to mention prone to the worst kind of violence. But as you view TOUGH BEING LOVED BY JERKS and consider its point of view, you get to see the origin of the title and how it clearly makes sense within the framework of what is unfolding onscreen.
TOUGH BEING LOVED BY JERKS is a piercing French-made documentary, directed by Daniel Leconte, which was released in 2008 and recently became available on home entertainment. And it takes on extra-special meaning in 2015. That is because, on a January morning just after the New Year, the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical newspaper, were attacked and twelve people were slaughtered. The assault came in reaction to Charlie Hebdo’s publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. It was carried out by two brothers who were affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
Even though it was made seven years earlier, TOUGH BEING LOVED BY JERKS offers up a history of the events that led to the slaughter. One of them dates from 2004, when Netherlands-born filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered-- and the film's narrator declares that “his killer, an Islamist, accused him of denigrating the Prophet. After the crime comes fear and what goes with it: self-censorship.” As these words are spoken, the onscreen image is jarring, to say the least. It is van Gogh’s corpse, lying on an Amsterdam street and covered by what appears to be a sheet.
However, TOUGH BEING LOVED BY JERKS mostly is set in 2006 and 2007. At the time,Charlie Hebdo chose to print cartoon caricatures of the Prophet. The purpose, as the narrator explains, was to “denounce the Islamist excesses without stigmatizing believers.” The resulting controversy culminated in court proceedings brought against Charlie Hebdo by the Great Mosque of Paris, the World Muslim League, and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France, in which the publication was charged with “insulting a group of people on religious grounds.”
The trial is detailed, and varies parties involved are interviewed. As these individuals recount their roles in this scenario and offer their points of view, a host of questions come to the fore. The first is: Can God be caricatured? Can religion be caricatured? If they are, and you do not agree with the lampooning, should you just ignore it all in the name of free speech? Or is it justifiable that a more radical action be taken? In other words, can any rational person really validate the killing of Theo van Gogh, for instance, or the Charlie Hebdo murders?
And also: What are the boundaries of criticism? Should there be any boundaries to free speech? It may be reasonable to grasp onto a firm belief in something, in anything, but is there a fine line between loud, passionate disagreement and resorting to violent action against those you perceive as your adversaries? And finally: Is it somehow wrong to make fun of those who scare you? Or do you allow that fear to terrorize you?
The film ends with the outcome of the trial. Yet it goes without saying that the issues with which it deals have not been resolved. So we have the January 2015 attack and the subsequent slaughter and, tragically but not surprisingly, a number of the interviewees in TOUGH BEING LOVED BY JERKS were among the victims.
Rob Edelman teaches film history at the University at Albany. He has written several books on film and television, and is an associate editor of Leonard Maltin’s Movie and Video Guide.
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