2023-05-28 15:00:00
par charlotte vanbever
Her first novel, “Concert in the refectory at 4:30 p.m.”, intended for adults – following having devoted herself to children’s books for a long time – is funny, cynical and tender at the same time. And it’s a burn-out, tells us the always sparkling Maureen Dor, who led her to write it. But this does not mean that the editor, whom we first knew as a star of the small screen, considers herself an author. She longs for one thing: “Leave me alone!” She smiles.
Maureen, we know you as a presenter, actress, author, editor,… How would you best describe yourself?
I am a woman, which is important for me, 52 years old. I am a mother. And a woman who is beginning to be calmed down and who tells herself that there are still a lot of things to do. But I hope to do them in a more serene way. I finally understood that there is no winner at the finish line. It’s pointless to absolutely want to be at the head of the peloton, there is no cut at the end. It may seem very stupid, there may be people who have always known that, but I did not know it. And I paid dearly for it, I burned out. And that’s it, I got out. I understood: I’m going to give myself a break! (smile)
Why did you think you had to get ahead of the pack, reach something inaccessible?
I think I really wanted people to look at me, to see me. As if I had the impression from the start that I had to deserve it. I often say, jokingly, that I would have loved to be beautiful and mysterious. The kind of chick who doesn’t say anything but who we find super interesting! The family legend says that as a child, as soon as I knew how to write, I wrote a sign “Vote for me! “. I needed, because I was the youngest, a very pretty sister, a mother who worked a lot, to get with my teeth the fact that people were looking at me. And it hasn’t let up for years.
Was it precisely to be seen, loved, that you did TV at a very young age?
I think yes. Afterwards, I never dreamed of doing TV. It wasn’t in my childhood mindset, but I always did shows in school. TV was an opportunity. I did a casting at 17 and a half without really knowing… It fell on me and it was great. Looking back, I realize that what I love are experiences. And there, at 17, I found myself on the backs of buses, on billboards and that kind of attention, which guys didn’t get, because I wasn’t the star of the school, I found there.
This challenge, of TV, still lasts for many years. Then, many years later, you decide to launch your own publishing house (Les Clochette editions) of children’s books. What causes this failover?
The shift was slow, even though I’ve always been a big reader. I was working as a columnist at Laurent Ruquier (“We tried everything”) and I didn’t really get along with the producer, Catherine Barma, I was clearly not one of her heads. I had started to write songs on my side, a short film too, then a long one. From the moment I started doing things myself, I saw how difficult it was to do things. So, when you are a columnist and you receive someone who has taken 4 years to make their album or their film, then I started thinking. However, on TV, you shouldn’t think, it’s absolute drive. And I became less good since I might no longer say things, I was less funny. I didn’t get fired but I understood that I was no longer in Laurent’s little papers. From twice a week, I only came once every 15 days. It’s a little humiliating somewhere. I think Laurent was a little fed up with me…I can imagine it, I myself was fed up with me!
And how is the transition going?
It’s hard, because on TV you make a good living…at least at the time! (laughs) When I turned 40, I wanted to be my own boss. And since I had young children, I told myself that I was going to create my publishing house, books for young people.
Today, ten years later, you are publishing your first novel, for grown-ups, “Concert in the refectory at 4:30 p.m.”…
At 50 brushes, I burned out, I mightn’t manage anymore, I was stressing too much. As professional interactions were complicated, I, in this black hole, curled up on myself. And there was this scenario (the basis of this book, editor’s note) that existed. I said to myself that I was going to stick myself alone to this story and I launched into this writing by saying to myself “we will see”.
This book is therefore the story of a father, a romantic singer, who goes to retirement homes to give concerts, to bring a little joy. But the intentions of the father and the daughter are not only noble. She also tries to get herself to sleep on certain wills…
Originally, the idea was to talk regarding all these people, singers, musicians, who do their job not for Wembley, but for small audiences. Him, Hervé Vincent sings in front of 45 people with hearing aids and he is happy. People like that, there are a lot of them, and they are laughed at, because they don’t have the so-called card. But they are useful. Then there is her daughter, who has been abandoned by her mother and wants a very strong revenge on life. And she found a way to get laid on old people’s wills through him. But in fact, they don’t hurt him, the people at the limit they hurt are the heirs!
Hence this sentence in the book’s catchphrase: “be nice to your children, they are the ones who will choose your nursing home”…
Exactly. And, similarly, maybe some old people are alone in their nursing homes because they were terrible parents. The point is there too. It’s really simplistic to see the elderly as diminished old people. You can be old, nice, dumb, dynamic,…
Your writing is incisive, funny…
Before I started writing, I didn’t know my written voice. I made several versions and one of the versions scared me. It was much more cash than I was in life! (smiles) Actually, I think I wrote down what I really thought. So I put a little water in my writing wine. But just because I wrote a book doesn’t mean I’m an author…
You speak with your written voice. What regarding your very particular spoken voice?
That it is special, I realized because people often tell me “I recognized you by your voice! “. It upsets me because I say to myself: “what, they didn’t recognize me by my appearance? » (smile) When I was 17, Claude Delacroix from Radio 21 told me: « you have a duck voice, you will never do radio ». There are quite a few people in Belgium who hit me on the head. Belgians are good at telling people not to fart higher than their ass. In fact, she served me this voice. For a long time, when I was doing radio work with Laurent Ruquier, when I said something, if the info was a bit special, people laughed at me, they didn’t take me seriously. But at least I have a vocal signature… which means that people don’t take me seriously, but that’s how it is!
TV, what does it represent for you today?
A very good past. But it does not represent the present and a priori no future. But you should never say “fountain I will not drink your water”. Especially since I’m good at it…
A few months ago, you sent a letter to the program “Envoyé Spécial” which devoted a report to the Hulot affair to say that he had assaulted you when you were only 18 years old. How much has the #metoo movement, the liberation of women’s speech, helped you to testify?
It didn’t help me. I was actually too old. And I wasn’t traumatized to that extent. I wrote the letter, I didn’t want to go on the air to prevent people from thinking for a single second that I was myself or whatever. But I made this testimony to testify to something much more important than Nicolas Hulot, which we don’t talk regarding enough. It is this gap in the lives of young women between the ages of 15 and 25, which is a pivotal moment and most women who are sexually assaulted are often between 15 and 25 years old. There is a misunderstanding that puts them in danger. Either they put themselves in danger out of naivety, which happened to me. I went up to this room because, not for a second, I thought that this man had an ulterior motive. I didn’t feel like it was something I generated, I was ass-ass the praline. I put myself in danger out of naivety. Conversely, some young girls, very sexual, perhaps, will give the impression that they don’t care regarding their sexuality, that they are super free, but that’s not true. And they’re going to give that impression to men. Between the ages of 15 and 25, it is very important, we must help these young girls and above all not condemn them. Above all, don’t tell them: “What were you doing in that room? in this car? “. Sometimes, the women themselves have this kind of sentences: “but did you see how you are dressed? You didn’t just have to…” A young woman who gives the impression who finds herself in a situation that gives the impression that she was looking for it, I don’t believe it, it’s not true . She didn’t look for him. Either she was naive of a love in which she believed, or of an image that she did not generate well. It’s education, it’s surrounding them but above all not condemning them. That is adding pain to pain. There are words that are forbidden. Say “did you see how you were dressed? », that is forbidden! And it’s not “watch your daughters”. It’s “watch out for your boys!” “.
Check out the Maureen Dor interview podcast here:
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