Sacred Truth

Some patriotic people in France are annoyed because a mixed-race migrants' daughter has been chosen to play Jeanne d'Arc in a yearly festival at Orléans. For these Résistants, the most important characteristic of the original Jeanne is not that she was a Catholic martyr, a warrior for France, a challenger of gender rules or a teenage superhero, but the colour of her skin. "Next year, Joan of Arc will be in a burqa," mourned one cultural commentator, despite the fact that non-Catholics are excluded from playing the role. The enragés' commitment to realism is of course laudable; though given their likely commitment to tolerance of eccentrics as well as historical truth, it remains unclear what their reaction might be were their racial icon to be played by a Caucasian royalist transvestite who heard voices in her head.