152. France, je t'aime

Actor and producer George Clooney, his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, and their two children have received French citizenship. The immediate reason is French privacy laws that shield his family from paparazzi.

However, he has been residing in France and frequently shares his admiration for French culture and language. In 2021, he bought a property in southern France. He mentioned that, despite traveling often, they feel most at home in France.

George Clooney has received two Oscars: one for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a CIA officer in Syriana, and another for Best Picture as a co-producer of the political thriller Argo.

He built his reputation as a film star through roles in From Dusk till Dawn, Out of Sight, Three Kings, and the Ocean's film series. 

He received Oscar nominations for his performances in Michael Clayton, Up in the Air, and The Descendants. Additionally, he appeared in Burn After Reading, Gravity, and Hail, Caesar!.

Clooney has directed nine feature films, such as the spy movie Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the historical drama Good Night and Good Luck, the political drama The Ides of March, and the war film The Monuments Men.

However, it wasn’t his acting ability that truly impressed me enough to mention him here. 

Clooney first appeared in my diary in 2017, when he announced his plan to help 3,000 Syrian refugee children attend school in Lebanon. “We don’t want to lose an entire generation because they had the bad luck of being born in the wrong place at the wrong time.” A bold statement paired with action through a $3.25 million donation.

According to the United Nations, 200,000 children were not receiving an education after fleeing the war in Syria. Lebanon has more than a million Syrian refugees, including nearly 500,000 children. 

I admire individuals who think independently and are willing to speak and act according to their own feelings. As a result, Clooney has been added to my list of people I admire, respect, and keep track of.

I remember reading his New York Times article, "I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee," in which he stated that the aging president had won many battles in his career, but the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time.

I believe he has an innate political temperament since his maternal fourth great-grandmother, Mary Ann Sparrow, was the half-sister of Nancy Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's mother. Clooney also supported Barack Obama's presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012.  

Now comes the real reason Clooney's getting French citizenship attracted me. 

France, especially Paris, has always fascinated me. It's a wonderful city. 

A city that was not spoiled even during WWII, when the Nazis captured it. Hitler had asked that the city not be damaged. After a two-and-a-half-hour visit to Paris, Hitler called his favorite architect, Albert Speer, to his office. 

In his memoirs, "Inside the Third Reich," Speer writes, "He was sitting alone at the table. Without more ado, he declared: 'Draw up a decree in my name ordering the full-scale resumption of work on the Berlin buildings. Wasn't Paris beautiful? But Berlin must be made far more beautiful. In the past, I often considered whether we would not have to destroy Paris,' he continued with great calm, as if he were talking about the most natural thing in the world. 'But when we are finished in Berlin, Paris will only be a shadow. So why should we destroy it?' With that, I was dismissed."

For centuries, artists from all over the world have been drawn to Paris, earning it the nickname the "City of Art." It surely is. 

For those who haven’t been there, I recommend watching Emily in Paris, the Netflix drama series that captures the city's beauty through a loosely structured storyline.

It’s a dream of every artistic-minded person on Earth to live in Paris or at least spend a significant part of their life there and travel south to enjoy the countryside.

Paris, je t'aime de tout mon cœur.