I feel like I should add I'm not a MC mega fan or anything. But I have been keeping an eye on how francophones in my life and online receive him, and I think overall people mostly appreciate the effort and early improvements, and are willing to vote for him regardless of if he's b1 or c2.

I teach French Immersion, so I work with teens all day who are varying degrees of coherent in French. He's comprehensible. He's not eloquent, but as you say, he is trying hard and he's charming and I think most will choose to forgive his deficits in the French language.

I was not a theater kid per se but I was a musicals kid and thus spent a lot of time theater kid adjacent.

There is a video of my 13 year old self at a twilight release party in an impromptu 5 person rendition of Popular.

The weirdness has frankly declined as time passes.

Last thought, I literally don't have an opinion on the "listening vs reading" part of this debate because I truly don't think that debate is useful or matters at all 🤷🏻‍♀️

Imagine caring how another adult takes in stories, when you could be rejoicing that there are still people making room for stories in lives. What a gift that we still understand the world through the narratives of others. What a gift to the authors and the independent book stores and the libraries.

Ebooks: great for when I'm putting my kids to bed and haven't snuck out of the dark quiet room yet.

Hard copies: nice for story time with the kids or a self care coffee shop moment.

Audiobooks: great for doing chores, love essays especially for this.

I also switch between for convenience.

"Before a revolution happens, it is perceived as impossible; after it happens, it is seen as having been inevitable." (Rosa Luxemburg)