Farewell Ulysses, welcome Penelope! The devotees of Telerama will have to familiarize themselves with the new mascot of the magazine. The little drawn man who, according to the expressions on his face – from the grimace to the ecstatic smile – set the tone for film critics, is bowing out after 72 years of good and loyal service.
From now on, it is a female character drawn by Pénélope Bagieu who will act as a cinephile barometer. She will enter the pages of the weekly from the next issue, on newsstands Wednesday.
“We are at a time when the place of women is affirmed”
“72 is retirement age! We are at a time when the place of women is affirmed, and that such an emblem becomes feminine, we liked it, “explains the president of TeleramaCatherine Sueur.
To take the leap, the magazine “immediately thought” of the creator of comics Pénélope Bagieu, also known for her feminist commitment.
“We needed continuity and an expressive character,” continues Catherine Sueur. “Few people know that his name is Ulysses, most often we just say “The little guy from Télérama”! »
A new scale for critics
This character is an institution. Created by cartoonist Omer Boucquey, it first appeared in 1950 in the pages of Radio-Cinemathe ancestor of Telerama. Since, he changed his mind several times. In 2011, a very stylized and minimalist version, signed Riad Sattouf, provoked discontent from the public. The author of The Arab of the future revised its copy in 2014, delivering the latest version of Ulysses.
This small comic revolution is part of a broader context of modification of the scale of criticism at Telerama. This amounts to five rating levels instead of four. For TV, radio, books and shows, the best grade now corresponds to four “T”s and no longer three.