So Long Johnny Hallyday; The French have much to teach us. Too bad Americans don't listen.(Viewpoint essay)

Byline: Long is a Hollywood screenwriter.

A few years ago, I developed a script for an American TV sitcom. An aging French rock-and-roll star--picture a slightly seedy Johnny Hallyday--meets a young, sweet American girl in Paris, woos her, marries her and, together, they move back to the United States to live with her conservative and very rich family.

High jinks, as we say in the business, ensue. He wanders around the house in a Speedo and Ugg boots, criticizing typical Americanisms like Starbucks and Quizno's. Her uptight dad mutters about smelly cheese and Iraq War betrayals. But the two of them--OK, OK, it's a metaphor --actually have something to ...