Miller: Fallati and Bardot

Brigitte Bardot's death sparked a wave of memories and discussions. A cinema icon, a symbol of the sexual revolution, and later an avid animal defender – this exceptional French female recalled another large figure of her era: Italian writer Oriana Fallaci.

Both women, from different worlds, found common language: the hard defence of Western civilization against what they saw as the top threat – mass immigration from Muslim countries and the erosion of European cultural identity.

Fallati, a erstwhile left-wing feminist and war reporter, after the September 11, 2001, saw extremist Islam as a variant of the fresh fascism she fought with in her youth and warned against “Eurabia” – a Europe gradually yielding to alien cultural and spiritual influences. Bardot, who abandoned her acting career in 1973 to defend animals, was loudly critical of the "Islamization of France", the ritual slaughter of the halal, and what she called the "invasion" of immigrants. Both utilized the same strong word: invasion. Both saw in multiculturalism the form of Western cultural suicide.

Their ideological paths besides coincided with moral conservatism. Fallati, evolving from leftist roots, criticized the aspects of modern liberalism. Bardot expressed strong opinions on LGBTQ+, seeing this as a threat to conventional values. Both were attacked for this: Fallats were accused of racism and Islamophobia, Bardot was repeatedly sentenced to fines in France for "inciting racial hatred".

Were they racist? Left-wing critics said so, pointing to the sharpness of their language. They themselves represented themselves as guardians of freedom—free speech, freedom of women, freedom from what they considered to be oppressive external influences. The Fallacites symbolically threw Chador in Chomeini's face during the celebrated interview. Bardot abandoned fame to fight for animal rights. Both were not afraid of controversy, paying a advanced price for it: judicial trials, social ostracism and the labels "islamophobes".

Today, at the beginning of 2026, erstwhile Europe is inactive struggling with waves of migration, debates on integration and cultural identity, their voices sound prophetic to some, informing others. They were attacked, but besides admired by those who felt that individual was yet saying loudly what many thought quietly.

Two women, 1 scream: defend the West before it's besides late. Were they right? past keeps writing its verdict. But they surely had something that many deficiency today: courage.

Leszek Miller

Pictured: BB with Jean-Marie Le Pen (1958)

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