In the French-speaking world, Van Damme is well known – and often mocked – for the picturesque aphorisms that he delivers on a wide range of topics (personal well-being, spirituality, the environment, women, dogs, his ability to crack walnuts with his buttocks, his realization that Christianism is flawed based on the fact that "snakes are nice" and "apples contain pectin which is anti-cholesterol", etc.) in a sort of Zen franglais. He was deeply affected by his depiction in the media and the frequent derisive use of his interviews in comedy shows in the early 2000s, becoming increasingly reluctant to grant new interviews in French. He later explained that he was trying to communicate bits of his hard-earned wisdom to young uneducated people dreaming of success, like he used to be himself, and had to struggle with the time constraints of TV, with his difficulties reacquainting with the French language, and with the effects of jet lag, often resulting in a clumsy, haphazard delivery. His public image in the French-speaking world became a major theme of the 2008 movie "J.C.V.D." (directed by Mabrouk El Mechri, a fan of Van Damme's from his childhood, who sought to rehabilitate him by exploring those issues head-on).