Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Fox News & Canadian Identity
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVKlFT58Zwc
This short clip from Red Eye with Greg Gufeld offends me in so many ways I don’t even know where to start… I’m not even going to go into the blatant American-centric arrogance and the embarrassingly one-sidedness of the debate. (To be fair, the panel never claimed to be credible – made up of mostly comedians and a late night host appealing to a 3am audience). I focus on the clear image of “Canada” that emerges out of their discussion. They set the tone immediately by mocking the effeminate nature of the Canadian Lieutenant General’s name: “Andrew Leslie… an unusual name for a man…” (chuckle)
“So the Canadian military wants to take a breather… to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants…get manicures and pedicures” – allusions to homosexuality, nature…
There are numerable phrases which illuminate the American attitude towards Canada as a non-entity, not worthy of respect: “Doug… this is a very important question, I want you to take it seriously” – as in, ‘Even though we’re talking about Canada which is not to be taken seriously’ Further: “Isn’t this the perfect time to invade this ridiculous country?”
Epitomizing the American-invented stereotypical “Canadian” the panel goes on…“Does this surprise any of us? We have police officers and they have Mounties. Our cops ride heavily armored cars, they ride horses. We have bullet-proof vests, they have wonderful little red jackets that can be seen a mile away… This is not a smart culture, Greg”
At one point the one woman chimes in. I’m hopeful she’ll provide some kind of sanity in this egregious discussion of Canada, but she only adds insult to injury: “Yes, but to be fair to the Canadians, they’re up there where it’s frigid, very cold, they’re a hearty people…”
It’s hard to be too offended when we Canadians use virtually the same features in our long history of Canadian identity – constructed in the shadow of the United States. We just don’t like it when they point it out. (…or when they present their information via a one-way medium claiming to be a credible news source)
This short clip from Red Eye with Greg Gufeld offends me in so many ways I don’t even know where to start… I’m not even going to go into the blatant American-centric arrogance and the embarrassingly one-sidedness of the debate. (To be fair, the panel never claimed to be credible – made up of mostly comedians and a late night host appealing to a 3am audience). I focus on the clear image of “Canada” that emerges out of their discussion. They set the tone immediately by mocking the effeminate nature of the Canadian Lieutenant General’s name: “Andrew Leslie… an unusual name for a man…” (chuckle)
“So the Canadian military wants to take a breather… to do some yoga, paint landscapes, run on the beach in gorgeous white Capri pants…get manicures and pedicures” – allusions to homosexuality, nature…
There are numerable phrases which illuminate the American attitude towards Canada as a non-entity, not worthy of respect: “Doug… this is a very important question, I want you to take it seriously” – as in, ‘Even though we’re talking about Canada which is not to be taken seriously’ Further: “Isn’t this the perfect time to invade this ridiculous country?”
Epitomizing the American-invented stereotypical “Canadian” the panel goes on…“Does this surprise any of us? We have police officers and they have Mounties. Our cops ride heavily armored cars, they ride horses. We have bullet-proof vests, they have wonderful little red jackets that can be seen a mile away… This is not a smart culture, Greg”
At one point the one woman chimes in. I’m hopeful she’ll provide some kind of sanity in this egregious discussion of Canada, but she only adds insult to injury: “Yes, but to be fair to the Canadians, they’re up there where it’s frigid, very cold, they’re a hearty people…”
It’s hard to be too offended when we Canadians use virtually the same features in our long history of Canadian identity – constructed in the shadow of the United States. We just don’t like it when they point it out. (…or when they present their information via a one-way medium claiming to be a credible news source)
# posted by jamie.joong @ 6:45 PM 
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Jokes about Canadian stereotypes are all fine and good, or I'd feel a lot worse about how hard I laugh at Borat. These particular jokes just happened to be sneeringly condescending and as bone-headedly surface-level a use of stereotypes as is possible.
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