As Canadian As Possible

Aniko Bodroghkozy’s article “As Canadian As Possible” illustrates the way Canadian broadcasting has been somewhat drastically impacted by American broadcasting. Canada is already experiencing a national identity problem (especially with Quebec that has their own Francophone television), but American broadcasting taking over Canadian television has only added to the problem. Some Canadians are trying to stir support for only Canadian Broadcasting Corporations, but that just has not been enough. Instead Canadian media has “Americanized” their television shows, movies, etc. Canadian television is just to grey and realistic unlike the superficial, unrealistic, dream world of pop culture American television. Canadian producers are starting to “mimic the forms and conventions of American pop culture (Bodroghkozy 568). The shows that have had success in Canada are the ones like Street Legal that Americanized itself to grab more audience attention. By doing so, they added sexy woman characters, placed the show in a big city, Toronto where they could place superficiality and money into the storyline. After all, Canadian TV is said to be too realistic and who really wants to sit down after a long day of work and watch everyday realistic life when you can do that watching your own life. When we sit to watch TV many of us search for something that grabs our attention and is often completely unrealistic unless, we’re looking for the news.

Take for example this episode of The OC. The OC was my favorite television show, when I take a closer look at the show it is completely superficial and unreal; the outcomes are almost always perfectly how you want them and follow a very high class American Dream theme. After watching this episode you realize, a troublesome teenager, Ryan, has just been adopted in a high society (Newport Harbor, California) perfect family of three, where both parents are rich and working. Ryan gets to have his own part of the house, a giant pool house overlooking the pool and the view onto all of Newport and the ocean. After that, Ryan gets to make a debut at the high society Newport Ball with the girl he wants. This movie is full of superficiality, money, and an unreal “American Dream,” but that seems to be the type of media that grabs the majority of our attention and time.

One last point in this article I thought was really interesting is that, “Media Corporations are now global entities” as Bodroghkozy states (569). This is a strong point American broadcasting is not specifically trying to ruin Canadian broadcasting, but instead maximize their profits.

Aniko Bodroghkozy's "As Canadian as Possible" demonstrates the overall influence that American media has over many other countries. The image that the culture portrays in American media is one that is strongly imitated. As the article explains, the American dream is what our media thrives off of, where as Canadian movies portray a much more realistic version of our lives. The way Canadians approach and decipher American media is affected by their lack of identity. Seymour Martin Lipset says, "Canadians have tended to define themselves not in terms of their own national history and traditions but by reference to what they are not: Americans." The Canadians use this as collateral because it makes them "anti-American". As an attempt to get the Canadian culture more Americanized, the Canadians often syphon the works of American media.

As Canadian As Possible

In the article “As Canadian As Possible,” Aniko Bodroghkozy proves to her readers how much of an influence American culture has on the media of other countries. There are numerous examples in her article that state how even though Canada tries to make it on its own in the media, somehow the media of America seeps in and becomes more popular. For example, a cultural commentator, Morris Wolfe, proclaimed that, “Much of the American television is about the American dream – the world as we wish it could be, a place in which goodness and reason prevail and things work out for the best. Much of Canadian television on the other hand, is about reality – the grey world as we actually find it” (567). To me, Canadians don’t only take American influence from the media, but from everyday life. I felt that this picture was suitable for my belief because it shows that Canada just ‘sits’ on top of the United States and is not known for much else… It is known as not having its’ own identity; it seems almost always connected with America.

As Canadian As Possible...Searching for Canadian Popular Culture

Aniko Bodroghkozy's "As Canadian As Possible" examines the way Canadians lack a strong, national culture when compared to Americans and suggest that Canadians simply mimic American trends. This argument is illustrated by the fact that Canadians often rely on American TV shows as their primary source of entertainment. In fact, the top ten programs from the 1994-95 season were American shows, with one major exception. While American film emphasizes the American dream, glamour and adventure, Canadian shows are more conservative, elitist andconcerned with reality. Economic historian Harold Innis even claimed that "Canada is an economic and cultural dependent of the United States." On the other hand, the article also explains how different people from various countries watch the same, or similar, TV shows and are able to interpret it in their own ways. Cultural studies theorist John Fiske explains how Canadians are able to take foreign commodities and turn them into their own culture. Certain TV shows help develop this concept. SCTV experienced cross-border success and allowed Canadians to mock the both the portrayed Canadians and ugly Americans. Street Legal, another show, was criticized for being too nice and too dull (Canadian) but was also criticized when producers tried to spice things up, which was considered "un-Canadian."Another successful Canadian show, Due South, was the first Canadian-made TV program to make it into American prime-time. It too allowed Canadians and Americans to mock their stereotypes. Personally, when I think of Canadian culture I immediately think of unethically harsh winters, hockey, moose, and their lingo. However, I visited my friend in Toronto over new years and it wasn't any colder than Ohio, nor much different than visiting New York City or Chicago. The only "Canadian" stereotype that my friend exhibited was thatshe frequently said "eh." Therefore, I chose this picture because I thought it demonstrates one aspect of what Americans immediately think about Canadians, and because it is indeed unique to Canadian culture.

Canada On Strike

Aniko Bodroghkozy's article "As Canadian as Possible" is a clear example of how Canada is undermined, and forced to be influenced by American popular culture. While Canada is focused heavily in this article its clear that many countries around the world are struggling to find a sense of identitiy similar to that of americas culture. "Canada is economically and culturally dependant on the United states.. canadians are helpless in asserting their own independence (569)". It is funny because Canada is often ridiculed for thier culture, for example they can be stereotyped into a country where hockey means everything (even though lacrosse is the national sport), and hunting, fishing, and "living in igloos". A song in a Season 12 South Park episode explained how Canada is sick of being underrated, that video can be seen here (Language). Even though the writers and producers of this show are from America they understand Canada's sense of idenitiy is lacking and make a song in South Park about it.

Bonded by American Culture

The article “As Canadian As Possible”, reflects the common theme of transnational identity of the media. The American culture has a very strong impact on the media (especially television) of other countries. In the article, Bodroghkozy states that Canada fought for their own broadcasting system (the intent was to keep American culture out of the picture) but contrary to this government funded proposition, American T.V. shows became some of the most popular in Canada. “… after a century of attempts to carve out a space of cultural sovereignty, the bulk of Canadian citizens still prefer to engage with high ‘jpm’ American dreams rather than sedate northern grayness for their entertainment…” (567). A widely recognized example of this is the series of James Bond “007” movies. Watching these movies it becomes relatively clear that the script(s) reflect American ethics and attitude, yet the main character is British, and travels all around the world, still keeping American values while amidst a multitude of international environments. The series is one of the many examples of Hollywood perfection. American dollars structure our cultural portrayal, exhibited in these stories, even in this scene. After Mr. White is shot, the clean, professional looking James Bond appears focused on his cell phone, which he continues to gaze at until he places it in his pocket and ends with his trademark phrase. This climactic scene exhibits the reflection of American’s fascination with technology, and proves it with Bond’s callous inhumane reaction to Mr. White’s injury.

Urinals Unite!

I thought you all might enjoy this, since it relates to our discussion in class today. Have a great weekend!

Tutorials

Hi everyone, I thought it might be useful to post my YouTube tutorial channel online, which doesn't have all that many videos on it yet, but a few that might be helpful. See in particular the "Creating and Editing Blog Posts on Blogger" video, which is also above. Enjoy!

P.S. There's a useful video on how to use the wiki on the main wiki page, as well, but it isn't on YouTube for privacy issues.

Welcome!

Hi everyone, and welcome to a new semester at Rollins! I hope we'll all enjoy this class, and hopefully this blog will be a useful place to share ideas, thoughts, and just cool stuff we find in our lives and online.