There’s one article from Chapter 5 that really got me thinking. In the writing about Steve Smith (better known as Red Green) he discusses the flooding of the Canadian television market with American shows. In it he mentions a number of things that struck a chord with me. For one, he said that Canadian stations are judged on the amount or quality of American shows they can import, and I couldn’t agree more. As far as I’m concerned there are 3 Canadian stations: CTV, Global, and CBC. And that’s the order I would also rank them in quality. I never ever ever watch CBC. I do sometimes watch CBC Newsworld so that i can watch “The Hour” with George Stromboulopolous. But I rarely think “I wonder what’s on CBC tonight” because my answer would always be “nothing good.” I associate CBC with nature shows, news shows, and bad Canadian sketch comedy.
Smith says that with “Canadians being constantly bombarded with American culture, there’s a natural tendency to assimilate and, with Canadians, if all they’re exposed to is American media, they will become more and more like Americans and less like Canadians.” I find this point to be veeery fascinating. What makes us Canadian? There are 5 things that I feel make me Canadian, besides of course my legal citizenship:
1. Love of Tim Hortons. I know that sounds like a joke, but i’m dead serious. Canadians love tims the way Americans love their KFC or whatever. And if it’s cold outside, like today, all I want is a tims hot chocolate. It’s in our blood.
2. Hockey. I went to a Flames game in LA in November and it was a completely different experience. My friend and I went to a bar in the Staples Center before the game and it was packed with LA Kings fans. The difference between a bar pre-hockey game in LA than in Calgary? Everyone in the bar was glued to tv watching a football game. And college football to boot. Another strange thing? At the game there were well over 3 dozen people that we saw wearing jerseys for other teams. These teams were not playing. So why would you wear a Red Wings jersey to a Flames vs Kings game???!? That’s just silly!
3. Pride. Americans are proud of their country. Why, I do not know, but they are. So are Canadians. I feel that it’s a completely different pride though. Americans are in your face, tshirt/bumper sticker/flag wearing patriots. We are just proud deep inside and only show this affection in public when we go to Europe and we sew a flag on our backpack. We’re awesome and we don’t need to rub in people’s face.
4. Beer. No explanation needed.
5. Not hated. As a whole I don’t feel that Canadians are dislike worldwide. Americans are, but we are peace promoting, friendly people.
So after all that, what is my point? I don’t think that watching American shows is going to take any of that away from us. Although our two countries are so similar in a lot of ways, we are also drastically different. Like when I enter a house, I take off my shoes. Why? Cuz I’m not rude and dirty. Anyways, I think Steve Smith made some interesting points and if you didn’t read the little blurb on him in the text, you should. I just think Canadian Entertainment moguls are a little touchy and are taking it all to seriously. It’s television.
blogorama 
lajoiedevivre said,
February 8, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Nothing good on CBC? I don’t watch enough TV to really judge the other two major Canadian networks, but whenever I flick on the tube, I often check CBC because it’s usually interesting to me. Oh well, different strokes for different folks.
I feel compelled to point out a few things about your list of what makes you Canadian. First, Tim’s is actually American owned for about the past 10 years since Wendy’s bought it. Another student’s blog talked about Wendy’s possibly selling it, but as far as I know, it’s still American owned (although Canadian founded). This is particularly ironic because of Tim’s “patriotic” advertising campaigns. I actually saw a billboard that read “True Patriot Love” with a nice steaming cup of Tim’s coffee. I had to laugh.
Regarding points 3 and 5, about Canadians not being hated. This worldwide love and respect for Canadians is eroding quickly. The more the Harper government sides with the USA on prickly world issues, the less favourably Canada is viewed internationally.
We bailed out of Kyoto, got involved in Afghanistan in the “war on terror”, and Harper has snubbed several international conferences and meetings. We’re in danger of losing the confidence of the rest of the world. I, too am proud of Canada’s historical peacekeeping and humanitarian action, and I lament the way the country is going (Americanization). Our glowing international reputation was something given to us at a great price by our grandfathers and grandmothers, and we owe it to future generations not to tarnish that reputation.
Great Post!
La Joie De Vivre
dm2 said,
February 11, 2007 at 11:14 am
I can’t agree with you more. Amoung the Canadian TV stations that you mentioned, CTV is by far the channel I watch the most. I find that it has the perfect programs that I am looking for. Whether it be news to inform myself of what is going on in our city, in our country or around the world, whether it is to watch a mindless entertaining episode of who knows what… I can almost always find something that will peak my interest no matter what time of day.
As to the points you stated about being Canadian. I think that Canadians are smart enough to realize that if we assimilate and become like the Americans, people from all over the world will think of Canadians totally different then they do now. Why would we want to be more like the Americans? I find that they tend to be (but by no means all Americans) rude, unpatriotic with some circumstances -like what you said about hockey, and can have an in-your-face attitude about certain issues.
All in all, I am proud to be Canadian.
brianfantana said,
February 14, 2007 at 4:32 pm
You have definitely hit the nail on the head. CBC is great if you’re within it’s target demograph. If you want to know about the news from a Canadian perspective you can’t get any better, but the fact of the matter is that most people who turn on the tv aren’t doing so to watch the news. They want the latest sitcoms and reality shows.
Assimilating a true Canadian into the United States is damn near impossible. Besides, what the hell would a Canadian do in the U.S. without Hockey Night in Canada, a cold strong beer and manners. (That was entirely a joke that last stereotypical comment. No offense intended to any Americans reading this.)