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This is regarding the article entitled "Is
‘Blame Canada' Oscar worthy." I'm not sure what
disturbs me more – the lack of research done for a published
article or the inability of some people (think majority) to pick
up on a satire...no...it's the satire one that's the most troubling.
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On the outside, I can see why the song is entitled ‘Blame
Canada' would look like a harmful entity, an accusation that
Canucks are the foe of everything decent. But then reasoning
sinks in, and I'm able to see that this song is not about Canada
brainwashing children but like the movie itself, it's a statement.
American Arrogance is so great, so out of control, that they
no longer have the ability to blame themselves for their trouble,
they have to look elsewhere. On a lesser scale, it's also about
parents being unable to take credit for their children's faults,
so they blame other entity, television (think Columbine). |
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Then there's making it work as a satire - you need something
to blame that you usually wouldn't blame. Considering Canada's
reputation throughout the world as a polite society of peace
keepers (Going to Europe? Think about wearing a Canadian flag),
we are renowned for being stepped on and saying sorry. So blame
Canada. That's unexpected...that's funny. That's also what the
Academy of Motion Pictures picked up on. Of course they would.
They make a living of being subtle when it comes to satire for
fear of ignorant masses missing the point and grabbing onto the
nearest bandwagon.
Worried about kids watching South Park, seeing bad things
on television? Maybe you should reread the first paragraph here
(think bad parenting).
Let's now look at the lack of research, shall we? In the article,
Canadian television shows were compared to American television
shows in the attempt to make Canada come out some winner. Tom
Green is a Canadian entertainer who that started out in Ontario
on public Access (think Wayne's World). He then moved up to the
Comedy Channel on Canadian Cable before getting the attention
of American MTV. Although now in America, he's still Canadian.
His cohorts are Canadian and all of his writers are Canadian...not
to mention it's still broadcast throughout his old airwaves...it
is essentially a Canadian show.
Compare swearing: American television doesn't allow swearing
(look at the large number of bleeps on "South Park")
while Canadian television allows it. "North of Sixty"
routinely allowed it as casual conversation, as opposed to stressing
a point. As for "Smoke Signals", there's a reason the
director the director Chris Eyre and the writer Sherman Alexia
call themselves American-Indians as opposed to Aboriginal.
Bunited Strates of Bamerica...the difference between sarcasm
and wit isn't just in the delivery.
Maybe we're a society now, though so politically correct that
the satire is lost on us just by being out of practice. Maybe
some people should go back and look around. There are still items
left that have a hidden meaning - Dr. Strangelove, Life of Brian,
Canadian Bacon, Disney's "Hercules". Anything that
tries to serve you a hard truth and knows you can't take it,
it's called sugar coating. Interesting fact: There are university
courses on Satire, where one of the assignments is to watch,
study and report on "The Simpsons"...imagine that.
To end, in the words of Bart Simpson: "How can you judge
something if you've never been there, that's what they do in
Russia." |
