Reviewing Canadian Popular Culture

The study of Canadian popular culture is a vast terrain of criticizing our culture and the way in which we construct our identities with the cultural forms presented, and the representations of our country within the realm of media.

Canadian popular culture socializes, disciplines, and entertains those with ideas of what is “Canadian”, what is “Canada”, and how all of these definitions mesh together to create a nation of multiculturalism. In this course we viewed material from a variety of eras, examples include the nineties with Canadian Bacon (Moore, 1995), and Dance Me Outside (McDonald, 1994) , to contemporary content, in order to successfully understand and analyze the various representations of Canadian culture consumed by society. The definition of Canadian-ness must include these representations, as they are auteuristic attempts at expressing the confusion and dissolution found within Canadian identities. Through the analysis of the content presented in the labs of this course, we have viewed the evolution of Canadian representations, and as a result can draw conclusions from the faulty and standardized messages found within Canadian media. Moore was simply mocking the relationship between Canada and the United States, but in doing so, popularized stereotypes of Canadian identity, from canoes, to accents, etc. leaving the idea of Canadian identity in international minds as a parody, and a country whom attempts to be American, in various realms of industry. Other representations, including McDonald’s are an outcry at this permanent concept of “Canadians”, by exemplifying the native heritage, proving the art in Canadian cinema, and using the Canadian landscape to express our confusion and dissatisfaction with American pressures.

Symbolism and imagery, as studied by Berger, are deeply engrained into peoples’ minds due to the passive meaning and docile digestion consumed daily by the ideologies present in our everyday. Symbols acquire meaning through appropriation and statement of their roles. Canada is a country unprotected by the powers of symbolism, as American media will be continuously representing these objects as Canadian, because American media dominates the global world. Our nature is romanticized, such as our landscapes being shown as vast, cold, and desolate,  and our bodies of water exemplified as rapid, wild, and subject to danger. Our cultural artifacts from history are mocked due to the strong presence of normative artifacts presented in American media, i.e: the canoe is seen as an outdated, native form of water transportation, often depicted in museums, as “rare”, “art work”, and “valuable” due to their cultural significance. Canada is defenseless against this constant definition and appropriation of Canadian symbolism, and therefore it is vital for Canadians to move beyond their assumed history, and create new, postmodern, purposeful artifacts that express contemporary Canada and the ideals behind it.

Until next time.

x

(all images by Laura-Lynn Petrick, Copyright 2010)

Canadians in a society of America

“Inside every Canadian, whether she or he knows it or not, there is, in fact, an American. The magnitude and effect of this American presence in us all varies considerably from person to person, but it is ubiquitous and inescapable.” (John Meisel)

John Meisel states an important concept of looking at Canadian identity, by explicitly acknowledging the deeply intertwined American presence found within Canadian persons. Our course this semester has covered various terrains of Canadian society in an attempt to examine and configure how our identity is constructed with relation to the United State’s strong effect on our country. Mediums of Canadian media often portray this concept by including America as a pressuring force on our industries, that causes standardization and a sheer lack of authenticity. It is difficult for any Canadian to exist autonomously from the American pressures and capitalist ideologies we have grown to incorporate into our lives. Canadian films, especially, often express this difficulty through characters’ experiences with Americanization and attempts at international success.

In Shania: A life in Eight albums (Ciccoritti, 2005), the narrative and experiences of the character known to all as Shania Twain, is a means of reversing this concept. I would like to state that this reversal is only an experimentation, and due to the tight and strict regulations of contemporary Canadian media, has failed in doing so, and is essentially another bio-pic product attempting to express Canadian concerns in a standardized way with apathetic undertones. Through the beginning setting of the small town of Timmins, the film expresses Shania’s hometown upbringing and her connection with native heritage and locality. Most Canadians are aware of Shania Twain’s birthplace, as it is a constructed ideal used to market Shania to mass audiences and connect Canadians with her country-esque pop songs and generally like-able persona. The film details her struggles with family issues, offering sympathy and frustration to the audiences, with frequent scenes of family fights, financial turmoil, and lack of parental guidance. Shania uses familiar Canadian faces such as the new Hollywood celebrity Shenae Grimes (90210, Degrassi, and tabloids), Meredith Henderson, and Reva Timbers to portray Shania, throughout her evolution from a small town songstress to an international popular musician. The film connects Shania to her eventual Americanization by exemplifying her several trials at Nashville with musical success, her cross-listed ease with musicals and dance, and the transitional changes to her image/aesthetic appearance. The song she sings throughout the film, from beginning to end, acts as a form of tying Shania back to her small town roots in which she was an unobstructed, free individual unconcerned with American/international mainstreams. Through the strategies above, this film appears to be intended for a Canadian teenage as well as meant for a simplistic adult audience. I think the film’s use of locality, heritage, and “family” matters, is a mainstream and bias attempt at expressing Shania’s identity in Canadian culture. The film pursues the discourse of connecting Canadians with eachother, but when viewed critically, is a commercial, Television funded corporate vision of uniting Canadians. The film has undertones of standardization, from the “romantic” interests included in the narrative, the stereotypes expressed by Shania’s mother towards native identity, and the passivity Shania eventually portrays, near the end of the film. Shania is yet another classical depiction of a Canadian star, in the sense that it is typical, trying to have local sensibilities, and includes the “small-town” setting, in efforts of connecting its Canadian viewers on a personal level, with an international celebrity.

Until next time,

x

Identity in the Global Village

My first contact with social networking sites came about in the height of the “emo” phenomenon, when myspace was a fluent form of communication for teenagers everywhere. The site was a means of staying connected with those you know, “meeting” those you don’t know, and staying in touch with half-celebrities and infamous personalities. Through the photo albums, formating of your own personal page layouts, listing of friends and various personalization options users were able to construct themselves freely and carefully and promote themselves to others, essentially granting them a platform to become a new person or be viewed as desirable. This phenomenon of a hyperreality, a phony and monitored area to express yourself, created many celebrities that are of the mainstream right now, for example, top forty musicians such as Lady Gaga, Justin Biever, Soulja Boy, and many more “one hit” wonders. Myspace popularity sparked the creation of multiple social networking sites with similar concepts, with one site in particular rising above the others due to its simplicity and seemingly useful purpose, that site is Facebook. This site has hacked into our universal language, you can hear people daily discussing how so and so “wrote on my wall” “adding me as a friend” “deleted me off their friends’ list” “new photo album”, whatever it is, the site has blurred the difference between face to face communication and profile to profile communication. Young and old are daily using the website to view people’s personal information, interactions, events, photos, and “mutual friends”, in a passive, nonchalant manner where time seems to fly by, faster than real time.

The complaints surrounding these websites, particularly Facebook is that we are spending too much time communicating online, rather than valuing face to face interaction, press communication, and the transferral of the written word. Peoples’ identities are being constructed through profile photo selections, a simple listing of interests, the “pages” people chose to belong to (i.e: tv shows, celebrities, objects, entertainment, etc.) and their amount of friends on the sites. Although most users consider their time spent on Facebook as a time-killer, something to do in between activities, a way to communicate via messages, and a tool to help stay in touch with one another, I believe the real reason for the rapid increase of users is due to the increased interest in everyday people common in our information society. Whether it’s through texting, internet phones, “BBM” blackberry messenger, Facebook, or twitter…We are constantly thinking of others, who’s friends with who, who’s doing what, where someone lives, etc. we are suddenly addicted to constant connectedness with others. Upon realizing this I chose to use Facebook, and other social networking sites to my advantage, to attract masses of people to my photography and the subjects of my photos, to spur up buzz and a sort of addiction amongst others’ senses which eventually will be my ‘followers’ or ‘fans’, that help me succeed amongst the competition. By carefully constructing “how I look”, my photographic aesthetic, the information I publish, and my subjects’ identities, I have marketed myself and my work as trendy/hip/of the moment, to over 1,000 people on Facebook, not including the various “anonymous” users.  A Facebook user can either become succumbed to the updates and constant uploads of beautiful images, or use the platform to broadcast and self-promote their own updates and images, in order to create a following and an “online” personality that people believe they “know” and begin to recognize. Identity is a tough prospect to discover when you’re constantly digesting and passively viewing images and activity of others. Depending on how you use a utility such as Facebook, depends on your identity prior to it’s invention and popularity, and in my case, I have constructed myself as a “party” “lifestyle” “subcultural” photographer deeply immersed in the underground scene of Toronto hipsters. My identity online is far from reality, as I am a small-town, photography nerd, living in St. Catharine’s most of the time, attending Brock university, unattached to the values and morals presented by my various online platforms. Construction of identity is false in the realm of the internet, as you can carefully and purposely select or delete specific things posted online, in order to maintain a consistency and remain attractive and appealing to whichever markets.

The implications of this connectedness, this constant expression of people’s activities, conversations, and multimedia is making our society unsatisfied. We are constantly longing for perfection, especially in terms of social interactions, as we expect these users/personalities to live up to whatever false expectations we invested in them while we viewed or communicated with them online. Not dubbing social networking and the increased state of the Global Village as not beneficial, but suggesting that the immediate access to others’ information and private lives has decreased the honesty and comfort found in friendships and relationships. It is impossible to view which people are looking at what, because anyone can view anything anonymously, essentially making many people of current society paranoid, while strangers peer into peoples’ personal lives and communications. Information is instantaneous, we can connect with people globally through a mere email address or internet connection, and view how they live and interact with others. If anything, this global exchange of communication and information is contributing to the invisibility of Canadian identity as Canadians are consciously participating in the mass mediation of the internet, communicating with people out of their national territory, and consuming other country’s cultural surroundings and products more frequently, then prior to the rise of the internet. Canadians are becoming increasingly dissatisfied as they view other country’s through a carefully constructed profile/imagery, developing desire and hope, especially amongst youth, to move away from their nation and participate in what they view as “success” or “the ideal life” elsewhere. The presence of individuals on Facebook, serve as national representations/stereotypes of that particular region, creating falsehoods and incorrect ideologies for participating nations. Identity is consciously constructed on Facebook, and the importance of an online identity has increased in the realm of the world wide web, creating many Canadians and individuals from other nations to seize the opportunity and be “someone else”, resulting in an online social world of phony representations of reality.

Until next time

x.

Knowing your Culture & Platinum (McDonald, 1997)

Bruce McDonald is a Canadian auteur filmmaker whom I am more familiar with than I would have ever predicted to be. I have seen almost all of his films unwillingly, ranging from his early nineties films to more contemporary genre films such as Pontypool (2007) and The Tracey Fragments (2008), and after copious research and viewings have come to respect him as a contributor to the realm of Canadian entertainment. His films vary in style and content, tremendously, often dealing in some way with contemporary Canadian issues, and thus proving his centrality and creativity in the world of cinema. His films present aspects of our country’s identity usually involving popular culture and location as a key factors in his films narratives, using unfamiliar actors and local settings. Platinum (1997) is a midpoint in his development as a film auteur, as he is exploring the relationship between American and Canadian entertainment industry and generally, the arts, in a low key fashion, as it was a made for television film with a funded budget (of 4 million dollars), and marketed to a television savvy audience. When asked about the film being solemnly for the television screen, McDonald said, “TV is good for exposure. There simply is no distribution muscle for Canadian films in this country, no matter what anyone says. The Americans control it.” (Montreal Mirror, 1997). After reading a few interviews with McDonald’s responses to the film’s debut and meaning, I respect his opinion as a filmmaker, and believe he if anyone is honest and realistic in his treatment with Canada and our attachment to the United States. Within the narrative of Platinum, it is explicit to the audience that the Platinum label is a representation of a Canadian record label, meanwhile the other labels are the powerful/successful/offer-giving businesses that capitalize on talent immediately for purposes of popularity and money.

In response to the blog task, I agree with the statement that grants Canadian pop culture as authentic in its treatment of the dangers of borrowing others cultural representations.  As a Canadian citizen belonging to the generation of identity confusion and immersed into the information society, I admit that we as a nation need to recognize our own popular culture, in a more all-encompassing manner. If our nation’s popular culture was made more available to viewers and more financed, (not necessarily to compete with the United States but to gain our nation’s attention to our country’s industrial capability), the viewing nation could witness elements of our popular culture and comprehend and thoughtfully digest our authenticity, rather than/as well as other country’s.  I think Canada is inefficiently learning about the popular culture that goes on here, but due to Hollywood and America’s entertainment industry’s spread of Canadian stereotypes and ideologies most citizens have distorted and Americanized perceptions of their own country. Through promotion and cooperative funded distribution, independent artists with sheer talent and unique local expressions may rise up from the previous failures and misconceptions of Canadian cinema/television/music and help spread their country’s voice to its citizens and global audiences, representing our nation confidently, with out bias or stereotype. McDonald is a filmmaker who was able to rise above the tough extremities of the Canadian film industry, although it took over a decade until he was able to make more privately funded films such as Pontypool (1997) and his newest film featuring the indie rock band the White Stripes, but he is now a respected contributor to the establishment of the Canadian voice in the realm of the video arts. If Canada continues to birth motivated, confident, and stigmatizing artists/filmmakers/actors, etc. that manipulate and mold into the industry, our country will perhaps be granted similar respects as other countries such as France, America and England are in the industries of cinema, music, and television.

Platinum raises issues that have been affecting Canadian culture for decades. The film explores the concept of borrowing sounds from other cultures (i.e: reggae, the blues, punk), which presents problems within the dynamic of the artist and the record label, as they are ill equipped with fresh, non-recycled material, and therefore are viewed as ‘sell outs’ or untalented. In Platinum, through the behind the scenes, personal and private revealing of the struggles and issues within record companies, the audience is able to relate to Canadian artists and understand the troubles and predetermined fates, that most face in the Canadian music industry. After the artists choose the more “Americanized”, powerful company, they realize the importance of belonging to a more local and trustworthy company, referred to as “Platinum”, and are able to develop as artists, their own sounds and control their image and marketing to avoid the standardized and packaged popular musician format. This film essentially functions as a metaphor for Canadian concerns, amongst the entertainment industry, through the employed use of music in popular culture.  One of the most predominant themes of our current society is the prospect of borrowing/capitalizing on other’s ideas/sounds/images, as it is easy to do, guiltless, and ultimately recycling what others have previously succeeded with. Though the business model seems educated and concrete, it is in fact corrupting our culture, as we are a nation borrowing others sounds and fronting them as our own, creating a faulty image and unfair music. Platinum successfully addressed some Canadian concerns through the employment of music throughout the film, the discussion and acknowledgement of originality, and the characters’ choice between an “Americanized” label versus a Canadian, authentic, and respected label.

As with most of McDonald’s films, Platinum looks at Canadian culture optimistically, viewing the country known for an obliterated landscape and outdoor recreation, instead as vibrant, complicated, and authentic to its counterparts.  Through the existence of the record company Platinum in comparison to the Americanized, sell-out, capitalist companies, it becomes explicit that Platinum believes in Canadian-ness, and wants to record the sounds of their own country, and make their musicians successful through rightful means and alternative marketing (than the money hungry companies). The record company aims to strengthen Canadian sounds and support the artists on their journey to success, rather than let them be swallowed up by corporate, impersonal, popular, and standardized,  record labels.

The film’s urban setting of Montreal, a city enriched with heritage, multiculturalism, youth, and the arts, helped with the delivery of the film’s message in relation to these issues. Montreal is a metropolis similar to Toronto and other Canadian capitals, that pride themselves on the arts, success, industry and grand populations. By choosing this setting, the film was able to showcase Canadian culture and musical sounds that are otherwise unfamiliar to the masses, especially sounds that are not “East coast” or “Celtic”, more so a variety and selection of musicalities. Montreal to this day, is producing countless successful and authentic musicians, such as the Arts & Crafts band Stars (http://www.myspace.com/stars), Young Galaxy, and The Dears. Canadian music is continuously being redefined by these alternative, “indie”, “post-rock” sounding musicians whom are using the internet, beautiful collaborations, and the vast scene of alternative subcultures to remain successful and unique in the industry. McDonald was onto something when he chose the film’s setting, as Montreal is now home to much innovation and production of Canadian culture (such as Vice Magazine, Arts & Crafts bands, etc), other than Celine Dion’s vocals and Denys Arcand’s films.

Until next time

x

Canadian Artifacts

As a film photographer in the modern world, I am very observant of the cultural artifacts surrounding my daily experiences. For some reason, when I read this particular blog task my mind blanked, I could not think of any thing that was a Canadian artifact, even with past experiences of working at a First Nations art gallery and living in a small isolated Northern town. If an artifact means “anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creators and users”, then practically any thing Canadian I consume in my daily activities, is a Canadian artifact… After reviewing my options and countless suggestions from friends and family members, I have decided to use 2 Canadian artists as a basis for my analysis, in hopes that one will be appropriate for my final paper.  I chose two photographers, both from the Toronto area, whom shoot solemnly film and both have their own unique and groundbreaking style. These artists have culturally savvy eyes, they view subjects and backgrounds in a refreshing way, often placing themselves in situations in which they can mock and juxtapose the content. Photography is similar to any other art form, in the fact that each artist requires their own specific style and commentary in order to attract audiences and convey their underlying messages. Here they are,

1. Kavin Wong

Kavin Wong is a exhuberant, metropolitan photographer, who was once engulfed in the ‘hipster’ scene of party photography, but has now transformed his work into a commentary on the every day, candid moments, and unadulterated scenery. His photos often contain objects that are overlooked by most people, such as annoying subway advertisements, blowing garbage on the streets, sunlight shining on a person’s cheek, or a friend napping on the couch of their 3rd floor queen street apartment. He documents what he wants to see, which happens to be well-liked by others of his generation and subcultures, with a postmodern apathetic view. In terms of framing Kavin’s work into the context of contemporary Canadian culture, I would examine the social commentary found within his photography style, in order to unravel aspects of Canadian identity and the average lifestyle of a young Canadian in a city (such as Toronto). In order to critically analyze his work as a Canadian artifact, I would refer to the theory of postmodernism, as his work is relevant as an example of Canadian postmodern artwork. Kavin’s style and subjects are intertwined with postmodernism, as they have a sense of cultural pastiche, nostalgia, and juxtapositions. In a capitalist consumer driven society, we have become evolved into a postmodern world in which there is a blur between high culture and popular culture, as a Canadian citizen, Kavin’s work recognizes the blurriness between what is art and what is the everyday.

You can see his work here: www.sharkvsbear.com and here

2. Dimitri Karakostas

Dimitri Karakostas is an independent press maker, website owner/writer, and a ‘flickr’ famous photographer. He runs an online publication called “Blood of the Young” with a couple other southern Ontario photographers/artists. He is one of my personal favourites amongst my generation of photographers, as his subjects are fascinating, he captures unbelievable, emotional, and graphic images. He shoots analogue photographs, with grainy and scratched negatives, and a consistent ‘dirty’ or corrupt tone. His work is expressing the current confusion and chaos found amongst the identities of Canadian youth, as he shoots the young lifestyles of Toronto, Montreal, etc. He juxtaposes every day imagery with nudity, violence,  intoxication, sexualities, and excitement, highlighting the fundamentals of maturation and identity. Through studying concepts on mass culture, the politics of identity, and cultural resistance, I will examine Dimitri’s art as Canadian artifacts. The photographs of Dimitri Karakostas exemplify a fraction of the subcultures in current Canadian society, through documentary-like imagery and careful/candid compositions.

You can see his work here and also here

Currently, after re-reviewing the two photographers and the theories I could study within their work, I am leaning more towards writing about Dimitri Karakostas, as his work exemplifies my beliefs on Canadian identity.

Until next time

x

Awful Pop Punk and the Closing Ceremonies

After much celebration and craziness, amongst Canadians, organizers, sports fans, and participants, and several media reports on the mass partying and exuberant happiness amongst Canadian citizens after our claim to Olympic champions, it was expected that our country would put on a magnificent and enduring closing ceremony for the world…. Unfortunately, our Olympic triumph did not necessarily pull Canada up from its poorly represented and stereotyped identity, if anything, it reinforced it. Many reporters made claims that the three hour ceremony was vulgar, tacky, carefully constructed, ignorant, and condensed Canada’s meaning into a  country of hockey. Our country won 26 medals this Winter Olympics, breaking a record in Olympic history, yet we as a country still feel the need to mock and make satire of our depleting stereotypes by using typical and mainstream Canadian pop artists as performances, national iconography such as the dancing canoes, vocal stylings by mounties (infamous RCMP officers), and large beavers, to name a few. By allowing statements from our Americanized celebrities such as William Shatner, Catherine O’Hara, and Michael J Fox to be broadcast to a worldwide audience in association with Canada, we have reassured our bordering nations that our country doesn’t stretch far from the stereotypes.

As Stuart Hall has proved, in his discourse “Encoding/Decoding” (1973),  the audience of media is not a passive recipient of meaning, more so an active member in the conveyance of media communications. In the case of the Olympic closing ceremonies, within minutes of the ceremonies broadcast, people online everywhere were criticizing the choices of music, the representation of Canada, and the underlying messages found within. Some of the criticisms included “Avril? Simple Plan? Canada makes better music than this shit” and “Okay, we won hockey this year, this doesn’t mean we as a country are ‘hockey’..” among many others. After viewing the ceremonies with a critical eye and keeping Hall’s theories in mind, I believe that the encoder wanted to present Canada as a powerful and proud nation filled with opportunity, support, multiculturalism, and natural beauty. The encoder was well aware that this ceremony would receive attention from millions of viewers worldwide, and thus, carefully constructed the way Canada spoke of itself and presented its country, within the specific hours of the broadcast. Sparing zero of the many myths Canada has obtained, and essentially framing the ceremony’s humour around satire of our country, this ceremony was meant to uplift Canadians, but for the most part boxed Canadians into the very same package we seem to always be known for. That package, containing a small percentage of the media’s celebrities, epic landscapes, saying “eh”, Native imagery i.e: inukshuks and canoes, ‘free’ health care, and massive hockey culture.

Hall discusses the missing link between the production of meaning and the receiver of the message, announcing that the messages produced through media are often attempting to be “culturally specific” but instead are standardized and simplified versions of our realities, misunderstood by audiences. Our culture seemed to be ripped off and sold to the audience during these ceremonies. An example of this is Michael Buble’s performance, singing the Maple Leaf Forever song, a Canadian song of celebration, with scantily dressed women dancing in altered RCMP uniforms around him. The concept of this performance may have seemed appropriate by the encoder, as a satirical and clever Canadian performance, but it failed, there was a “lack of fit” between the production of the message and the moment of its reception (Hall, 1973), as the recipients perceived this performance to be-little Canada and mock our very talents in a stereotypical and tacky fashion.

The Olympic Closing Ceremonies were not entirely horrible, apart from the massive failures exemplified above. The CEO of the Winter Games made an excellent, empowering speech, stating that Canada is now “more united, more connected with eachother, and more proud than ever before”. The speech was proud and confident, it granted Canada a sense of ease and arrogance for their country’s accomplishment. He described the reaction to the Olympic games as “the most beautiful kind of patriotism”, which I believe sums up the country’s celebration and participation in the 2010 Winter Games, and concludes the way in which we as Canadian citizens should view the historical moment. Although the encoding and decoding were missing links and the ceremony was detrimental to our nation’s identity, the Olympics were a massive accomplishment for Canada and marked an uprising amongst many competitive and corporate nations.

“Now you know us, eh?” – Furlong, leader of the Vancouver Games organizing committee.

Dance Me Outside (McDonald, 1995)

Bruce McDonald is a Canadian filmmaker most famous for films Highway 61 (1991), mockumentary Hardcore Logo (1996), and more recently a film with Ellen Paige, The Tracey Fragments (2007). His films include elements of realism, unique soundtracks, often use the structure of the “road film”, i.e : Easy Rider (Hopper, 1969) in which his characters find themselves on a journey of trials and tribulations amongst their nation’s landscape. After studying one of his films for my Canadian cinema course, I discovered that Bruce once shared with a press conference his idea to spend all of his award money (that he received for Roadkill) on a big brick of hash for everyone. This statement and his use of particular cinematic styles has led me to believe that McDonald is a strong and empowering artistic voice of Canadian culture.

Dance Me Outside (McDonald, 1995) definitely exemplifies McDonald’s knowledge and understanding of Canadian identities, specifically, native Canadians and their different lifestyles on reserves. Through popular Canadian iconography such as desolate highways, truck driving, coniferous filled forests, totem poles,  log cabins, and vast wilderness, McDonald clearly presents Canada to an unknowing audience. This film centers on the lives of youth and families of a Canadian Native reserve in Northern Ontario and the problems they face as teenagers with relationships and conflicts and the prejudice they receive in modern Canada. McDonald’s film tackles issues such as youth’s relationships with the opposite sex, indulgences in alcohol, family expectations, injustice amongst the court, and the ignorance of stereotypes. The film’s cast is refreshing, with many neophyte Native actors and actresses playing strong and non-stereotypical roles, all of which are confident, talented, and groundbreaking in their efforts. The cultural tensions in this film appear to be between several generations and races, primarily between the older more traditional natives such as Illiana’s mother with hopes of her daughter having children by now, and Illiana and her husband Robert, a white Toronto lawyer, whom are career focused and ill affected by the traditional pressures of marriage. As well as specific cultural tensions, there is tension between the white man and the native man, due to different and contrasting lifestyles, and the consistent oppression and prejudice the native people have experienced over the decades, as long ago as Confederation in 1867. The young characters in this film perceive these issues more childishly  and exaggerated due to their upbringing and poor experiences with white people during their lives on the reserve. For example, the scene in which Silas and Frank brutally destroy a classy vehicle parked outside a community conference, they do so with great hate, passion, and pride for their race, until they realize it was not a white man’s car, but their very own Hobart Thunder’s vehicle. The film is engulfed by one of the main issues surfacing native Canadians, the struggle to keep their way of life, such as  religious practices, adorning the land, appreciation for family, and tight knitting of communities. The images in this film are representative of the reserves, in my opinion, as I come from a father whom has a business/friendly relationship with several reserves in Northern Ontario and often meeting several of their chiefs, seeing countless fishing photographs and hearing of many building renovations. My father enjoyed the reserve way of life and often spends several months up north helping and working for these communities, through heating, electric work, contracting, technology updates, and connecting them with Thunder Bay contacts (to help them with maintaining their community). From what I’ve grown up with and consumed in terms of Native reserve imagery and knowledge, this film almost looks identical to what my dad has experienced and talks of, from the vast open rivers, free ranging wild animals, large families, and outdated/small buildings and houses.  McDonald brings audiences into an irregular setting of cinema, that being of wilderness, prejudice, hostility, and traditions, through his use of a Canadian realistic reserve setting, dialogue, representative costuming, multiple narratives, and character development. Dance Me Outside (1995) appeals to Canadians, as it finally justly presents native identity and the daily issues they deal with, with accuracy, from skilled fishing, family dynamics, to youthful resistance and early tobacco use.

Until next time.

x

I Believe: Vancouver Olympics 2010

Centuries and centuries old, the Olympics have become an influential competition to many countries’ identities. Although the means for communicating the havoc and excitement of the competition have changed greatly over time, it is still a genuine invitation to participate and celebrate a global sports competition of the nations. The 2010 Olympic Winter Games were hosted by Vancouver, Canada, a coastal city praised for its beautiful landscapes and livableness. With sponsors such as Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Visa, and Hudson’s Bay Company, among many other multi-million corporations, this world event was (and still is..) present in media for many weeks. The Olympics is a time to partake in national pride with your country, spend many afternoons in front of the television without guilt, drink at sports pubs and view their highly hung flat-screens, and small talk about sports’ results with strangers. Judging from the celebration on Sunday, February 28th, the Olympics rewards a country with pride and a patriotic reason to celebrate.

According to Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, the “I Believe” campaign commercials airing on CTV, were a conscious effort to make Canadians fall in love with their athletes before the Winter Olympics even begin. These advertisements are meant to engage Canadians with their team’s athletes, connecting them with their passion, drive, and commitment to sport (according to CTV.ca).  The commercials have simple concepts, meant to be under a minute ‘feature films’ about the athletes, using 35 mm film, the epic soundtrack composer Howard Shore and narrated by actor Donald Sutherland, in order to encompass the viewer into a cinematic experience rather than a drab commercial. The CTV “I Believe” campaign furthermore proves that the Olympics are not just about the sport and the spectacle, it is essentially a month long branding and marketing experiment.  The Winter Games allowed: bars to advertise their Olympic Games airplay on their televisions, clothing companies to produce Olympic themed garments and accessories, restaurants and fast food companies to decorate their product wraps/containers, global stores to overstock country flags, and multi-million corporations to create insightful and memorable advertisements. These commercials may have uplifted the spirits of Canadian television viewers and promoted the Olympics for ultimate viewing,  but they are ultimately using the athletes names’ and talents’, basically branding them, in order to attract consumers and ensure national attention for corporate benefit.

Is it Love or Marketing?

The Believe commercials articulate the importance of home, referring to the location of the games being on Canada’s own soil, and spurring up a sense of national pride and comfort amongst Canadian viewers. These commercials grab the audience in an attempt to get viewers to fall in love with their Olympic athletes, through the captivating cinematography and the inviting soundtrack and narration.

The cinematography is similar to that of an epic film, with a blending of styles found in art cinema, and is especially enhanced due to the crisp quality of the 35 mm film used. In the commercials there are a lot of high angle shots, with the athlete alone with their sport. For example, the Kristina Groves speed skating Believe commercial, Kristina is depicted through most of the ad thru a high angle or long distance shot of her skating fast on an empty and vast rink, thus Kristina is passionate and blissful skating, proving her strong dedication and passion for her Olympic dream. Similarly cinematography is found in the Dominique Maltais snowboarding Believe ad, as well as the figure skater’s Patrick Chan’s Believe ad, and one can assume this is purposeful, as CTV consciously created these commercials to brand the athletes, and in doing so, require sheer consistency in their ads’ aesthetics. The athletes are glamourized and adorned due to the cinematography, as viewers witness the amazing landscapes of Canada and clear passion amongst its athletes, all because of the carefully composed, cinematic shots.

The narration of the commercials invites the viewer to partake in a one minute journey, through an athlete’s perspective, and to come to know their country’s amateur possible medal-winning athletes. With voice over dialogue done by Newfoundland’s own, famous actor Donald Sutherland, the commercial’s soundtrack is enriched with homeliness, as his familiar and calming voice of confidence tells the stories of various amateur Canadian athletes. He boldly announces the successful backgrounds of the athletes, slyly suggesting their great passion and commitment to the Olympic games, insisting the viewers’ to truly “believe” in these people and “believe” in Canada as a sports team, and as a nation. Sutherland’s voice is soothing, easy to listen to, and perfectly paced, to go along smoothly with the enchanting symphony soundtrack. His dialogue describes their dreams, discusses Canadian aspirations, and gives easing confidence to the nation in this massive global sports competition.

The Believe campaign commercials are aesthetically beautiful and attractively designed, and have carefully balanced audio as well as strong and empowering narration. The commercials invite the viewers to participate in an epic story in which they can relate to and feel proud, as a Canadian. Through aesthetics and audio, CTV has managed to engage audiences effectively, and make them feel love and strength for their country’s amateur athletes, ultimately meeting their original goals. The campaign is epic and unlike any thing Canada has ever done, it is genius of our media corporations to use this time of national attention to present Canadians in a technologically advanced way, with strong identity and confidence.  Viewers would be heartless to not fall in love and adore our athletes, as we hear and see their stories and gain respect for our country’s representatives in a global sports competition.

Until next time…

Degrassi: A Canadian Drama

Degrassi Junior High was one of Canada’s first television drama series aimed towards the teenage market. With an educational mandate motivating the show’s narratives, the first strain of the “Degrassi” series was an attempt to capture the essence of the dramatic elements of a teenager lifestyle in the late eighties/early nineties. The show had an explicit narrative structure with a different message/moral attached with each unique episode, centering around issues such as pregnancies, abortions, relationship problems, sexual education, and family issues. In more recent years, with the creation of Degrassi: The Next Generation we see similar issues being presented to youthful audiences, although this television series belongs to a private network of broadcasting it addresses these issues in a more nonchalant, modern, and technologically inclusive style. Youth identity is presented in these shows as a matter of confusion, with most of the characters relying on their peers, reputation, behavior, clothing style, aesthetics, and self-esteem as the primary elements of constructing identity. There is strong emphasis on peer pressure, relationships, social embarrassment in most episodes, as they are factors which effect and manipulate teenage identity. School environments are a hybrid space in which individuals mature, learn, interact, engage, communicate, and engage socially, and in the case of “Degrassi Junior High”, what occurs in these environments is crucial and decremental to a teenage student’s life.

Degrassi Junior High follows the lives of a group of students at a high school, and the hardships/issues they have to deal with as teenagers. This particular series of Degrassi gives much respect and sensitivity to these issues, by presenting these problems as ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’ problems to face while growing up.  The show has a strong sense of realism, with no over-acting (non-professional actors), an actual junior high school setting (a school in Toronto), and the atmosphere of school routine (bells, walking to classes.. etc).  After viewing a few episodes I noticed most deal with cliques, social interactions, sexual health/activity, troubles with school, gossip, and the dynamics of teenage life.  Mind you, due to the show being two decades old, the topics of the show are more censored than they would be in modern television, such as the kids of Degrassi Junior High refer to having sex as “She ‘does’ it” or “He ‘does’ it”, rather than discussing it bluntly.  Degrassi Junior High attempts to break the barrier of confusion and awkwardness between media and youth in their treatment of sexual activity and sexual health, with sensitivity to its audiences and effective realism techniques.

Degrassi the Next Generation is a new strain of the Degrassi television franchise, originally made as a spin-off of Spike’s daughter (a character from Degrassi Junior High), Emma, her social surroundings and her high school life. With the same producers as Degrassi Junior High, the show was marketed as a teenage drama for a “new millenium”, a “new degrassi”, accentuating the importance/dangers of technology (such as email, internet, computers) to the series’ narrative, as well as teen insecurities. The show’s mandate according to their first season’s trailer is to “provide young viewers with a window into their world, their challenges, their joys”… The show has a variety of characters with different personalities, lifestyles, and problems, separating the seniors of the school and the juniors, in order to reach an audience of various young ages.

Degrassi the Next Generation:

Season 1 Episode 1

In the first episode of Degrassi the Next Generation, technology is introduced within the first few shots of the show, as a subject of importance in a teen’s life. The episode opens with Emma and Manny hovering over the computer, reading emails from an anonymous guy, making Emma’s crush for him, obvious, and foreshadowing the danger that will come from talking to strangers online. As this is the first episode of a new generation of the Degrassi franchise, the first few scenes of the episode attempt to re-engage the Junior High fans with the characters, from old photos of Spike and Joey Jeremiah, introductions to the characters all grown up (Snake works at Degrassi now), and a ten year anniversary for the former students (characters) of Degrassi Junior High. This reconnection appeals to the older audiences, while also hinting to the new audiences that this series has a history, and overall starts the new series off well by attracting various audiences.

The opening titles are very wholesome, with montages of students working, walking the halls, socializing, interacting with technology, and participating in choir and cheerleading, while the Degrassi theme song plays, lyrics include “be the best, the best that I can be”…This episode focuses on technology in association with youth. Many shots feature computer screens, cell phone use (i.e: close up shot of Caitlyn’s cell in limo), and the awe/enjoyment Emma and the characters get from using technology, independently. As a regular viewer of Degrassi the Next Generation, I have come to notice that most of the episodes often direct attention towards technology, from cell phones, to cameras, and so forth. To know that internet use was a main part of the narrative in the first episode ensures that this was a conscious decision by the creators of the show, and that this featuring of technology (similar to American television) is an inclusive part of what makes Degrassi the Next Generation.  This episode in particular foreshadows the dangers of teenagers/youth using technology without supervision, with the end shot being a closeup of emma sending a “meet you tomorrow” email to her mystery friend, staring hopeful into the computer screen.

Season 9 Episode 1

Similar to Episode 1 of Season 1, within the first two minutes of this episode the audience is introduced to technology, or for that matter, a new form of it, as we see a female character holding a video camera, mentioning her “video blog”, a new form of do-it-yourself entertainment. The attempt to be “hip” and similar to other teenager dramas is very obvious, as the episode opens with talks of blogging, a rock band playing in the school gym, and tracking shots of the teenagers’ clothing styles. The characters are presented as “cool”, with talks of social status’, dialogue enclosing their connections with popular culture, for example Canada’s Next Top Model. When viewing this episode, I kept in mind the conventions and structures of other popular teenage dramas, the American ones such as The O.C, Gossip Girl, and the new 90210, because I feared that this wholesome Canadian show would by its 9th season be blinded by prime-time American influences. This episode has mainly mature looking characters whom are supposed to be in high school (some look over twenty), which happens to be a common characteristic of American teen dramas, as they often have improper age representation in their casts. There are models, musicians, songwriters, magazine editors, etc. featured in this show, most of them represented as having ‘snobby’, ‘spoiled’, and ‘caddy’ attitudes. The dialogue features quite a bit of “socialite” styled talking, with namedropping and selfish banter. The settings of the episode are similar to that of an O.C episode, beginning from the Social Fashion Party that the model and musician attend, with oysters, champagne, and scantily dressed professionals, to the school dance with indoor hot tubs, extravagant decorations, and lastly the model’s fashion shoot, with green screens, lighting equipment, and a prop car. Over the last few years of watching Degrassi, I have never seen so much attention on aesthetic and so little attention on the realism and truth of the characters’ trials. Judging from the first episode of Season nine, one could assume that Degrassi has joined the other teen drama shows, by using more professional actors, elaborate sets, and attention to aesthetic pleasure. This episode was enriched with stereotypes, such as the ballerina Victoria doing cocaine, the sensitive musician needing a girlfriend, the model finding work immediately and being used for her body/looks, and youth’s use of drugs to relieve emotional pain. This episode was filled with attitude and glamourized the high school experience, by including crystal meth as a ‘casual party drug’, the contemporary fashion-forward styling of the characters, and the overall symbolized roles of the characters. From quotes such as “the Wifi here blows”, direct shots of computer screens on familiar websites, close ups of camera brands, and popular culture induced dialogue, it is quite apparent that Degrassi has morphed into a nearly American-styled drama, since its first season with Emma. It is no longer solemnly an educational and realist styled teen drama, but a privately owned television series enriched with the same sort of ‘garbage’ one can find by flipping through the tv channels. This show now uses its former identity of wholesomeness and educational narratives, in order to sell/advertise to audiences ‘what’s cool’, whether it be cameras or music, and further enforces the drab classic teen drama structure.

Until next time…

Recounting of Canadian History: TV

Popular history is cycled through society via television, and publicly funded corporations. In the instance for Canada, the CBC plays an influential role in shaping Canadian’s perceptions about their country’s history, through various programs, from the Valour and the Horror, to Canada: A People’s History…

What is questionable is the ability of media to transfer facts, without people already interpreting images and making meanings on their own. Tv is problematic as it has a ‘penchant for sound bites and short time slots’ (Sloniowski, 160), for the serious analysis of history. With the combination of images, moving pictures, actors, scenes, settings, and sounds, television absorbs the viewer into an “intense visual spectacle” (Sloniowski, 161), resulting in automatic digestion of material, meaning, the viewer is not critically thinking or actively digesting the ‘history’  or facts being presented. These programs are meant to move the viewer, connect them with veterans, their country, and their habited landscape, with its persuasive techniques. It is ‘presented history’ that invites the viewer to partake in an emotional experience.. of some degree. Critical viewing is almost all together removed due to the branding of these programs being “events that ACTUALLY happened”, claiming each frame as accurate and solemnly truthful, minimizing the possible bias found in these shows. The programs made by Canada’s television companies that involve Canadian History are following the status quo through utilizing American documentary/history program styles, attempting to create a visual spectacle, and romanticizing our history. The efforts made by these programs have in a sense connected Canadians with their history, but due to their explicit borrowing of U.S television styles, are not appreciated or viewed whole-heartedly.

The measuring of Canadian’s knowledge of their country’s history is difficult to interpret, as most provinces contain different education curriculums, program schedueling, and content. I assume that most Canadians know more about American history due to its constant inclusion in popular forms of media, from films like the Patriot and Pearl Harbor, to television shows like America’s Most Wanted and The Simpsons… America’s history can be found daily in forms of media, whether it is being parodied, discussed, or re-appropriated, it is everywhere. Even as a Canadian viewer, I feel engaged with American history when I view these programs and films, due to the spectacle, emotion, and suspension of disbelief found within them. Popular history tends to blind those who consume it, into believing the visual spectacle as what actually happened, rather than as a reenactment or a careful selection of entertaining/exciting elements of history in order to attract education-craving audiences.

I personally, have an awful experience with “Canada: A People’s History”, due to my grade eight teacher’s reliance on the videos in order to ‘teach’ us of Canadian history. Each history lesson she would get the television equipment, put in a VHS of the series, and sit at her desk, with no lesson… basically avoiding the process of engaging us with written information in order to connect with the media shown. As I review these two segments of the series, I will push my angst towards this program to the side, and discuss it in the context of attempting to make our nation’s history popular amongst its citizens and media viewers.

Segment 1:

The segment  from “Canada: A People’s History” entitled “Exiles”, ‘powerful’ reenactments, narration, and ‘real’ characters serve to construct the history of North American slavery into a condensed five minute montage. Without sourcing where the information came from, the media here presents information with ‘oral accounts’ and animated/computerized scenes between the years of 1776- 1783.  Presenting the character “Boston King” as a black slave escaping from America to British Colonies (now known as Canada), and silencing the reality of the horrible gruesomeness involved during this time period. Through emotional connections, accounts from young children, and discussion of the loyalists, Canada is appraised for their role in the refuge of the fleeing slaves. Paintings, written “diaries”, and montages of boat travelling and personal interactions serve as historical evidence for this segment, essentially using forms of individual interpretation of these events as substantial evidence for the facts being presented. “Exiles”  blinds the viewer of the lynching, cruelty, and racism that was going on at this time, by avoiding the subject matter all together, and instead offers a brief, condensed recollection of this historic time period. This seems to be an estranged, middle-class, historically ignorant view of this part of Canadian history, that uses actors, editing techniques, and attempts at authenticity to connect viewers with their country’s role in the past.

Here is the youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uojnLTZtx4&feature=related

In this reviewed segment, entitled “Canada: A People’s History” the episode of “When the World Began”, the accentuated narrator of this series ‘enlightens’ the viewers of the settlement of North America, 20,000 or so years ago. With vivid reenactments, images of maps and travels, and symbolism such as fire, death, and water, this segment attempts to construct the vision of Canada’s origins and settlers, so that it sticks with the viewer. Although the segment runs for less then seven minutes, it manages to detail the ways of life of the aboriginal people, including their religious practices (putting a body to rest by a fire), constant exploration of land, and skillful use of natural resources such as fire, fur, wood, animal meat, etc. This brief segment of ‘history’ standardizes the whole complicated events and conflicting societies that occurred during the gradual settlement of North America, by using imagery of aboriginals, early fur trade, and vast landscapes. As the lecture notes stated, the construction of history in media often ‘reinforces cultural symbols’, and in this case, strong Canadian imagery is attached to the story of the exploration and settlement of North America. Viewers may feel a sense of national pride, due to this imagery and optimistic representation, as theorists/the lecture notes previously stated in association with history in popular culture. With the soundtrack being  an emotional, sort of symphony, and the narrator promoting the aspect of  ’collective memory’ (in which the producers and audience of a narrative identify the story as being about some “we” in which they are a part of), I could see how this television segment would be viewed as a point of national pride and solemnly truthful, and therefore be consumed as actuality, rather than entertainment in the form of a documentary style. This segment of “Canada: A People’s History” is a blatant attempt at reinforcing Canadian imagery and national pride, through the presence of obliterated landscapes, first nations (actors), caribou/deer/other wild animals, discussing the north, the exemplified use of natural resources, the emphasis on travelling/walking through the land, and the imagery of fur, lakes, and forest. The reenactments of “When the world began” seems to romanticize the tough, strenuous activity involved in the settlement of North America, and avoids/silences the future mistreatment of Canada’s first nations.

Here is the youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNBOsFj_Zr8&feature=related

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