Canadian Popular Culture

What is interesting about Canadian popular culture? What can we find when we look into them? Can we see anything of ourselves as a people? These broad questions may sound like the beginning of a course introduction, and are not completely answerable in one blog post, but I hope that by the end of the various blog posts I have some better understanding of what makes up the whole of Canadian pop culture.

I came into this course because I want to be able to someday be able to work in an entertainment industry of some kind. I have learned over the past few years that this does not necessarily mean "Hollywood", however much that industry wants to monopolize the pop culture of the entire world. And therein is the main reason I took this course, to be able to get a glimpse of what some would call a pipe dream job.

Having said that, my limited exposure to popular culture outside of America is sadly limited, even when it comes to Canada. Nevertheless, I have become a big fan of Canadian comedy, and while even that is siphoned off to the States a good amount of the time, there are two shows in particular that I am fond of: Trailer Park Boys and Kids in the Hall. One of the greatest things about these two shows is how they show the diversity that Canadian comedy (and television and entertainment as a whole even) can have. The former is a satirical look at a heavily backwards community that can be mocked in a snobbish sort of way, but also admired in the sense that they are a bunch of goofballs trapped in a crummy situation (not to suggest that the show ever gets into class discussion or anything of that sort) while the other is a sketch comedy show where a bunch of (smart, talented) goofballs go through a bunch of sketches in a kind of Canadian Monty Python, full of its own unique humour that has made it into the States. Of course, that is a major aspect to note; that both of these shows are notable often for the fact that they have become popular in the U.S. (although I am proud to note that I watched the TPB before that popularity). Again, I think these shows display a good look at the fragmented and diverse Canadian identity, and I hope to be able to discover more in my time in this course.