Okay so I have been assigned by my instructor in Canadian Popular Culture to blog about a certain topic each week. This weeks topic is an introduction and I am to blog about my opinion of the class and to discuss some of the Canadian television series or films that I'm familiar to. I've never blogged before in my life so lets see how this goes.
So I am taking Canadian Popular Culture because I really enjoyed last years Introduction to Popular Culture. It was taught by Dr. Gillespie who is a tough professor but I very much enjoyed the class. This is University after all and it is to be expected that our professors will want things done a certain way.
Looking at the syllabus I see subjects and readings that I assumed we would be discussing like the Aboriginals, the French Canadian division, our connection to America, music and the media. I'm excited to have Stephanie Smith as a TA because she is known as a film TA and I've had her before. I'm unfamiliar with my Instructor Tracy but she seems like a nice, fun, upbeat person. I LOVE how she posted the textbook and all other readings on a class site, saving me probably like $100! Thank you Tracy Kennedy!!
I am also taking this course because I want to be a filmmaker, and although I am Canadian, I think it would be beneficial to take a course that will inform me of unknown facts about my Canadian audience.
Last year I would not be able to tell you of any Canadian films or television series that I have seen before. But after taking a Canadian Film course last term I could tell you one of my favourite Canadian directors that I have seen so far would be Bruce McDonald and his films The Tracey Fragments and Pontypool. His narratives are very interesting and cleaver. Pontypool is about the national language. It's about a radio station set in a small town that has been informed of a virus affecting their city. At the end of the film, it's explained that the virus is caused by a certain word in the English language and in order to avoid the virus, people must speak another language. Being a Canadian film, the language of choice that saves the city at the end of the day is French. This film is sending a message about our bilingual country and the pride associated with the Quebec residences and their language. The radio station is also located in the country which sends the viewer a message about the isolated country of Canada and the wildlife attached to the stereotype. There is also a scene at the beginning of the film where the main character Grant Mazzy is driving to work in the early morning and there is a blizzard outside, which associates Canada to the cold and snowy outdoors.
Another Canadian film I watched in my Canadian Film course would be Littoral which is a Canadian film about multiculturalism. It is about a man of Lebanon descent whose parents have both died and he wishes to bury his recently deceased father in his homeland of Lebanon. When the man gets to Lebanon he is at first-sight greeted with respect, but as soon as he is spoken to in the Lebanon language, he proclaims he is Canadian. By stating he is Canadian it is assumed he does not speak Lebanon and only speaks French of English, and in his case, French. This film portrays our multicultural nation that has no one specific culture but does have two specific languages.
Does that about sum it up? I could go on to explain all the films we watching in class or discussed in class but we'd be here for a while. I think that is good for now.
Until next week - Be Proud Canadians
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