Dance Me Outside - Bruce McDonald

Bruce McDonald has recently made some good films... HOWEVER!!! this film was awful! The movie was boring, and not my cup of tea. McDonald what happened? I guess he was new then so I can forgive him, but honestly.... BRUTAL!

Yes the movie was a good portrayal of Native culture and how they defend their own, but in another way it makes them looks like thugs in a negative way. They want to get back at the white boy who killed one of their own and who only received a 2 year sentence, but they try to kill him with knifes in a bar. Very thug-like. They work in a pack with promotes community but also represents a gang.

And what about the Aboriginal girl with the white fiance? She agrees to her mothers wish and leaves her fiance for a night to have sex and produce a child with another Aboriginal person. That's so inappropriate!! Again it promotes their tight community, but if she is engaged to this white person, then she should be in love and not want to have sex with another man, no matter the race, and no matter the circumstance.

There is clearly a tossup. The film could be seen in a positive and negative way. The group of Aboriginal men defending their community could be seen as heroic or thugs, depending on the culture that views the film. And the Aboriginal girl's choice could be seen as disgusting or loyal to her people. The film's meaning can be manipulated depending on the culture watching.

I wonder if that was McDonald's purpose? I wonder if he planned to have different meanings? If he did, I might enjoy the movie better because its not just a boring film, it has more depth. I enjoy films that make me think and looking at the film from 2 different cultural perspectives the film offers a critical perspective.

McDonald... I forgive you

2010 Canadian Winter Olympics

I'd love to say that I am a devoted viewer of the Olympics but I would be lying to you. Don't get me wrong I take pride in my country, especially during the Olympics, but I always have something better to do. I love being Canadian, especially during the winter Olympics because we are so amazing at all the sports. Hockey is obviously the best part of the Olympics because that is our national sport and we always give the other countries a run for the gold. I love that womans hockey has won like what, the last 3 years of winter Olympics right? I love that! Especially since I am a woman and not only does it give our country pride, but it gives woman pride in our nation.

The advertisements for these winter Olympics are, in my opinion, pretty good but a little over the top. The "Believe" commercials all try to give the stereotypical Canadian feel but make it look magical and the athletes look heroic. The "Believe" commercials are funded by CTV which is the official broadcaster of the Olympics.

CTV wants Canada to take pride in our country and to show the rest of the world how amazing Canada is. CTV wants "Canada to embrace and fall in love with our Olympic heroes". CTV wants Canada to believe in our athletes and take pride in our country.

I watched Jan Judec http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEFmfgXtJ08&fmt=18, Melissa Hollingsworth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b24IZi0lGBI&fmt=18, and Patrick Chan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MU1ICfPULY&fmt=18.

Each "Believe" commercial gives information about the athlete's life and why they are so amazing. These commercials try to make each athlete seem like a hero and that we should fall in love with Canada because they are Canadian athletes that are going to bring home the gold for Canada.

In Jan Judec's commercial, the narrator Donald Sutherland (a Canadian actor), tells the viewer of Judec's rough history and how his family escaped Chezklesavakia in a wooden boat. Judec says in the commercial "if I hadn't of come to Canada I wouldn't of had the same opportunities", giving the view a sense of how much better Canada is then other countries. Sutherland follows by telling the view how devoted Judec is to his athleticism since he trains 8 hours a day, 11 months out of the year. The viewer should take pride in his devotion and love him for being Canadian.

In Melissa Hollingsworth's commercial, it opens with Hollingsworth alone in a dressing room, representing the dedication and the specific mindset she has prepared herself in to win the first Canadian gold medal on Canadian soil. She walks out of the room with a strong and confident strut and Sutherland tells the viewers how dangerous her sport is. Sutherland describes the sport as being one of the fastest sports in the world where Hollingsworth with sled head first down a track of ice going 120km/hr with no steering wheel or brakes. The Canadian viewer should be honored to be Canadian with Hollingworth and have Hollingsworth fight for our gold medal. Hollingsworth is risking her life to be our hero in the Olympics.

In Patrick Chan's commercial, the focus is on his young age. Chan is 18 years old who still attends school. The commercial shows him studying in front of a piano, making him multitalented. Chan is a figure skater that combines athleticism with artistry. The viewer embraces his talents and falls in love with his dedication to the sport while he still goes to school.

All three of these commercials give symbolic imagery of Canadian but not in the stereotypical manner. The commercials want to viewer to take pride in being Canadian so the symbolic imagery is shown in a peaceful and heroic manner. And each athlete is shown as a hero. In Judec's commercial he is shown in the dark with a bright light shining behind him, with Hollingsworth she is shown doing her very dangerous sport, and Chan is shown figure skating one moment and studying the next.

I think these commercials do help Canadians "embrace and fall in love" with their country because they make the athletes look heroic and everyone wants a hero. These commercials are also a great tactic to get the viewer interested in watching the Olympics because they inform the viewer of information about the athletes that is never addressed during the Olympic games. These commercials give the viewer an opportunity to choose a favourite and watch that athlete throughout the Olympic games.

Degrassi

Wow flashbacks to the 80s. I love it! Degrassi Junior High and Degrassi The Next Generation are very similar because they have the same actors playing their same characters, only all grown up. Both episodes we watched in lecture are very similar because they focus on the situations of the original cast. The episode we watched of Degrassi The Next Generation focused a lot on where all the characters had gone after Degrassi High, instead of focusing on the new generation of Degrassi.

The difference between the two shows would be the use of technology. Degrassi The Next Generation (or DNG) was produced in the 90s which was the decade for technology. The computer was invented in the 90s and therefore the new generation of Degrassi is introduced with the technology. Emma, the daughter of Spike who is from the old generation of Degrassi, is introduced to the show during a scene where her friend Manny and her are reading an e-mail from a boy that Emma likes but has never meet. Emma has a relationship with a boy over the computer which is DNG's way of catering to the new generation.

Apparently Degrassi Junior High (or DJH) was funded by an underlying educational mandate and DNG is on a private network. I don't believe this difference in funding makes a difference in content or style because both shows are about teenagers dealing with problems in high school. However I think that the first season of DNG and the 9th season of DNG are completely different and my argument would be different. If I was to compare DJH to DNG season 9 I would argue that the producers are trying to achieve a Hollywood look to their show in order to appeal to the next generation.

DNG season 1 and season 9 are completely different. In season 9 there is a girl at Degrassi that has a child and is a model who just got a job in Paris. This is an obvious example of how the show has now become Americanized. Season 1 would never address these topics because they were inappropriate to discuss or unreal. Season 1 was trying to relate to everyday kids, and season 9 is trying to be entertaining to the new generation. The entertainment that is easily accessible to the new generation is American therefore, in order for a Canadian television show to survive in the entertainment industry, they must conform to the American tone. The Canadian tone is about children or teenagers in real circumstances that all teenagers go through in high school, but the American tone that the new generation of DNG has overtaken is an entertainment factor. Season 9 is addressing situations that some teenagers have gone through but do not apply to most of the teenage population.

Personally I loved DNG when it was fairly new. The first couple of episodes I didn't like because it seemed to cater to the last generation that watched DJH or Degrassi High. DNG focused a lot on the characters of DJH and not on the new characters that I felt I could relate to because we were around the same age. The middle seasons were the best when the main characters of DNG were in high school like me going through the same things as my generation was going through, but now the show has gone down hill. After watching season 9 I feel that the show has become a talent show. One character is a model, another plays music etc. etc. The show no longer relates to normal high school students, and now focuses only on the entertainment factor. I guess this is necessary for the new generation to become interested but I feel the show has lost its realistic factor. I can no longer relate to the show but that could be just because I grew up and I am no longer in high school like the characters in the show.