Platinum - Bruce McDonald

So before watching Platinum (1997) I thought, "Oh Dear, another horrible film of McDonald's early years. It better be better then Dance Me Outside", but after watching almost the entire film, I can say "It wasn't that bad". It was WAY better then Dance Me Outside but it is still not as good as his newer films Pontypool (2008) or The Tracey Fragments (2007). Platinum did have some of the same effects (small screen in the screen of what the actor is looking at etc.) as The Tracey Fragments which made it interesting but the way McDonald used them in Platinum was amateur. The Tracey Fragments is a much better developed film and Bruce McDonald's skills have improved ten-fold.

I thought Platinum was useful to watch in class because of it's collaboration between American and Canadian culture. Although both record companies are Canadian, Platinum is supposed to represent the true Canadian label and the other recording company is supposed to be the label that has sold out like the American companies. The film is about a band that has to choose which company to sign with. They originally go with the Americanized record company because they had better sales and the most important feature in a label is their sales record. But after some consideration they go with Platinum because they know that they will be able to make the music they want to make and wont be OWNED by the record company.

So the questions of the week are "What are the implications of knowing and recognizing our own popular culture?"; "How does Platinum function as a metaphor of Canadian concerns by employing familiar codes of popular culture?"; "Does the film suggest to us that Canada actually does have a vibrant popular culture?"; and "How is the urban setting (Montreal) employed in relation to these issues?".

"What are the implications of knowing and recognizing our own popular culture?" - It is important to recognize our own popular culture in order to become our own nation and not depend so much on America and their culture. It's important to know who is Canadian because if we didn't it would be assumed they were American and the more American culture we have in our society, the more they have taken over. Canada needs to be independent and the best way to achieve that is to promote our own popular culture.

"How does Platinum function as a metaphor of Canadian concerns by employing familiar codes of popular culture?" - I kind of already explained this. Platinum is a metaphor of Canadian concerns because Canada is worried society will 'sell-out' and give up to American culture. The band in the film was going to sell out to the bigger record company because they made more sales, but they made more sales because they tried to be American and remix their songs to sound Americanized (if that makes any sense). Canada has a very distinct sound in music and Canada is worried that specific sound will diminish one day because people are greedy with money. Platinum is the Canadian record company who cares about their bands and are not all about the money. Canadians are supposed to be about the passion for music and not money starved Americans.

"Does the film suggest to us that Canada actually does have a vibrant popular culture?" - This film does suggest we have a vibrant popular culture in terms of music. The film focuses on Canadian record labels and musicians which a lot of people are reluctant to know about. The film informs the viewer that Canada is thriving in the music industry and becoming successful. The film is advertising that Canadian labels are not 'money-monsters" and care about their musicians. They want to make sure the musicians sound like they want to.

"How is the urban setting (Montreal) employed in relation to these issues?" - Well the urban setting I guess is giving in to Americanism since Canada consists of only 10% urban cities. When people think of Canada they think of the country which is right to assume since 90% of Canada is forests and open land. When thinking of Canadian music I think of the east coast sound (ex. Great Big Sea) or multi-cultural music like the Bollywood sound etc. If these groups can be successful without the urban city then why do these singers in the film need the urban city to become successful?

This film wasn't so bad, and I kinda wanna know what happens at the end. Not a bad choice of film Kennedy, but Bollywood/Hollywood (2002) might have been a more interesting film to show. Specially since you showed examples of Bollywood music and dancing in lecture. Just a suggestion.