This just sort of brilliantly hit me so I had to log in and write it down before I lost it to the ether of my stray thoughts. Work deadlines be damned!
No this isn't about how Superman's Metropolis is based on Toronto or a detailed list of all the great comic creators who are Canadian.
What I realized is that comic book fans are like Canadians in that whenever we see comics in another medium we need to tell everyone we know about it, and especially tell them how said media got it wrong. Much like watching American television to see some hoser in a parka sprinkling his conversation with "eh," red serge and some weird pronunciation of the letter "o" means that you have to get disgusted and frustrated by the insult yet tell everyone at work/school the next day anyway is a sign of being a Canadian and seeing how those outside the Canadian community just don't really give a rat's ass about portraying us as anything but a stereotype.
Well, the same thing happens to comic book fans. We tend to go to comic book movies and bitch and moan about everything they got wrong but we'll tell everyone about it anyway. Or if you're watching TV and someone makes a mention of a comic book or superhero you'll feel the need to explain to whoever is in the room with you the history of said book or character. The same thing goes with being Canadian, we all felt the need to tell everyone when Kramer said he only watched Canadian Football, or how Kevin Smith is obsessed with Degrassi and why Degrassi is so definatively Canadian in the same way Beverly Hills 90210 is definatively American.
I don't have much of a point other than there are similarities here, and that really, there is a more predominant media catering to a predominant audience who don't really want to know the history of whatever it is you happen to be/like. But we'll do it anyway.
3 comments:
I just recognized myself. It must be a real pain to sit with me watching Justice League Unlimited as I reveal the villain of the piece seconds before the show does so, etc etc.
Oh well. I guess I'm comfortable with myself.
What's so Canadian about DeGrassi?
The random endings are sort of a Canadian tradition. There's this huge story about someone getting HIV and no moral at the end of it, just two other kids sitting on some stairs talking about something and one goes "oh" roll credits.
More the production values and structure than content or cultural milleiu.
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