Saturday, April 16, 2011

Misconceptions

Asides from the cold weather and bi-annual elections, this is something we Canadians need to put up with. I'm curious as to whether other cultures and countries find this as well.

In the two instances where The Simpsons portrayed Canada, they drew from the encyclopedia of cliches. (for the younger readers, and encyclopedia is a collection of books that served as an Internet version 0.5) But that's a cartoon, and it supposed to be ridiculous.

If you caught the last episode of Bones, you may have seen the Canadian forensic podiatrist. True to form, he was mild-mannered and non-confrontational. Now, I am much the same, until I can argue in an academic way among friends, but my wife was nearly crawling through the screen to set those producers straight. There are plenty of Canadians who will pick a fight, and I went to high school with way too many of them.

My least favorite, however would have to be Rodney McKay from Stargate Atlantis. Always sulking and complaining, all with a Canadian flag on his uniform. What really frosts me about this is that the show is produced in Canada.

How about you? Are there national stereotypes that piss you off?

9 comments:

  1. Visiting via A to Z. As an American, I hate national stereotypes, too. Especially when they're true.

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  2. Thanks for the comment Will , those "Asses" were supposed to be horses.

    Yvonne.

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  3. I'm from Jersey, how do you think I feel about stereotypes : )

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  4. I'm Half Mexican. There are some serious stereotypes from that end of the spectrum.

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  5. That Bones ep bothered me also, and I'm from California. It seemed so...just wrong. It screamed cliche.

    I've never been to Canada, but I don't believe you can sum up a country like that.

    As for Rodney McKay, that's the character, not a reflection on Canada. Or at least, that's the way I always saw it.

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  6. Watch out Canada I shall be there in May, is Canada ready for me?( No don't answer that)
    I enjoyed your post as always you have something interesting to write about.

    Enjoy your week-end.
    Yvonne.

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  7. Hate to say it, but really liked Rodney's character on Stargate: Atlantis. Never associated it with Cananda, though. We're Bob & Doug worse?

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  8. Canada - sorry! Busy watching the news after storms tore through our area.

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  9. I do think that some stereotypes can be blown out of proportion. Great post.

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