Sometimes I’m reading an article about Cultural
Appropriation or something (e.g., http://www.salon.com/2016/09/26/writers-imagination-vs-cultural-appropriation-in-search-of-common-ground/)
and I think about Canada and Canadian culture.
I know people who won’t read Canadian books just on
principle (I tried to force a Guy Gavriel Kay book on someone once, and after
about a year he conceded, and told me afterward he wished I hadn’t told him GGK
was Canadian because he would have read it sooner). We consider Canadian movies
to be low-budget crap. Orphan Black is so good, we don’t even consider it
Canadian. I once saw George Stromboulopolis say “Americans see someone famous
and say someday I’m going to be that guy. Canadians see someone famous, and
they say Someday I’m going to bring him
down.” Paraphrasing, but that’s the gist.
And now we have a serial killer going around Hollywood
killing people in Canadian ex-pats’ houses. Well, in my imagination, anyway.
Two is a trend, right?
It all means something just on the edge of my consciousness.
If only I was a little bit smarter, I could articulate it.
Like, maybe it’s that this nervous tic people have here (I
can’t say Cdns, because I do it too) where we’re talking about someone who is
generally accepted abroad and we go “He’s Canadian.” It’s like we can’t believe
they’re talented until they’ve achieved international acclaim. We have no faith
in our own judgment.
Maybe what I’m trying to say is we’re ripe for appropriation
up here, I don’t know.