Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Vasteele Most people I talk to wants absolutely nothing to do with U.S style politics. We don't want a politically Americanized Canada. That would be Hell on earth for us.
YouTube was around when I was a teen. It debuted when I was 15-16 and I watched it all the time. Starbucks? We've had that in Canada for years yet it never really gained the much traction here in Ontario over Tim Horton's (in B.C, especially Vancouver it's another story). Miley Cyrus? When I was a teen we had all kinds of American celebrities that our eyes and ears were glued to. Lots of rappers like 50 cent, ja rule and eminem and celebrities like Paris Hilton ect. Were very popular in Canada.
Canada was always bombarded with US media we were never sealed off.
And what evidence do you have of Canadian speech changing? I don't hear people talking any different than they did ten years ago. I still hear teens saying "eh" and other stuff. I hear no American pronunciations like "sarry" (sorry) or "tamarrow" - we still don't flatten our vowels like that and probably never will.
To be fair, it's sort of unavoidable since Canada has only about 1/8 of America's population. Though I guess they could balance it by watching more Asian and British shows or listening to more Korean and Japanese music.
Or how about producing more of their own TV shows and movies, and actually paying attention to them? What a concept!
Vasteele Most people I talk to wants absolutely nothing to do with U.S style politics. We don't want a politically Americanized Canada. That would be Hell on earth for us.
.
Such changes can happen subtly and by osmosis without people even noticing it.
Or how about producing more of their own TV shows and movies, and actually paying attention to them? What a concept!
To be fair Canada has a lot of good shows. I loved Degrassi Next Generation as a teen and Trailer Park Boys is hilarious. So many movies are filmed in BC and Toronto, but made by Americans. They should start putting more Canadian talent in there.
Though actually, a lot of ostensibly American movies actually do have a lot of Canadians working on them, so whether they're American or Canadian movies is debatable.
Obviously as has been stated globalization and Americanization pose a greater challenge for Canada (and especially Anglo-Canada) where things are more acute because of the proximity and shared language.
On the other hand, it's often said that (Anglo-)Canada is too small to have full entertainment and cultural industries with all the trappings. But that's not true at all. If you take out French Canada (which already has all of that BTW), Anglo-Canada still has more than 25 million people which is plenty big enough for any type of cultural industry to take root. Provided the people take an interest in it and support it.
And what evidence do you have of Canadian speech changing? I don't hear people talking any different than they did ten years ago. I still hear teens saying "eh" and other stuff. I hear no American pronunciations like "sarry" (sorry) or "tamarrow" - we still don't flatten our vowels like that and probably never will.
It's true that "sarry" and "tamarrow" haven't taken off in Canada, I just notice younger Canadians just don't sound nearly as obviously Canadian as older ones. I wouldn't be surprised if the children of Canadians born after 1985/1990 do start flattening their vowels in an American fashion. Internet spellcheckers often show the Canadian spellings as wrong too.
Oh, yes, separatist sentiment can be very strong in the West. I learned that being a part of my ex-husband's family. My former BIL, who's lived in BC his entire life and who has little interest in travelling east of Calgary, is a staunch western separatist. He often proudly says, "if any province can separate, BC can!"
IMO, though, you guys are getting yourselves upset for no reason. Quebec will not separate, at least not in our lifetimes. I'll believe it when I see it, I'll put it that way (not that I want to see it happen).
Two points of contention with this:
Firstly, who is upset? I think the discussion is centered around our distinct culture or lack thereof with non-Canadians presuming we do not have one due to American influence and Canadians insisting we do, in spite of American influence. I'm certainly not upset as my youth would have been substantially lacking had I not Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy et-al to entertain.
Friday Night fight night was how I first gained an interest in the sport and later indulged. There have been any number of positive things American culture has fostered within Canada.
Secondly; Quebec separation is as possible as the next basis for a referendum, be it perceived lack of respect due to some political fracas or something really important, such as the supposed invasion of English culture from the ROC while ignoring that very thing from the U.S. and world at large.
To be fair Canada has a lot of good shows. I loved Degrassi Next Generation as a teen and Trailer Park Boys is hilarious. So many movies are filmed in BC and Toronto, but made by Americans. They should start putting more Canadian talent in there.
Though actually, a lot of ostensibly American movies actually do have a lot of Canadians working on them, so whether they're American or Canadian movies is debatable.
Regardless of how many people from other countries work there, Hollywood has never claimed to be anything but the national entertainment industry of the United States of America.
I don't see why we should make a logic leap and claim partial ownership of it simply so Canada can check off some hypothetical and dubious "pride" box.
It's true that "sarry" and "tamarrow" haven't taken off in Canada, I just notice younger Canadians just don't sound nearly as obviously Canadian as older ones. I wouldn't be surprised if the children of Canadians born after 1985/1990 do start flattening their vowels in an American fashion. Internet spellcheckers often show the Canadian spellings as wrong too.
Canadian spelling is not "wrong". I'm a bit offended by your comments. It's almost like you would enjoy to see all Canadian culture obliterated and for us to become 100% like west coast Americans.
Young Canadians don't sound less Canadian, they just haven't grown into their accent yet. Your accent changes as you get older and live in a place longer. As I told you from age 13-19 I used to copy the valley girl style of speech but I let go of that as I grew older and now speak like any other Canadian from my region.
Or how about producing more of their own TV shows and movies, and actually paying attention to them? What a concept!
The problem lies within there not being a perceived problem by the majority. Put otherwise: the bulk of us are content.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
