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Here is a question i've always wondered about. In Canadian video stores, are American movies in the foreign section? and if not, Why? In American video stores, movies made in Canada by Canadian filmmakers are considered foreign films and are located with other international films.
Good question. Based on my experience living in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, for many years, I would answer that in your average video store Canadian movies are more often than not found in the foreign films section (or at least the "repertory" films section). I have noted this to be the case also in places I have visited across the country (outside Quebec)l. Note also that many mainstream video stores in Canada may have relatively few Canadian films in stock, and the smaller ones may actually have none at all.
This "foreign" appellation is not so much a snub to Canadian cinema as it is a reflection of distribution networks: Canadian movies are often marketed by the same distributors that market foreign movies in Canada.
Note that this applies to Canadian films in both English and French. It is commonplace to find English-Canadian films in the foreign section in English-speaking Canada, and Quebec movies are always in the foreign section in this part of the country. Note that the odd low-brow Canadian comedy like Strange Brew or Men With Brooms occasionally may find itself in the general comedy section alongside Hollywood fare.
Here is a question i've always wondered about. In Canadian video stores, are American movies in the foreign section? and if not, Why? In American video stores, movies made in Canada by Canadian filmmakers are considered foreign films and are located with other international films.
Hollywood films have always been mainstream in Canada - it's what has always played in Canadian theatres and has always been the majority of the films available in places like Blockbuster. Seriously, there is little difference between movie theatres in Canada and in the USA. Canadians don't see the USA as a foreign place, as it's not really foreign now, is it?
Canada has a strange relationship with the USA. We don't see the USA as "foreign". When we talk about "foreign" films, we're talking about films from countries outside of North America (excluding Mexico).
Canadian films, depending on the rental shop, will either be placed side by side the Hollywood blockbusters, or they might be in the "independent" section. I have never seen a Canadian film, ever, in the foreign section, with exception to English-subtitled French films from Quebec. Even then, that's quite rare.
The reality is that if all American movies are placed in the "foreign section", then that section will probably consititute 90% of all movies available, which will be weird.
The US, on the other hand, may choose to do so, or not.
I don't know why many people want to argue that Canada and US are pretty much the same "culture". These are two different countries with different political, economic and social systems.
When you say there is little difference between movie theatres in Canada and in the USA, you are actually saying all Canadian theatres are playing American movies, but American threatres hardly play any Canadian movies. Whereas Canadians don't see the USA as a foreign place (many may not agree), I know for a fact that Americans definitely see Canada as a foreign place. When you say Canada has a strange relationship with the USA, it actually means Canada has a heavy reliance on popular culture imported from the US, but not vice versa. It is hard to argue against that.
In sum, Canada and the US don't "share" the same pop cuture or see each other as a non-foreign country. It is more about Canada being Americanized rather than it just happened that they have a lot in common. Such arguement, from what I can see so far, is only for the purpose of evading the awkwardness of explaining the lack of a strong presence of Canadian pop culture in Canada.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robynator
Hollywood films have always been mainstream in Canada - it's what has always played in Canadian theatres and has always been the majority of the films available in places like Blockbuster. Seriously, there is little difference between movie theatres in Canada and in the USA. Canadians don't see the USA as a foreign place, as it's not really foreign now, is it?
Canada has a strange relationship with the USA. We don't see the USA as "foreign". When we talk about "foreign" films, we're talking about films from countries outside of North America (excluding Mexico).
Canadian films, depending on the rental shop, will either be placed side by side the Hollywood blockbusters, or they might be in the "independent" section. I have never seen a Canadian film, ever, in the foreign section, with exception to English-subtitled French films from Quebec. Even then, that's quite rare.
Hollywood films have always been mainstream in Canada -
Hollywood films aren’t just "mainstream" (without the article) in Canada, they are *the* mainstream. Watching the latest Revolution Studios explosion-fest when you’re living in Calgary isn’t much of an exploit or a sign of great cultural openness (even if technically you’re consuming culture from another country.). Naah, if a Calgarian wants to be a real cultural thrill-seeker and go off the beaten path, he’ll watch a movie that was made and set in Calgary. Now that’s being revolutionary!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robynator
I have never seen a Canadian film, ever, in the foreign section, with exception to English-subtitled French films from Quebec. Even then, that's quite rare.
Well, I guess something special may be going on in Vancouver, because I lived in Ottawa for 20-some years in a few different parts of the city and Quebec movies (when video stores had them - not all of them did) were always in the foreign/international section. (Unless you go to a place downtown like Mondo Video which specialized in non-mainstream films - the name kinda gives it away.)
For example, I lived in the east end Ottawa suburb of Orleans, where 25% of the population is actually French-speaking, and you can actually see Quebec across the river from many vistas. But Rogers Video, Jumbo Video, West Coast Video, Another Video Store, Blockbuster... all of them kept Quebec movies in the foreign section. When I lived there I was actually a little embarrassed when a visitor I had from abroad wanted to see a Canadian film, and when we went to the counter of one of them to ask if they had Denys Arcand’s "Jesus of Montreal", the kid looked at us kinda funny, scratched his head, said "Huh? Jesus of Montreal?!? If we do have it, it’s gonna be in the foreign section!" But deep down, I was actually relieved that they did have the movie.
Well, it is not surprising for Quebec.
Hope that happens in English Speaking Canada someday!
So do I, although ultimately I guess it’s not really up to me to decide, and it's really up to them to determine how pervasive/discreet they want their culture to be.
So do I, although ultimately I guess it’s not really up to me to decide, and it's really up to them to determine how pervasive/discreet they want their culture to be.
English Canada is a colony.
1st British in the truest sense of colonialization. Now American by proxy. Fact.
That’s why we're so passive-aggressive as another poster mentioned in the Australia forum.
Interestingly enough, Canada’s minister of culture (the official title is Minister of Canadian Heritage, but this is equivalent to minister of culture in other countries), James Moore, was on Quebec’s most popular talk show (Tout le monde en parle). Mr. Moore is a fairly young man (for a minister) from the Vancouver area. He speaks accented but reasonably fluent French, and did quite well on this front and had a pretty good rapport with the hosts and other guests.
This show is quite irreverent in tone, and often puts guests on the hot seat with pop quizzes. Mr. Moore, as the country's culture minister, was not spared of course and (somewhat predictably) had a Canadian culture quiz thrown at him.
I’ll pass on the other Quebec questions he didn’t get.
On the anglo side he was able to identify comedian Rick Mercer and singer Feist, but he apparently had never even heard of film-maker Atom Egoyan (even with hints and prompts from the host), who is arguably Anglo-Canada’s greatest practitioner of the art of the silver screen.
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