Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Three Different Views Of North American Culture


With last night's watch party, I hope that I didn't offend anyone by my selection of movies, which I'll remind you were (in this order): Canadian Bacon, Monsters and Independence Day.


Now, at first examination, it might seem that these choices were adhoc, impromptu attempts to exploit a political and economic situation brewing in North America, but I can assure these choices were anything but, and the irony of it all is that each film represents a sort of mirror reflection of each of the three nations that make up North America, and their relationships with their neighbours.


Why I Chose Canadian Bacon

Canadian Bacon, perhaps the oldest film of the three, was written and directed by Michael Moore, a man who has used the power of cinema to startling effect, although in this simple political Canadian cultural caricature comedy, it mostly plays with tropes that were clichés about Canadian culture, after the post hoser era of Canadian culture, ie Bob and Doug McKenzie, characters performed by comedic performers Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, who like John Candy, were SCTV alumni. The Red Green Show is another example of comedic writing and performance creating a very funny caricature of Canadian culture.

That Canada of yesteryear is how a lot of people approaching their retirement age still remember Canada, with clichés about Canadian culture that make it a sort of recognizable global brand. Something to laugh at, without sacrificing our dignity or integrity in the process. At least not too much.

The Canada of now is a much different Canada, seeing itself somewhere between that nostalgic Canada with its stigmatic clichés identifying Canadians with dog sleds, and beer and coffee drinking hosers who hang out at coffee shops all day and the more modern Canadian, who are a variety of well adapted modern professionals, who generally have two different cliques, the stick with your own circle clique, and the worldly globe traveling culture exploring Canadians, who've given up that stick with your own boundary, or at the very least, expanded it to encompass the borders of our country, rather than the cliquiness of our own.

The reason why I picked Canadian Bacon, was because it is a caricature that seeks to give Canada an identity based upon the sometimes close to home and far fetched clichés presented in the movie and from other sources like Bob and Doug McKenzie. We're at that point of graduating from this previous, laugh at ourselves or have a laugh at our expense version of Canadian identity, heading into whatever the future holds, that to people who grew up in that previous era, will not be that easy to identify about what makes us Canadian in terms of a social identity more so than one based solely upon our borders.

The reason that Trump's remark about Canada being the 51st state had such a reaction, is because as our economies become so interconnected, so do our cultures and identity. Canada, despite having a distinct identity that most often can't be explained, it must merely be lived to understand, has often struggled between a variety of competing aspects of Canadian identity, when in fact, we're not any one of them, but all of them at the same time, and that is what makes Canada, Canada, and not the 51st state of the United States.

So my choosing Canadian Bacon was more about the graduation of Canada from branding its own identity with such clichés, to an encompassing identity that includes that past identity, and what the current and future generations bring to the table, when distinguishing ourselves from our neighbours south of the border, which I think was the point that Michael Moore was trying to elicit in the film, despite its whimsical plot and low budget.

The film doesn't touch upon Canada's modern technical, commercial or industrial capabilities, as when it comes to those aspects of Canada's economy, Canada is a powerhouse and global player in those matters. Canada produced some of the first companies to build quantum computers, and much of the modern quantum computing infrastructure is based upon this early work which occurred in Canada. Sometimes, we're tripping over that identity of the hoser hat and two-four toting cliché of yesteryear, when in fact the modern Canada is a technical leader. 

After all, the majority of Aerospace Engineers that started the first version of NASA, the one tasked with landing on the moon, were former Avro Aerospace Engineers from Canada and Britain, in the aftermath of the cancelling of the Avro Arrow program and the closing of the company. Canadian Engineers made the moon landing possible.


Why I Chose Monsters

Monsters is a tale of two Mexicos, as Mexico has long had this aspect of that which is in the light, and that which is hidden in the darkness. The light in this case is the geopolitical Mexico, with its Federal Republic government and representatives, an army of officials the entire country over. An infrastructure including first responders, health care workers and a sizeable and capable military. 

All of these aspects that are part of most countries around the world, keeping itself distant from the harm caused by the impression of decades earlier, which painted Mexico as a third-world country in North America. A stigma that Mexico has fought long and hard to rid itself of, considering that it is one of the fastest growing modern economies in the world. This is the Mexico of light. What the world reads about in the news, and press releases and diplomatic bulletins.

There is however, also the Mexico of the darkness. The hidden part about which every is aware, but for obvious reasons, is seldom spoken about, as if speaking of it will bring it to bear upon you, in much the same way that socially, we're programmed not to complain for the same reasons. You'll make it happen if you complain about it because complaining is a counter-productive process, not to be confused with protest, which is supposed to be a productive process, by confronting issues rather than averting them. However, sometimes both protest and certainly complaining are ineffective in complex situations like the one depicted in Monsters.

So this darkness remains, and is a commonly avoided topic and understandably so. I mean if you're enjoying the wonderful tourism industry Mexico has to offer, why focus on this darkness, when you can enjoy the light?

That's essentially what is being represented in the movie Monsters, and why I chose it. Because these two people, the daughter of a wealthy publisher, and a journalist who has been hired to help her escape, must navigate their way safely away from the danger zone (where the monsters inhabit) and to the safe zone, where there is safety and public order.

There is very little discussion about monsters in this movie, and they seldom make an appearance, because this movie is about exactly what I explained. Its two people trying to make their way through this danger zone (the anarchic and lawless danger zone) and to safety, dealing with people who are aware of what they can't talk about, but exploit it, using it to exploit these two people trying to escape.

There's the Mexican infrastructure who are doing their best despite this hidden threat of monsters in the movie, spreading throughout the country, a lot of people dealing with it, but nobody talking about it ever, lest the monsters be attracted by such talk.

Meanwhile, the two protagonists are navigating perils that most often come in the form of other people looking to exploit them and their situation for a fast buck. This isn't necessarily the real life Mexico, but this metaphor certainly does stand with regard to the underground, as it does in any society, and when the two big players in such a dichotomy are coming close to being at war with one another, it is very dangerous for anyone caught in the middle, to show favour to either side. Almost certainly, either side is capable of exploiting those caught in the middle.

Most such people have nothing to do with those aspects at all, and they just want to live their life, earn a living, pay their taxes, have health care, schools and roads, raise children and retire one day. To speak of the monsters on either extreme, is to invite them to wreak havoc upon your life.

The Mexico of today is poised to reap the benefit of its years of difficult work overcoming the stigmatic labels leveled at it, while there is this aspect hidden in the darkness (as there is in every society) that it must avert to move forward in the global economy, while working with its neighbours to address these unspeakable concerns.


Why I chose Independence Day

Independence Day: the embattled America, securing itself as a fortress against the masses seeking to destroy it and that for which it stands. This is a trope that is played out in film again and again, and one that is and has been a resounding inspiration for Americans in every era since the first motion pictures back in the early 1900s.

This is the ideal America, and often how it sees itself in the world. Its a sort of vanity mirror, that America needs to take a look at every once in a while, to hide its wrinkles and tighten its belt and to convince itself that its values are still relevant in this very different world of today.

There is no ambiguity about right and wrong in this film as it is all very clear cut from the beginning. The aliens are very bad, murderously destructive and hell bent on destroying human civilization, certainly pushing us to extinction.

America, because it has recovered a crashed UAV in Roswell in the late 1940s, becomes the only hope of humanity, when a cable television technician uncovers the signal used to synchronize the aliens' attack. Of course, this becomes a symbol of America's ingenuity in the final hour, which it uses to turn the tide of battle, while quickly taking its role as the world leader amongst the battle ravaged nations of the world.

The trade war was likely brought to its head, because of this feeling of embattlement that America has, against rivals like China and Russia, while finding that the world isn't the same as it used to be, in terms of spheres of influency: the Communists versus the Capitalists. Red versus blue.

The world and the nations thereof have formed complex allegiances that defy these ideas of the cold war, where people still deal with one another regardless of their geopolitical differences, if not stoked occasionally by those members of the press who still seek to polarize. By and far, objective neutrality is becoming a common denominator in the press, but there are still those who seek to polarize.

The America of yesteryear, much like the Canada of yesteryear, is very different than the America of now, but it still clings to this reassuring vanity mirror from ages ago, and that's because its still trying to find and define its modern self and role in this new world. A world in which no matter how good you deem yourself to be, chances are you're the bad guy in someone else's story.

So, I chose Independence Day, because this is definitely what America wants to be, and how it sees itself, despite the scars it has gained over the last quarter century trying to find its place in this modern world, all while protecting itself and its citizens.

Embattled, perhaps even exploited and taken advantage of over that time, and having difficulty deeming who its friends are, and who are its enemies. Synchronicity is the study of what occurs at interpersonal scales that actually mirrors what occurs at geopolitical scales, a person being a metaphor for a country, maybe. In this day and age, there are those of us who are similarly embattled, and unable to distinguish between enemies and friends, and mostly because some have chosen to redefine the scales that define our animosity for others versus our compassion. This is occurring at the scale of people, the scale of provinces and states, and at the scale of nations.

When America looks in that vanity mirror that is Independence Day, it finds a version of itself from which to begin again, but as they have recently, it definitely feels the need to sort out its allies from its enemies. That's why I chose Independence Day. There's the noble but embattled America (Independence Day), and there's the cornered animal America, viciously biting at anyone who gets too close, because it cannot tell its enemies from its friends and because aspects of what remains hidden in both their neighbours, have suddenly become a growing issue whose time soon may be coming.


Hopefully, all three countries of North America will be able to work together towards a common future and prosperity, and be able to stand on their own rather than isolating other emergent economies and technological powers from their own, for we learn from each other. That certainly being the resounding message of the recent DeekSeek release. 

Our progress isn't mutually exclusive. Its interwoven with that of each other, whether we like it or not.


Perhaps my motives may have seemed innocuous or light hearted, but in fact there was a madness to my method, and hopefully with your reading this editorial, that has become clear. Even more so, if you're from the Canada or the United States Of America, or Mexico, you've gained a little introspection that might help us to resolve these aspects before the clock runs out keeping us from a tariff and trade war.


I won't be writing any additional chapters today, and will most likely be working in Unreal Engine or something else equivalent. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be back to writing Episode 13 of Two Butterflies, or Unfinished Bee's Wax, which is going to be a sizeable project overall.


Again, I won't put up with identity thieves, seeing as our right to identity is a fundamental right that is protected under our right to life.


Regardless, I'll see you again tomorrow.

Have a good evening.


I am Brian Joseph Johns and this is Shhhh! Digital Media at https://www.shhhhdigital.com or https://www.shhhhdigital.ca in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701.

This content is entirely produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701 under the Shhhh! Digital Media banner.



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