Forget the Oscars, stick to Canada
Unquestionably, the citizens of Penticton appreciate the diligence and competence of James Miller, the valley-wide editor and director of content for the Okanagan Valley Newspaper Group.
His devotion to the region and its stories is invaluable.
But, as someone who grew up in the Okanagan and spent her adult life in other parts of Canada, I feel his CanCon (Canadian content) is sorely lacking; particularly since the country got a dire warning on electronic and cultural colonialism last week from the CBC president Catherine Tait.
Mr. Miller and his colleagues appear to dedicate much of their time to the entertainment south of the border.
For example, his most recent column “Relax, it’s just the Oscars,” (Okanagan
Weekend, Jan. 28) focused on the American Academy Awards; seemingly a favourite topic on everyone’s radar.
Despite the excellent regional and local news coverage, I rarely notice any features on Canadian resident “stars,” and homegrown broadcasting, films and trophies; like the Canadian Screen Awards and formerly, the Geminis and Genies.
Many Canucks — as much as they wear their patriotism on their backpacks — have little inclination to watch this programming. They see it, in my opinion, as second-class, uncool or unimportant. Naturally, people can view what they want though.
In fact, Canadians responded to Ms Tait’s remarks on the colonial nature of Netflix with disdain. To my horror, they clarified and defended their statistical and historical dependence on Super Bowls, Big Bang Theories and flaky Friends and the – from a global perspective – overvalued and overpaid in Hollywood.
Considering the above, I respectfully think Mr. Miller and the Okanagan citizenry are due for a time-out to ponder the following quote. Peter Harcourt, a founder of the Film Studies of Canada, Member of the Order of Canada, teacher, writer and film critic wrote the following in 1977. And it's still as relevant today; as it was then:
“If we...believe in ourselves as Canadians, the American product is the enemy—both in the cinemas and television: not because it is bad in itself (which it obviously isn’t) but because by monopolizing our screens it has colonized our imaginations, offering its product as if it were our own. Without our ever being aware of it, we have been conditioned to respond to the kinesthetic excitements of fast-moving action, to the glamour of stars, and to the overriding mythology of power, of big money, of the glamorous life, that when we don’t find those qualities in our own films, we tend to think of them as inferior.”
Could valley residents see more Canadian entertainment in their news, please.