It’s not really an unfriendly relationship at all, but there was a big division in terms of the war. Canada wasn’t giving draft dodgers back, and that was an irritant for the U.S.
New CBC drama loo ks at Americ ans co min g to Canada to dodge vietnam
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And where there’s smoke and fire and jungle warfare, there’s often a depic
tion of the Vietnam War, with the inevitable Creedence Clearwater Revival soundtrack.
The new CBC drama Fortunate Son makes the connection immediately, taking its title from CCR’S seething 1969 protest song. The show is set a year earlier in British Columbia, and follows an American family that helps war deserters and draft dodgers find solace amid social and political chaos. What they don’t know is that a CIA spy lurks in their midst.
The series’ showrunners are acutely aware that the cultural upheaval of the 1960s resembles the cultural upheaval of now, minus the hashtags and memes and viral minutiae.
“It’s one of the reasons we’re excited about the show,” says co-executive producer Tom Cox.
“In 1968, the United States was more divided than at any time since the Civil War. And we see those same divisions now — the world is more divided today than at any time since 1968. Many of the same issues of racism, immigration, war, duplicity and trust — or the lack thereof — of the government are with us in ways that we see profoundly in our story. But this is certainly a Canadian story.”
Indeed. Fortunate Son is inspired by the true history of Cox’s family, which helped bring people across the border and was involved political activism during the Vietnam War. Filmed in Calgary, it stars Kari Matchett as Ruby Howard, Rick Roberts as her husband, Kacey Rohl as their daughter and Stephen Moyer as CIA agent Vern Lang.
“It’s a gripping spy drama that’s rooted in family,” says co-executive producer Jordy Randall. “There’s Canada and Vietnam and the big issues, but we boil it down to this place, this family, this moment.”
The action also builds on the relationship between Canada and the United States, uneasy bedfellows whose differences became more pronounced as the war dragged on.
“It’s not really an unfriendly relationship at all, but there was a big division in terms of the war. Canada wasn’t giving draft dodgers back, and that was an irritant for the U. S.,” says creator and showrunner Andrew Wreggitt. “The U. S. would’ve liked Canada to join them, and Canada chose not to because they didn’t believe in it.”
Adds Randall: “It feels like part of our national identity comes at times when we differ in opinion from the United States.”
For Cox, those differences can be a point of pride — especially with issues such as immigration, race and gender currently at the fore.
“Canada is an inclusive country and I think that’s being demonstrated now at time when many countries, the U. S. included, are attempting to exclude certain people,” he says.
“During the Vietnam War, approximately 50,000 people came from the U. S. to Canada and we’re seeing a new influx now as Americans in Canada are attempting to renounce their U. S. citizenship. History is repeating itself. People chose to live in an inclusive country and culture rather than remain in one that is not.”
It feels like part of our national identity comes at times when we differ in opinion from the United States. — Executive producer Jordy Randall