Last time I wrote a piece inviting alternate perspectives. But the comments that were posted tended toward simply insisting I was uninformed and a "fool."
Some dismissed my post as just an "opinion" which left me confused because, um, of course it's an opinion! An opinion shaped over decades, having watched thousands of hours of Canadian-made movies and TV shows (from 1919's Back to God's Country to the latest episode of Rookie Blue, English and French), and having read many behind-the-scenes books and interviews -- but still just an opinion. Though I'd quibble with "uninformed" (given, y'know, decades, thousands of hours, etc.).
Filmmakers complain they can't get their productions made, or complain that the public ignores them. Funding agencies face budget cuts and TV networks look for excuses to slash their Canadian programming. Many Canadians have a low opinion of Canadian movies (I know because I see their eyes glaze over when I mention the topic). There are very few people within the biz or without it who don't wish things could -- somehow -- be better.
So my posts are me thinking out loud -- tossing ideas at the wall like spaghetti to see if anything sticks.
But this leads to something I'd been meaning to write for a while (so I'll postpone the piece I had originally intended).
A lot of discussions about Canadian film (and TV) get bogged down because the participants don't appreciate they have different priorities. Most of the people angrily denouncing my previous post didn't actually address the crux of my piece (namely: could fewer-but-more-expensive Canadian movies lead to commercial success?) They had their own focus(es). One furious commentator insisted I had a "tiny brain" for ignoring documentaries.
But are documentaries really the same as scripted dramas?
"Film" and "television" are umbrella terms that refer more to mediums than to content.
Rather than defining things by their medium (where "film" includes fiction, documentaries, experimental) one could equally define them by their content. Narrative-based movies could be aligned with novels, comic books, radio dramas, etc. while documentaries could be lumped with magazine articles and podium lectures. (And, yes, I'm just thinking out loud).
So here's a question: what's the point of Canadian film and TV? (By which I tend to mean scripted narratives)?
There are those who would answer: Shut it down! Salt the earth! (Though even they have differing motives).
But for the rest of us?
Is it about creating jobs? Or is it about a cultural artifact? Is it important that the front-end talent (actors, writer, director) be Canadian? Or simply the behind-the-scenes financing?
Is it important that the public likes the films? The critics? Or simply you and your friends?
Is the goal to make reasonably successful self-supporting films that a reasonable number of people like to watch? Or to make smart, difficult films that need subsidizing by public funds because they don't pander to the public?
Proponents of the latter would dismiss the former by saying: "What's the point of nurturing a unique Canadian film industry if it just makes commercial films?"
The former would counter: "Who defines what's 'smart' and why should Canadians support an industry if its only goal is to pleasure a self-imagined elite?"
Some people define Canadian film by a style and vision.
Years ago writer Margaret Atwood wrote an analysis called Survival in which she suggested that a recurring theme in Canadian literature was a character who struggles and then dies pointlessly. Since then, every time a story (or a film) follows that narrative arc it's seen as a vindication of Atwood's essay. Yet equally it's possible the writers of those subsequent stories modelled their plots on Atwood's description. While those who used a radically different template ("My story is about Captain Claude-D'Arcy Inukshuk aboard the spaceship HMCS Diefenbaker who rescues the planet Mars from space aliens, defends the Charter of Rights, and lives happily ever after") might be told their story was un-Canadian.
That's even ignoring that the biz can be a Boy's Club -- filmmakers with influence direct funding to movies which appeal to their personal tastes. And which has nothing to do with what Canadians do or don't like.
Canada is comprised of 30-plus million people with its roots in every language and culture known to the human race. It was in Canada that the environmental group Greenpeace was founded -- yet Canada is also home to the notorious seal hunt. Canada gave the world Leonard Cohen -- and Justin Bieber. Yet some people seem to feel you must love certain "approved" Canadian filmmakers (Egoyan, Mehta, etc.) in order to be allowed to have an opinion on Canadian film -- even though most Canadians don't actually go to their films.
If you've read even a few of my previous posts you've probably gleaned that a major theme with me about Canadian movies and TV is simply that they acknowledge they're Canadian.
Even today many Canadian productions either pretend they aren't Canadian or hide behind labels like "Generica" and "Anytown, North America." I maintain that Canadian movies and TV shows should admit they are Canadian in the same way that American and British and Japanese productions don't feel a need to disguise their setting.
If a Canadian movie is set in Canada and/or about Canadian characters then, y'know, it's Canadian. Period. No arguing about whether it adheres to a pre-approved thematic template.
Ultimately my interest is in the platonic ideal of a reasonably successful Canadian industry, above and beyond my personal tastes. (Though I'm not shy about expressing those tastes!) If Canada produced movies that made a profit and admitted they were Canadian, then it wouldn't matter if I enjoyed them. 'Cause it ain't about me!
While other people don't care about any of that (some even declaring it "embarrassing" when a movie or TV show makes Canadian references). Nor whether a production does well commercially or with critics. So long as they, personally, enjoy it then that's your tax dollars well spent.
Some people only care about what they like. Like the gentleman I referenced convinced anyone who failed to share his passion for documentaries must be microcephalic. There are people who angrily insist the CBC should be shut down simply because it cancelled one show they liked. I wrote a piece once mentioning Canadian sci-fi TV which then a commentator dismissed as irrelevant, insisting sci-fi isn't "Canadian."
Figuring out what you want, and what others want, is part of figuring out how to get there.
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