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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-02-09, Page 5THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017. PAGE 5. Other Views How to make Canada disappear Hollywood has always been known for its magic but its moviemakers have a trick even U.S. President Donald Trump must envy — they can make whole countries disappear. That's what has happened in the recently - released film Gold. The plot is loosely based on the true story of the 1993 Bre-X mining scandal, when a massive gold deposit was supposedly discovered in the jungles of Indonesia. Bre-X was a Canadian company based in Calgary. You'd never know that from the movie which changed the location of the company's head office to Reno, Nevada. Matthew McConaughey, who plays a fictional character based on David Walsh, the original promoter behind Bre-X, explained in a CBC -TV interview that it was just so much more visually arresting to have the company based in the rundown gambling capital of Reno than spiffy Calgary. On the other end of scandal, Bre-X was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but the financial activity was shifted to Wall Street. Now perhaps Canadians should be grateful to be invisible in a retelling of this sad story. Billions of dollars disappeared when the gold discovery proved to be a fraud, including a $45 million loss by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Board and $100 million by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. Still, it's another example of Canadians being made invisible by Hollywood. The previously most recent infamous case of this was the highly -acclaimed 2012 movie Argo about the the rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran, Iran during the 1979-1981 Iran hostage crisis. History shows the diplomats were sheltered for a long period by diplomats Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk and their families at the Canadian Embassy but the film played down the roles of the Canadians, actually making them seem like whiners who had to be handled with kid gloves or their egos would be bruised. Someone recently jokingly explained why Americans ignore Canada by pointing out that U.S. maps often stop at the Canadian border, showing nothing exists north of the line. Of course Canadian moviemakers are also pretty good at making our country vanish from the screen, even then it's in plain sight. Thousands of Canadian technicians work on movies shot in Toronto, Vancouver which are disguised as New York or Seattle, complete with more American flags than you'd probably see in New York or Seattle, and little details like U.S. Post Office mail boxes. Of course sometimes American producers are so sure their viewers know nothing of Canada that they can ignore even the obvious. My favourite example is a Jennifer Lopez movie from years ago where Toronto was standing in for some anonymous U.S. city but one scene featured the CN Tower, the most iconic symbol of Toronto, in the background. The director seemed to think no explanation was needed. Ironically, when U.S. producers so often come north of the border to save money, Gold was one movie that didn't. The movie was shot in New York City, New Mexico and Thailand (filling in for Indonesia). Even producers of Canadian films and television programs often bury their Canadian identity as much as possible, hoping the lack of "foreignness" will help them sell the show in U.S. When you look at the financial reward of a market with a potential 350 million viewers compared to 35 million, it's understandable. In the rare occasions producers are brave enough to make their movie truly Canadian, our inferiority complex still horns in. There's a fine romantic comedy called The F Word (the "F" is for friend), that's proudly set in Toronto — but the four leads went to two British and two American actors (one being Daniel Radcliffe). I know casting actors from these two large markets was probably essential to get movie distribution in those two countries but just once I'd like to hear some American producer say "We have to cast Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling if we want to draw the Canadian audience." The reality is that most Americans aren't interested in watching anything that isn't about them. Canadians, on the other hand, apparently don't mind being invisible. Many indeed don't seem to think that anything really interesting happens in Canada. The adjective "Canadian" in front of the word "movie" automatically makes it second-best. They prefer to watch Americans portrayed on TV rather than Canadians. In our willingness to be invisible we're even more likely to watch a fascinating story like the Bre-X scandal that was originally Canadian and has been restaged in the U.S., than if it was a Canadian film. Super Bowl ads a welcome sight As I explained to a friend on Sunday, I don't watch a heck of a lot of American football - as a matter of fact, aside from the Super Bowl and various updates on sports channels, I don't watch any. It isn't that the game isn't exciting, it's just that it's never really been my pace. Sunday's Super Bowl game between the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons provided an exciting evening, however, and I tuned in because of the potential for history being made and in that regard I certainly wasn't disappointed. Aside from being the only Super Bowl game to go into overtime and featuring the biggest Super Bowl comeback (no team that had trailed by 10 points or more had ever managed a win) the game marked New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady's record- breaking fifth Super Bowl win. As I said, I don't usually watch football, and this one exception to that is mostly because I'm interested in the advertisements and marvel at what $5 million will buy a company. Fortunately for me, and other Canadians, there are ways to get around the fact that Canadian channels replace some of the most amazing and thought-provoking commercials of the year with some, to be honest, pretty mundane ones. There were some exciting commercials this year on the southern feed for the show — from a new Transformers movie to Peter Fonda's part in an Easy Rider spoof by Mercedes Benz, new Guardians of the Galaxy spot and, of course, the new Pirates of the Caribbean commercial — but the one that kind of stuck with me was the Budweiser commercial called "Born the Hard Way." The commercial focuses on Adolphus Busch, one of the company's founders, and the struggles he had immigrating to the United States in the middle of the 19th century. Busch faces adversity in coming to the new world, from the struggles of sailing across the sea, to the hostility from his soon-to-be countrymen in the United States. fr Denny Scott saigh Denny's Den While the commercial has apparently been in development for months and wasn't meant to directly reference the ongoing immigration issues after President Donald Trump banned travellers from certain Islamic countries and refugees, a lot of people are making the connection between the xenophobia faced by Busch and the problems that people are having entering the United States right now. When I say people are making the connection, I mean both in favour of the message being presented and against it. When I previously wrote about Donald Trump's ambitions as President of the United States, I explained there are checks and balances to make sure the president can't do things absolutely insane like, say, blocking all immigrants from certain countries. I've been proven right (thank goodness, for awhile there I wasn't so sure) by the fact that there are judges and lawyers who think that Trump's ruling is, at best, unconstitutional and at worst, racist. What I didn't bank on when I wrote about how the United States wouldn't allow Trump to run roughshod over common sense, was the fact that there are many people out there who voted for Trump because they completely agree with him. I thought, when he won such a close election, Trump's support came from people who were tired of career politicians. While that may hold true, it seems to me that a lot more people agree with the things he has said. Had I banked on that many people buying Trump's lines, I wouldn't have been surprised by their reaction to the Budweiser commercial. Shortly after the commercial aired, a boycott of Budweiser began, if you can believe social media. I was shocked, to say the least. A favourite brand of beer is like a favourite auto maker south of the border. It's not a faith that's easily shaken. People don't boycott a beer they've drunk all their adult life over anything small so, in the telling of their (immigrant) founder, Budweiser had apparently lost quite a number of followers if you could believe the number of people posting about the boycott. Fortunately, Budweiser, along with several other companies including Airbnb and Lumber 84, found themselves supported because of the stance (whether it be intentional like the latter or perceived like the former) the companies took on the importance of immigration. While the hashtag wars are still ongoing (with #boycott and #boycottbudweiser being the rallying cry of those looking to block immigration on Twitter and #WeAccept showing up for those looking to allow immigration), the simple fact that this is even something for people to get angry about (touting the accomplishments of immigrants, even though the majority of us descend from them) is ridiculous. Leave it to a beer commercial to show what people are really thinking Akin to "in vino veritas" I guess in beer commercials lies truth. Final Thought When the satisfaction or the security of another person becomes as significant to one as one's own satisfaction or security, then the state of love exists. Under no other circumstances is a state of love present, regardless of the popular usage of the term. - Harry Stack Sullivan Got to be free Jn the age of debate over fake news and alternative facts and U.S. President Donald Trump's "running war" with the media, which his loathsome chief strategist Stephen Bannon has dubbed the "opposition party" it has been refreshing to see some stand up for people of my profession. While Trump declares war on any body that opposes him and cries "lies" at anything that shows him in a negative light, there are others who are seeing the importance of quality journalism and recognizing that we need it now more than ever. "Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC and NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting," Trump tweeted, his preferred method of communicating, on Monday in regards to the Muslim -related bans he's working to impose. This underlying theme that states any opposition is a lie is very dangerous thinking and, unfortunately, millions and millions of Americans are along for the ride. Last week, however, social networks across North America were overtaken with the trend of "Press On" which highlighted the importance of quality journalism and that it can't happen for free. The digital revolution has created a world in which so many things are one click away. The bad side of that, however, is that it's created a world in which many things are one click away. Things have gotten better, but in the early days of social networking and file sharing, it was nearly impossible to police these kinds of websites. So many industries have been suffering, whether it's the film and music industries, software designers, gaming companies or the media, it was as if we woke up one morning and you didn't have to pay for anything anymore. Journalism has been hit hard by this new world, because, in short, people don't think they have to pay for this kind of work any longer. And while you could make the case to illegally download an album because while U2 may be missing that $10 you might have spent on the album you just stole, they can still go out on tour and make millions. The same can be said for movie stars who get paid millions to act in films and seem unphased by declining box office and home theatre sales. However, not everyone is Bono or Ryan Gosling. In the world of music and film there are countless "little people" who make the world go 'round who have been hurt or lost jobs because people simply aren't paying for these things anymore. Streaming services and things like iTunes and Google Play have helped, but it's still hard for many to find a footing in that business. We in the media are in the same boat. I have had members of local councils I personally cover tell me that they won't subscribe to The Citizen because they can just get what they need from our website for free. Well... to the food bank line I go, then. The whole "Press On" movement was brief, but it saw plenty of people, famous and not, reporters, actors and musicians all posting receipts for newspaper subscriptions. Not only were they doing this because they wanted to support real journalists who are digging up real stories for the people of the world (as opposed to Conservative mouthpiece websites like Bannon's former employer Breitbart), but because they're realizing that this isn't a job that can be done for free and, just as if you want a toilet fixed or a room painted, if you want good work done, you've got to pay for it.