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Canada, Eh?: Difference between revisions
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''Never even bring their guns to the mall!''|'''[["Weird Al" Yankovic]]''', "Canadian Idiot", eh?}}
In American media, Canada is a sweet, quirky and slightly backwards version of America, eh? It's as if you took everyone from Minnesota, gave them an obsession with [[Ice Hockey|hockey]]<ref>Anyone who thinks this should be clarified to "ice hockey" will be stiffly beaten by the RCMP, with a hockey stick.</ref> (OK, ''more'' of an obsession), and made that an entire country, eh? Everybody's white (except the First Nations), eh, and everyone who isn't French has a Scottish last name, eh?
Canada basically consists of five distinct parts, eh:
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* '''[[Toronto]]''': basically <s> Chicago but cleaner, eh?</s> New York but smaller, eh? Not actually the national capital, despite the fact many foreigners think it is, eh? It's actually the provincial<ref>"provinces" are Canada's version of States, ya hoser.</ref> capital of Ontario, eh?
* '''The Great North Woods''': filled with trappers, lumberjacks (who usually [[Monty Python|are OK]]), treacherous squaws, moose, beavers, and [[Mountain Man|mountain men]], all of them named Pierre [[The Arrogant Worms|(even the girl)]], and all of them wearing flannel and furs ([[Monty Python's Flying Circus|except in]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zey8567bcg some cases]), eh?
* '''The Atlantic region''': basically [[Hollywood New England|Maine]] but [[Up to Eleven|even colder]], eh? Full of flannel-wearing fishermen with funny accents falling somewhere between Irish, Scottish, and [[Pirate]], eh?
* '''Quebec''', full of artsy, [[French Jerk|stuck up French-types]] who hate the people in the other parts and other Frenchmen. Abandoned by France in favour of the Caribbean, but who wouldn't, ''[[Foreign Cuss Word|ostie]]''?
* '''[[Eskimo Land|The Arctic]]''', full of igloos, playful polar bears and parka-wearing Inuit, quite possibly [[Polar Bears and Penguins|penguins]], and of course cute little baby seals... at least until the polar bears and people find them. Which is awesome, eh?
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** [[Omega Flight]] seemed to strive to be as ''un-Canadian as possible'' to the point of having ''US Agent'' on the team, and making the current Guardian (as in, the guy with the ''maple leaf'' on his outfit) a former ''US postal worker''. Only two members of the team were actually Canadian.
* [[Wolverine]] of the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] was their first Canadian member, and very proudly so, though he hardly advertises the fact. It's made complex because John Byrne made him Canadian, and Marvel didn't care because at the time, they didn't think he'd be a major character. As his popularity grew, Marvel repeatedly tried to ''retcon'' his history to make him American, with no success. He's now generally recognized as Canadian in the comic.
** A discarded version of the "Wolverine: Origins" story line had Wolverine born and spend his early life in the Southern States and move to Canada after the reveal causes tragedy in his family. It was eventually decided that his Canadian origin was at this point too integral to his fan recognition to ignore.
** One issue of ''X-Men: First Class'' plays this straight, showing Wolverine to be a dedicated hockey fan ("It's my moral right as a Canadian!").
** Another issue had him describing to Kitty an early mission he had with Alpha Flight where he had to rescue the Governor General. His attempts to explain to Kitty who the Governor General is was hilarious.
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== Literature, Eh? ==
* British author Dick Francis' thriller ''The Edge'', set on a cross-Canada train trip, which is generally respectful and affectionate but also features a character who literally does say 'eh' at the end of ''every freakin' sentence''.
* ''How To Be A Canadian,'' by Will and Ian Ferguson, is a novel-length deconstruction, subversion and general send-up of every Canadian stereotype in existence.
* [[The Trolls]] has Aunt Sally both poke fun at and provide true facts about Vancouver. For the record, no one in her stories say 'eh?'.
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== Live Action TV, Eh? ==
* ''[[The Daily Show]]'' covered the Canadian election.
* Two words: Lumberjack Song. Though, seeing as it was from ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'' the stereotyping was there for irony, and was also greatly subverted by the whole transvestitism thing.
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'''Dr. McKay:''' Canadian Security Intelligence Services. They're kind of like your CIA.
'''Lt. Col. Sheppard:''' [sarcastically] CSIS, that's the best you guys can do, huh? }}
* Mike and the 'bots of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' once had to suffer through a Canadian film called ''[[The Final Sacrifice]]'', which inspired them to write an "homage" to their northern neighbor.
{{quote|'''Tom Servo:''' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}4RHVoFpncgA Enough! There's been too much Canada bashing for far too long! I say no more!]
'''Mike Nelson:''' Don't you mean, "No more, ''eh''?" }}
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'''Ted:''' [pause] Your cops are called 'Mounties'. }}
** On the other, [[The Eighties]] didn't get to Canada until 1993, the characters have made fun about Canadian Thanksgiving being in October ("What do Canadians have to even celebrate aboot?") and, when Robin got drunk once, she became "Super-Canadian," and started playing hockey in the apartment.
** They also love playing with Canadian stereotypes, such as they are. There was a whole episode on the stereotype that Canadians are afraid of the dark.
** Robin has a habit of mentioning Canadian celebrities or pop culture icons as if they should mean something to her friends, on one occasion leading Barney to ask, "What's the opposite of 'name-dropping'?"
** On one occasion, Robin checks she's in a Canadian bar by walking into the back of someone else; he promptly apologises and demands he buy her a drink to make up for it. Also offers her a doughnut... on the hoose.
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** Robert Llewellyn later admitted that what he eventually came up with was a ''bad'' Canadian accent.
* In one episode of ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'', the family discover their granddad's second family who live in Manitoba. Cue funny accents, a very prim-and-proper Canadian grandmother who keeps everything bottled up (as opposed to Malcolm's violent [[Ruritania|Ruritanian]] grandmother), and a family who are essentially them but better and happier. Also, Reese loves it because he can go out shooting small animals.
* Played hilariously straight in ''[[That '70s Show]]'' when the guys travel to Canada to buy beer, and are detained by a couple of Mounties (played by [[SCTV|Joe Flaherty and Dave Thomas]]) when Fez misplaces his Green Card.
* A similar situation occurred on ''[[Frasier]]'', when during a road trip the group crosses the border into Canada, much to Daphne's horror -- she doesn't have her green card yet.
* On ''[[News Radio]]'' Dave's office mates are shocked and horrified to learn that Dave was actually born there (though raised in Wisconsin). He mentions a childhood fear that his family would be mistaken for spies. ''Canadian'' spies.
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* ''[[Jeopardy!]]'''s emcee, Alex Trebek, was born in Ontario, and never hesitates to throw in an "eh?" or some other Canahen he comes in.
* The eco-thriller mini-series [[Burn Up]], jointly produced by the [[BBC]] and Canada's Global Television, stars Calgary...as Calgary.
* ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'': A sketch from early 2011 depicts "Celebrity Scoop", a fictional Canadian entertainment news show based in Winnipeg. The hosts are so nice that they miss the entire point of this kind of show.
{{quote|'''Edna Ledouf''': First up in the gossip world, Celebrity Scoop has received some red-hot photos of Ryan Philippe and Amanda Seyfried canoodling.
'''Thomas''': Yeah, yeah, that's right, you know. But we're not gonna show 'em, you know, 'cause that's private. }}
* An episode of ''[[Corner Gas]]'' involves an American tourist accidentally arriving in Dog River. One towns person (Hank) instantly goes on the defensive and mocks the American for supposedly believing stereotypes about Canada. The American turns out to be very well versed in Canadian politics, and any stereotypes that do come up turn out to be true (such as Lacy knowing his friend from Toronto).
** In another episode, Oscar is revealed to be American born, though trying to hide it behind a cool facade (mostly saying "jackass!" a lot). Brent senses a potential prank and runs with it, convinces Oscar to act out every possible Canadian stereotype to "convince the CRTC that he really is Canadian," culminating in trying to have him sing the national anthem in public knowing he'll mess it up. {{spoiler|Brent ends up singing the anthem instead due to his mother's interference, and he screws it up entirely as he sings the canadian anthem's lyrics to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner.}}
* One game on ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]],'' "Foreign Film Dub," involves two of the actors [[As Long as It Sounds Foreign|faking a foreign language]] while the other two "translate" for them. One time, the "foreign language" given to them to fake and translate was "Canadian." In addition to the "film" being entitled "Oot 'n' Aboot," the "Canadian" language as faked consisted of nothing but the word "eh," interspersed with words like "hoser," and various hockey-related terms.=
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* "Take Off" by Bob & Doug McKenzie (like, those hosers from ''[[SCTV]]'''s "Great White North", eh?) with guest vocals from Geddy Lee of Rush. Ten bucks is ten bucks, eh?
* The Crash Test Dummies (who are from Manitoba) music video for their cover of "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToOisBgOSL4 The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead]" (used in the film "Dumb And Dumber") makes fun of this. It starts with main character Harry walking down a street trying to talk to Canadians: "Bonjour, eh? Oh Canada, eh? Man, I thought Canadians were supposed to be friendly!"
* [[Five Iron Frenzy]]'s "Oh, Canada" mentions lumberjacks, Mounties, [[Misplaced Wildlife|yaks]], lemmings, venison slurpees, milk in bags, and [[William Shatner]].
** they say 'eh' instead of 'what' or 'duh' that's the mighty power of Canada
* The Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, with their notable hits, such as "Little Bones", "Wheat Kings", "Queen of the Furrows", "Bobcaygeon" (actually named that because it was the only town they could think of to rhyme with "constellation"), "Courage (For Hugh MacLennan)", and "Three Pistols" (which starts with the line "Tom Thomson came paddlin' past").
* Canadian band [[The Birthday Massacre]] talked about this in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PTq9a8WgYI this fanmail video], where they were asked: 1, do they speak with a Canadian accent, and 2, is saying 'eh' at the end of every sentence a regional thing. They answered that 1, they don't think that they speak with a Canadian accent, but in Canada nobody cares if you have an American accent, whereas in America they've been teased for their accents and saying stuff like 'aboot' for 'about' and 'soary' for 'sorry', and 2, it's not a regional thing but more a polite thing, indicating that it's the other person's turn to talk.
* Darkthrone, with their stirring anthem [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnLxun1gdz8 Canadian Metal]. This song caused some controversy among Canadian metalheads when it was first released, as for some it is hard to tell if it was meant as mockery or a genuine tribute. In interviews from around the same time they clarified that yes, they actually really like a lot of Canadian metal bands, and the lyrics are taken from song titles of classic Canadian metal bands.
* The band Great Big Sea likes to highlight their Canadian origins - fully half of their songs reference Newfoundland (specifically, St. John's) or other areas in Canada, or else are old British drinking/sailing songs with the lyrics redone to reflect Canadian sensibilities. (Played straight, too - no tongue-in-cheek.)
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== Newspaper Comics, Eh? ==
* In a story line in ''[[Peanuts]]'', Charlie Brown runs away, but Sally finds him camping out on his pitcher's mound. When she asks him why he didn't go someplace farther from home, such as Canada, he tells her he was afraid of getting hit by a hockey puck.
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== Video Games, Eh? ==
* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' features the zone Little Canadia, as well as the effect "Canadianity", which randomly adds 'eh?' and changes 'about' to 'aboot' in chat.
** A donation of $10 USD will get you a Mr. Accessory, often abbreviated to "Mr. A". $10 Canadian, on the other hand, will net you a "Mr. Eh?" which gives a bonuses to your stats based on the current exchange rate between the Canadian and American Dollars. Sadly, the KoL people have said that in the event that the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the American one (as it briefly was in recent years), the bonuses granted by the Mr. Eh? will not exceed those granted by the Mr. A.
* In the ''[[Advance Wars]]'' series, Blue Moon resembles Canada about as much as it does Russia. Its national anthem, sung by Olaf in one of his winquotes, starts out "O, Blue Moon, my home and native land..."
* The Judge's brother in ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]'' is Canadian, or at least has a Canadian accent. He occasionally replaces his 'u's with 'oo's or uses the stereotypical 'eh' and is also a fan of hockey. The first time he shows up, he calls Phoenix a hoser. Mia's inner monologue comments that he sounds Canadian, if the player couldn't tell from the (text only) context. This is because the Judge's brother trained at a law school in Canada.
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== Web Comics, Eh? ==
* Northern Idenau in the fantasy satire ''[[The Fourth]].''
* [[MAG ISA]] -- In this comic, a [http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119674 school shooting occurs in an unnamed school in Toronto].
* ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' has had guest appearances by the comically sinister Rogue Canadian Scientists (in a [[Shout-Out]] to Wolverine's backstory in the X-Men) as well as the Saskatchewanian Sasquatch from Saskatoon.
* Calamities of Nature comments on how [http://calamitiesofnature.com/archive/?c=198 Canadian currency shamelessly copies American currency].
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* [[Memetic Mutation|In Canada, milk comes in bags.]] (N.B.: True, but only in Eastern Canada (excluding Newfoundland) and not to the exclusion of cartons; milk can be purchased in bags in many places, including some localities stateside.)(Actually, I used to get milk in a bag in BC. I freaked out when I couldn't get it that way after moving to the Prairies. Didn't know what to do with a carton. Seemed so much more wasteful.)(Cartons are recyclable at the bottle depot now!)
* All the hosts of ''[[Video Games Awesome]]'' are Canadians, and so love anything set in said country. Their fanbase, in turn, loves teasing them about it.
* [[Phelous]]. In his early ''[[Mortal Komedy]]'' videos, characters frequently spoke of having to travel to "Oatworld."
* Andrew in ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]'' ends every sentence with "eh?".
* [[EPICMEALTIME]] takes place in Canada. In fact, Muscle Glasses' dad ''is'' a lumberjack.
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'''Chris''': Canadians thrive in cold climates. They live in the shadow of a massive glacier, blissfully unaware of the horrific fate that would befall them, should the glacier ever collapse. [...] You could put a Canadian in a line up with a bunch normal people, and you wouldn't be able to tell. You have to wait until they drop "eh" or an "aboot," or (this is a good one) they say "sor-y."<br />
'''Dan''': You're right! Normal people never apologize! }}
* ''Bob and Margaret'' (a cartoon series made in Canada), originally set in London, moved to Toronto during a corporate switch to air the show on [[Can West]] Global networks. The rather neurotic and stereotypically British titular couple began a new [[Fish Out of Water]] life with the "colonists". Canadian characters on the show are portrayed as varied individuals, some who exhibit these Canadian tropes and many who subvert them. Bob also learns that Indo-Canadians are just as plentiful, and make as good a take-away curry, as Anglo-Indians.
** ''Bob and Margaret'' had a pair of Canadian relatives that were the epitome of this trope, constantly looking for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese all over London. This is especially amusing since the cartoon was created ''in Canada.''
*** ''Chilly Beach'' does the same, even to the point where the titular town is built on an iceberg.
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** "I know we don't call as often as we should, and we aren't as well behaved as our goody-two-shoes brother Canada - who by the way has never had a girlfriend... I'm just saying."<br />** Homer, when asked if the family can visit Canada:
{{quote|"Canada? Why should we leave America to visit America junior?"}}
** This is followed by the Simpsons visiting Toronto. They are seen on a bus with an RCMP officer, a hockey player, and a Sasquatch.
** "I moved here from Can-a-da, and they think I'm slow, eh?"
** "Boy Meets Curl" featured the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the ceremonial release of the beavers ("the Canadian dove"). Also featured was Bart's new friend, Milhoose ("your sister's loonier than a one dollar coin, eh").
* ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'':
{{quote|''Our country reeks of trees''
''Our yaks are really large''
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** Norm the Genie wants to destroy Canada because "they've had it too good for too long". Which is hilarious because Norm the Genie's voice actor, [[Norm MacDonald]], is Canadian.
* The ''[[Histeria!]]'' episode "North America" gives half its focus to Canada in the form of the Kid Chorus singing a song about it, a countdown of the 5 greatest people in Canadian history (with Wayne Gretzky taking both #5 and #1), and Loud Kiddington doing a Cal Worthington-type ad for the Gold Rush and then playing a Mountie who has to get rid of some Native Americans.
* ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'', the "Yukon Yutz" episode.
* The ''[[DuckTales]]'' episode "Ducky Mountain High" is set in the Great North Woods and parodies many of the region's stereotypes, especially with the local Beagle Boys.
* Ezekiel from ''[[Total Drama Island]]'' is a walking example o this. Thick accent and all, eh.
** Canadian references are found all through the Total Drama series, particularly in locale-specific ''[[Total Drama World Tour]]''. Also found in ''6teen'', or really any cartoon from maker ''[[Fresh TV]]''.
* In the ''[[Kick Buttowski]]'' episode "Luigi Vendetta", Kick is tired of [[Big Brother Bully|Brad]] messing with him, so Kick was suggested to go to Foggetaboodit, an Italian-Canadian restaurant where he meets Luigi. He is Italian, but his henchpeople are Canadian stereotypes.
* In an episode of ''[[Kim Possible]]'', a top secret Canadian spy {{spoiler|who's actually Joe the Janitor introduced earlier}} ends his explanation speech with "eh", but it's delivery makes it sound like it's mocking the trope.
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* In the [[Bobby's World]] episode "Fish Tales", the family travels to Canada, where everyone says "Eh?" constantly. Bobby meets the Mooseheart brothers, two guys who dress like lumberjacks, own a log trailer, and teach him how to be Canadian. (There's not much to it besides liking maple syrup and hockey.)
* In [[The Hub]]'s ''[[Pound Puppies]]'' series, the episode "Homeward Pound" introduced the Royal Canadian Pound Puppies. Extremely good-natured and polite, occasionally self-deprecating, and dressed in red sweaters with a white maple leaf on them.
* [[King of the Hill]] had a family of [[Jerkass]] Canadians who were rude and inconsiderate to everyone. [[Unfortunate Implications|The episode was filled with insults to Canada as the americans were reveling in how better the US was at everything.]] Also Boomhauer hooked up with a french Canadian [[Sarcasm Mode|because they're everywhere in canada, didn't you know?]]
* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' has a pancake restaurant called Paul Bunyan's. Its jingle:
{{quote|''"Paaaaaaul Bunyan's! Where the food is good!"'' "But not ''too'' good, eh?"}}
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