Canadian Culture Vs American Popular Culture

Canada as a nation has been striving to characterize itself as more ?Canadian? for decades. This has included numerous struggles and events such as protests, bans, and the creation of the Massey Commission, to encourage national development in the arts, and support major companies like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and National Film Board (NFB). However, this has not been an easy task for the Canadian government, as major influences from below the border (the United States) have been captivating the Canadian audiences by large. American media has had a momentous revolutionizing effect on Canada, even through efforts made to define Canada with its own cultural identity.

Canada’s media industries have played a huge role in the Canadian culture. The Canadian culture has integrated with other countries forming a successful globalization. Many countries including the United States have contributed to the success in Canada’s media industries. The success of globalization between all of the countries was predicted by Marshall McLuhan and ever since his prediction, the world can be depicted as a global village. The global village can be viewed as a tool, a tool that is bringing the world together, despite the different languages, locations, and diverse cultures. With new technologies being developed more often, the communication skills between different countries are very successful. Canada’s diversity in their media and policies has established a global village with people around the world, allowing them to relate to the Canadian culture.

After the passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, Canada and the other British Dominions gained much independence from Great Britain. For Canada, this newfound independence eventually led to a less dependent relationship with Britain and a stronger relationship with the United States. The United States, partly due to its close geographical proximity to Canada, has influenced and shaped many Canadian cultural and societal components, such as sports, seasonal traditions, music, and social media. Since the passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, Canada’s culture has irrefutably become highly influenced by the United States.

Since the country’s conception in 1867, Canada has lived in the shadow of it’s southerly neighbour, the United States of America. Through the years, what started out as a country with very distinct culture has morphed and become Americanized. Historically speaking, American influence has had a great economical impact on Canada. Speaking about the Americanization of Canada, Pierre Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada, has said, “Americans should never underestimate the constant pressure on Canada which the mere presence of the United states has produced…” This pressure has changed the way Canadians live and conduct business. This pressure has Americanized the Canadian economy. American culture has a very far reaching effect on Canada with many trickle down effects. Americanization of the Canadian economy has lead to the American control of the Canada’s corporate structure, Canadian dependence on American capital, turned the Canadian economy into a mirror image of the American economy, and has led to loss of

The success of Canadian soldiers had given them sense of national pride and identity. In the soaring 1920's, all types of entertainment and leisure were developed, the two major forms of entertainment being film and radio. American radio companies diminished Canada’s sense of social autonomy because they were far too big for Canadian radio stations to compete with. As a result, many Canadians tuned into American stations for entertainment and their news. Furthermore, the film industry was also dominated by the Americans and Canadian-made films could not compete with productions from the big studios in the United States.

Because my neighbor is considered suburban it often gets a bad rep. A lot of people think that suburbs are boring and aren't interesting. As this suggests, the problem is also cultural. For the most part, American culture and opinion are still created, even in the Internet age, in cities at either edge of the continent. If intellectuals do deign to look at the suburbs they assume that so much banality must be hiding something deeply

To begin with, American popular culture takes attention away from Canadian popular culture. Therefore, more people identify with American popular culture than Canadian popular culture. The American film industry is bigger and better than Canada’s. Furthermore,

Popular culture is consumed through interaction in the social media that includes television programs, movie theaters and virtual social networks. From the media, interests lie in the political developments and discussion concerning governance. These media satisfy appetite for political information while guiding an understanding on the national issues and choices made.

Being Canadian is so much more than just the cliché stereotype of living in igloos, playing hockey 24/7, and drinking Tim Hortans coffee every day. Being a part of the Canadian culture means that all Canadians are unified as one big family. Culture is defined as “a set of human made objective and subjective elements that have increased the probability of survival, and resulted in satisfaction for the participants” (Samovar, 1991). Every culture has their own attitudes, customs and beliefs that differentiate one culture from another. Canadian culture can be very distinctive from other cultures. Usually the first impression of Canadians is that we are very polite and we live in an extremely friendly and accepting country. Being Canadian is about having big hearts and appreciating our diverse environment. Our country shares a wide variety of different ethnic backgrounds which makes being Canadian unique.

The geography of Canada affects our culture considerably. Canada is located north of the United

Cultural issues are complicated ones to solve. Sometimes it is even tough to express opinions about them. It is an area where one has had to establish one's bona fides before weighing in. The audience has to be assured that the commentator loves Canada more or at least as much as the next person and is willing to stop at nothing to protect our culture. Trade consultants wanting to mine the cultural field are well advised to have a Can-lit or artistic icon as an immediate family member. Otherwise, they need not even bother hanging up a shingle.

People take what they see and hear and apply it to their everyday lives. This may lead younger audiences to make poor decisions or develop bad habits. Children who may hear bad words in a movie may repeat them thinking it is okay since their favorite actor said it. American pop culture is becoming more popular in other countries and may one day replace their own cultures. People might begin to adapt to American traditions and forget their distinct culture. Moreover, pop culture is negatively displaying American, as well as, other countries and religions. People from other countries know America by the violent and offensive works they produce. Overall, popular culture should change to positively display all countries and teach teenagers and kids healthy

Ever since the 1950’s more of the American culture has been known to influence Canadian ways of living through the media.

If Canada wants to protect their national identity, they must all embrace each other’s cultures, instead of creating multiple broadcasts that preach one view or culture. Without state governed media, the dominance of US products in Canada would diminish its identity as a nation, fail to serve the public interest and create less profits causing more advertising and less content in the media. Government regulated media proves to be more favourable and beneficial than policies based off of self-regulated solutions when addressing Canada’s media industries and cultural

Canadian and American cultural views were different which was proved because one is multicultural and the other is not. Canada was known as “mosaic” which means immigrants from any ethnic group were accepted here and were allowed to practice their religion. Therefore, they have a double identity ,meaning they are their ethnic group before a Canadian citizen as in Japanese-Canadian, Asian Canadian and so on . Whereas ,American culture was known as the “melting pot “, where they accept other cultures however they encouraged their citizens to give up their original culture ( Wells ,10 and 11 ). Canadian’s usually describe themselves as “NOT AMERICAN“(Wells,35) . Many Americans view Canada as a positive nation and as a better environment to live in then the United States . A legal sectary from Gastonia ,North Carolina said “Canada’s such a terrific place, I’d move there tomorrow if I could” (Wells, 35). This proves that Americans want to come to Canada since it is a safer environment due to it’s unique culture. Canadians are recognized as more modest, less aggressive and more down to earth then their southern neighbors (Wells,35).