When Sandra Oh was host of Saturday Night Live recently she trotted out the usual lame nonsense about politeness, saying we accept compliments by saying “sorry” and claiming that, as a Canadian, she can’t brag. Even Canadians do it to us on American TV. It is a sad fact, not a joke, that Canadians are portrayed as mindlessly polite by the U.S. The way the Prime Minister screams, I imagine, when he hears the words “Jody Wilson-Raybould.” If this coming episode has material about Canadians being polite and saying “sorry,” I will scream. Sad little puppies waiting to be petted, that’s us. media or showbiz, no matter how juvenile and facile.
It’s just more evidence that Canadians are suckers for any attention from the U.S. Honest to heavens, to judge by the coverage and the glee, you’d think this was important stuff. This week, it’s about Lisa being mistakenly granted asylum in Canada during a family outing to Niagara Falls. Loads of people think the show was cancelled years ago, around the time Brian Mulroney was PM, but its plodding, turgid version of animated satire is still rolling out dolefully on Sunday nights. See, Season 30, Episode 21 of The Simpsons, coming this Sunday on Fox, is Canada-themed and the Prime Minister is a featured character. Only if you’ve been in hiding for the past two days will you be ignorant of the giddiness.
There’s been a severe outbreak of giddiness in this neck of the woods. Somebody needs a cold cloth on the head and a nap.