So, I read your list of stereotypes, and nodded along and thought "hm, yes, I do recognize all of those character tropes," and I tried to think of Russian characters in Western media who didn't fit any of those stereotypes, and I really couldn't! And I thought, "hm, wow, that's pretty bad!"
... And then it occurred to me to think about how Canadians are portrayed in American media. Heh.
Very different from the Russians. We're not villians or spies. Mostly, we just ... don't exist. We're not sufficiently different from the Americans to bring an interesting foreign flavour to the table, so I guess there's just no point in writing us in; there are hardly any Canadian characters at all. This despite the fact that actually quite a lot of the actors are Canadian!
When Canadians are portrayed, it seems that about 80% of us are Mounties in red serge, and the other 20% of us are moose.
But also, when I thought about how Canada itself is portrayed (if it is at all), it occurred to me that the most frequently-occurring trope is that the Canadian border is a magical line in the woods that you can escape over. Once you pass it, you are safe.
So it's certainly not a negative stereotype. But it's definitely an oversimplifying one.
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Date: 2020-01-08 05:02 am (UTC)... And then it occurred to me to think about how Canadians are portrayed in American media. Heh.
Very different from the Russians. We're not villians or spies. Mostly, we just ... don't exist. We're not sufficiently different from the Americans to bring an interesting foreign flavour to the table, so I guess there's just no point in writing us in; there are hardly any Canadian characters at all. This despite the fact that actually quite a lot of the actors are Canadian!
When Canadians are portrayed, it seems that about 80% of us are Mounties in red serge, and the other 20% of us are moose.
But also, when I thought about how Canada itself is portrayed (if it is at all), it occurred to me that the most frequently-occurring trope is that the Canadian border is a magical line in the woods that you can escape over. Once you pass it, you are safe.
So it's certainly not a negative stereotype. But it's definitely an oversimplifying one.