Hello Bartcop:
You wrote:
> Excerpt:
>"We want to disassociate ourselves from the
comments which were broadcast last night because
> we do not support them in any way," junior
government minister Mauril Belanger told Parliament.
> At one point in the show, Triumph the Insult
Comic Dog -- a hand puppet that is a regular on the show
>-- said to a Quebecer: "You're French, you're
obnoxious and you no speekay English." It told another:
>"I can smell your crotch from here."
> What did they expect from an Insult Dog?
>"It's great to be in your wonderful city?"
> O'Brien's team were also shown replacing street
signs in the province
> with those that read "Quebecqueer Street" and
"Rue des Pussies."
> Alexa McDonough, a legislator for the left-leaning
New Democrats, described the program as "racist filth"
> and "utterly vile" and demanded the government
seek the return of the C$1 million subsidy.
> Wait, you guys paid a million dollars for a show you'd never seen?
> If you need a scandal - that sounds like a good one to me.
>"There may be those who would say, 'Isn't this
interfering with freedom of expression?' It's not interfering to
> say we will not publicly fund this kind of
vile, vicious hatemongering," McDonough told reporters.
> Dude, it's called a joke - don't they have those in Canada?
> You think any other performers/TV show or bands want to go to Canada
now?
> Watch out, or we'll send Janet Jackson up there to destroy you completely.
To understand the reaction of some of our politicians
you need to understand the context.
In Canada, the French Canadian population (25%
of total concentrated in one region of Canada - where
people vote) might be compared to your Latino
population - different culture, different language. Now just
imagine the reaction of your own Federal politicians
(shortly before an election) if a comedian went to Miami
or Detroit and filmed a segment in which Latinos
or Blacks were told to "speak English" or that they smell bad.
I'm sure you get the idea. Politicians were quick
to dissassociate themselves from the ethnic jokes.
And that's why there was a fuss (in English Canada).
The jokes were seen as "ethnic jokes" - not jokes about Canadians.
(Just like jokes about American Latinos, American
Blacks or American Jews would problably be seen as ethnic jokes
rather than jokes about Americans.)
Where Quebec itself was concerned, there was mostly
a shrugging of shoulders over the incident. Quebec has a longer
tradition of edgy comedy than other parts of
the country. Although factual comments about the show made it into the
French Canadian media and raised some eyebrows,
most of the fuss originated from outside of Quebec.
The Quebecois generally took it at face value
as American comedy.
JZ23.
JZ, I understand what you're saying, I just disagree.
It sounds to mne like Canada's warring factions are having a hissy
fit and Conan got caught up in it.
27 years ago, a bright new talent named Robin Williams appeared on Mork
from Ork,
or whatever name that show had. Robin suddenly became a hueueueueueuege
star.
He was a stand-up comic, and when his did his first major tour as a
star, parents brought their kids
to see the funny guy from TV do his "Nanu,
nanu" jokes.
Well, Robin Williams took the stage and went wild with "Mr Happy" quotes
which might've included
punch lines such as, "Bitch, you don't really
blow it, that's just an expression! You suck it"
As you can imagine, the parents were totally mortified and I can see
why.
A room full of little kids isn't the place for Richard Pryor-type humor.
But...
Canada knew exactly what they were buying for their million
dollars Canadian.
Koresh! Conan's show is on 250 times a year
If they have buyer's remorse, it's because they failed to do their
homewrok.
Conan didn't trick anybody, and this wasn't the family-friendly Superbowl.
Sidebar:
None of this is meant as an attack on you.
I'm just saying they should've done their homework.