"Believe" in Canada's Olympic Athletes

CTV wants "Canadians to embrace and fall in love with our Olympic heroes." You have to wonder, do they really want that or do they just want people to spend money in "support" of our athletes? In todays’ world, where everything seems to come down to money more often than not, you have to wonder. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to just simply believe that they really want us to embrace our athletes and be proud of them. When a statement like that comes from a TV network, who makes their profits off of advertising, you can’t help but be skeptical. Especially when the only way to really demonstrate that you are supportive is by spending money. It’s not acceptable to just say that you’re cheering them on. No, you have to go and by gum or McDonalds or sign up for a new credit card. And you also have to question where that money spent actually goes. It’s one thing if it does indeed go towards the athletes, but it’s another if it goes to the companies that advertise. More often than not it just seems like a load of crap.
The Believe commercials, while very well put together and inspiring, seem like a marketing ploy at the heart of it. Nonetheless, these commercials are probably successful in reaching out to Canadians because they feature hockey ("our"game), people wearing the maple leaf emblem and red and white, showing athletes working hard, struggling and pushing themselves, showing participants and audiences cheering when we win while a singer strongly sings lyrics about believing in yourself and others. The commercials play on people’s national pride and they do it successfully by displaying Canadian athletes performing, showing their talent and exerting their strength-all of which we are made to admire. In one commercial they even show a figure skater falling, but she picks herself back up. The skier is shown trying again to get more air when he takes off on the jump. The speed skater skates faster. We admire this perseverance as well. So basically, they can inspire us to be proud and embrace our athletes, to acknowledge out country but at the same time, gets us to show this support by spending money without thinking twice about it. And that’s precisely the point. That’s what makes it a successful advertisement.

Looking at Degrassi

Degrassi Juniour High and The Next Generation are both similar in content. They both deal with issues of identity and the challenges of growing up that viewers of the same age can relate to, thus addressing real life dilemmas. Also, the actors and actresses used are around the same age as the characters they are playing, which is important because then viewers who watch can relate more than if they characters are played by actors who are older. Young teens watching could then think that they need to look and act more mature or grown up, thus contributing to identity problems. On another note, DNG, deals with issues that typically come with age-sex, pregnancy, drug abuse etc., things that teens usually encounter in high school more so than in junior high.
The fact the DJH was publically funded with an underlying education mandate while DNG was on a private network could influence the content. DJH could contain content that the public (ie parents, teachers) wanted to educate the young audience about in order to help them growing up, to let them know they are not alone. They may have wanted to address real life issues for the purpose of educating teens through a medium that could successfully reach and influence them. It could also help shape identity because teens watching relate themselves to the characters and any similar problems they have. Since its publically funded, the content is more likely to contain what the people want the audience to see, and with an underlying education mandate its going to be content that does just that-educate. Thus, issues like family problems and self image would more likely be present in the show.
In the opening episode of DNG season 1, the characters are much younger looking. They don’t wear makeup and dress more like kids-basically they look more innocent. The issues being addressed are similar, for instance that of relationships and dating. In the opening episode of DNG episode 9, the characters look a little more older even though they are playing the same age as those that were in season 1. This is significant because it could influence the way teens watching view themselves and how they shape their identity based upon what they see. Also, the first season included problems that the adult characters were having as well as the young ones. The ninth season, at least in this episode, doesn’t and instead focuses on the issues of the teens. This is significant because viewers are more likely teens, so they want to see what they can relate to. They don’t necessarily relate to issues that adults may have as age plays a huge role in the problems that arise.

Canada: A People's History

The two segments that I watched of Canada: A People’s History were that of The Price of Friendship and A Continent of Nations. The Price of Friendship was about the alliance between the Algonquins and the Montagnais with the French, and their combined opposition to the Iroquois. A Continent of Nations was about Canada before European explorers came-how it was a continent of nations, as the title suggests. It was made up of many different native groups. I felt that the segments both play up Canada-giving it a more positive light than negative. In the Price of Friendship segment, Champlain, the French explorer, is described forging an alliance with native tribes that control the north of Lake Champlain (which straddles the U.S. and Canadian border) against the Iroquois tribe south of the lake. Put simply, it was North American tribes against one coming from the south. A Continent of Nations describes Canada before as peaceful and natural before it was sullied by explorers. The native North Americans were content with remaining on their land, but others were not. The Europeans ventured out in search of a new way to maintain profitable trade with Asia. The Europeans first heard of land to the west from the Vikings-who killed tribes they came across. In this segment, the innocence of the native Canadians is highlighted. I think this is done to sort of ignite feelings of nostalgia and pride in Canadians. Canada in its original natural state is focused on to reinforce a sense of purity, which can further relate to the stereotype of Canadians as nice and polite. Essentially, they are stories about Canadian history. As discussed in class, stories are not just for entertainment, they have power. They have the power to shape identity and influence the way we view the world (or country) in which we live. These segments work to create a collective memory of Canadian history so that Canadians can share a sense kinship with each other.