amymyoung | Jan. 9th, 2010

Well, I finally sucked it up and went to see Avatar last night. The techy-geeky goodness of the CGI was amazing and made up for a middling storyline. I’ll admit that my expectations were through the floor – James Cameron isn’t known for being a wonderfully great storyteller. Technological innovator, yes. Awesome storyteller, no.

A part of the enjoyment came from seeing it in IMAX 3D. Have such an awesome bit of technology (IMAX) be Canadian makes me just a wee bit proud, kinda like the Arrow, Canadarm and Canadarm2. We’re not an openly patriotic society (and being next to the US makes us look positively blah about it most times), but when our countrymen do something awesome we are (quietly) proud of it. We do try to keep getting rid of Celine Dion, but she keeps coming back like that proverbial cat.

This past summer I had the experience of being with a patriotic Scot, and really, the stereotypes of Canadians that were thrown at me constantly irritated me. To quote Weird Al – we’re not all frost bitten hose-heads (and I could care less about hockey and ever being on a Zamboni). I must have been one big disappointment to them, as I failed to be the constantly polite, seemingly hick-like Canadian. Frighteningly (to me), I was (mis)taken for a Brit more often than I was for a Canadian.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m generally a polite person, I was raised with manners. I just wasn’t flying the maple leaf everywhere and screaming I am Canadian from every tower (and that video covers most of the American misconceptions about us). I’ve also travelled enough to manage to keep the gaping at landmarks to a minimum, and I hate doing generally touristy things, even in my own damned country. Very few people are true Canadians outside the First Nations. I’m only a third generation Canadian. My ancestors are most recently from the New England area, and bits go back to England, Scotland and Ireland amongst other areas. For me, I’m a North American - a combination of American and Canadian. I cheered when Obama was elected, I shake my head at the Liberal party, z is pronounced “zed”, and I love PBS – and I know I’m not the only one.