Why does Canada suck at telling its own stories

[YZT580]

Great book. I also have a collection of Salty Dips.

Not the same swashbuckling yarns as Champagne Navy, but good reads.

We need to celebrate our history, accomplishments and bravery more.

another tale: 435 and 436 squadrons in Burma, before all the Dakotas disappear.

 

[YZT580]

Remember the CAF magically appeared as "peacekeepers" in the 50s. War like tales are not welcome.

depends. MASH told a tale for years, still is.

 

[OldSolduer]

Hyena Road was terrible

 

[mariomike]

Maybe the RCAF as defenders in The Battle of Britain.

Less likely as attackers .

 

[Halifax Tar]

At least in Greyhound they Yanks paid a passing homage to our efforts in BoA.



Canadian Naval Memorial Trust

 

[FJAG]

It's a bit of apples and kumquats. The CBC doesn't create full-length theatrical productions (have they ever?). These are made by private companies with various formulas of private and public funding. Private companies tend to want to earn profits.

Do we want to tell our stories to ourselves or the world? I don't know what the CBC's production budget is but I suspect that to try and create something that would tell a Canadian story to the world in a way that actually makes money would likely eat up that entire budget. Giving money to the CBC is not without controversy, and it seems that private money has its limits.

It's kind of strange actually because production budgets do not equate to good entertainment. I appreciate the point that the examples make but I'm starting to look at my own viewing habits. I tend to look at my own ones these days and find that I get much better programming through streaming services than broadcast/cable these days.

Take Britbox for example. The UK has produced dozens of crime/detective series which are high quality entertainment, IMHO. So much so that my usual American fare of NCIS, FBI, Marshalls etc etc in all their derivative forms has just become formalistic, unrealistic, over-the-top dreck that I've stopped watching. Yes, the BBC gets more money but many of these shows are non-BBC produced. Their budgets are lower, but their writing is better and, in many cases, the acting is better - heck, even "Murder in Paradise" which has dreadful acting has more entertainment value than the average US show.

My gauge of a good film or series is "am I invested enough in this character, that I care about what happens to him or her?" That's not just will the character die, but even leave the series, or will the series carry on so that I can get more of the story. The Brits do that better than others. Most American series I've given up on. Canada? Well, I give a new series two episodes for me to decide whether I'll watch it continuously. Few Canadian ones pass that test. "Saint Pierre," "Son of Critch," "Amazing Race Canada," and (Lord help me) "The Great Canadian Baking Show" have, but that's about it.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Hyena Road was terrible

Nevertheless, it was about Canadians in a contemporary conflict, so I give them a B for trying.

 

[daftandbarmy]

It's kind of strange actually because production budgets do not equate to good entertainment. I appreciate the point that the examples make but I'm starting to look at my own viewing habits. I tend to look at my own ones these days and find that I get much better programming through streaming services than broadcast/cable these days.

Take Britbox for example. The UK has produced dozens of crime/detective series which are high quality entertainment, IMHO. So much so that my usual American fare of NCIS, FBI, Marshalls etc etc in all their derivative forms has just become formalistic, unrealistic, over-the-top dreck that I've stopped watching. Yes, the BBC gets more money but many of these shows are non-BBC produced. Their budgets are lower, but their writing is better and, in many cases, the acting is better - heck, even "Murder in Paradise" which has dreadful acting has more entertainment value than the average US show.

My gauge of a good film or series is "am I invested enough in this character, that I care about what happens to him or her?" That's not just will the character die, but even leave the series, or will the series carry on so that I can get more of the story. The Brits do that better than others. Most American series I've given up on. Canada? Well, I give a new series two episodes for me to decide whether I'll watch it continuously. Few Canadian ones pass that test. "Saint Pierre," "Son of Critch," "Amazing Race Canada," and (Lord help me) "The Great Canadian Baking Show" have, but that's about it.

An astounding admission from a German, I would say

 

[The Bread Guy]

Chicken-versus-egg question: why doesn't the public seem to want quality military history content of any kind if there's not enough momentum to make it commercially profitable? I'm not a big "let the market alone decide" kind of guy, but if there was enough demand, there would likely be more supply.

My WAG on this front, in no particular order:

• How many Canadians has war directly affected these days?
• How many Canadians even know military pers, full- or part time?
• How shitty a job does the info-machine do of sharing the stories - before/during/after operations?
• How much demand is there given that only a on-one-hand number of MSM outlets have military reporters?
• As others have suggested, how many Canadians have been exposed to interesting, appealing & engaging history curriculum on the military in school?

Lotsa stuff that needs to change to create an audience hungry for good military stories, and for a market to respond to said hunger.

CBC could do stuff like this, but part of the problem may be an ideological "war's not our first priority" bent, as well as how hard it is for big, bulky bureaucratic machines to change course or get ideas through.

 

[Kirkhill]

It's kind of strange actually because production budgets do not equate to good entertainment. I appreciate the point that the examples make but I'm starting to look at my own viewing habits. I tend to look at my own ones these days and find that I get much better programming through streaming services than broadcast/cable these days.

Take Britbox for example. The UK has produced dozens of crime/detective series which are high quality entertainment, IMHO. So much so that my usual American fare of NCIS, FBI, Marshalls etc etc in all their derivative forms has just become formalistic, unrealistic, over-the-top dreck that I've stopped watching. Yes, the BBC gets more money but many of these shows are non-BBC produced. Their budgets are lower, but their writing is better and, in many cases, the acting is better - heck, even "Murder in Paradise" which has dreadful acting has more entertainment value than the average US show.

My gauge of a good film or series is "am I invested enough in this character, that I care about what happens to him or her?" That's not just will the character die, but even leave the series, or will the series carry on so that I can get more of the story. The Brits do that better than others. Most American series I've given up on. Canada? Well, I give a new series two episodes for me to decide whether I'll watch it continuously. Few Canadian ones pass that test. "Saint Pierre," "Son of Critch," "Amazing Race Canada," and (Lord help me) "The Great Canadian Baking Show" have, but that's about it.

Three of the Brits best shows are derived from Dutch or Belgian shows:

Van der Walk, Professor T, and Patience. Although Professor T was better with the original Belgian cast.

Other countries can and do produce good popular shows that tell stories.

The problem may start with people wanting to preach rather than entertain.

Private enterprise only gets paid if they entertain.

Government pays people to preach.

....

Have you noticed that popular movies don't get Oscars and that critics' choices are often not popular.

Canadian movies: financed by government and validated by critics, not audiences.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Chicken-versus-egg question: why doesn't the public seem to want quality military history content of any kind if there's not enough momentum to make it commercially profitable? I'm not a big "let the market alone decide" kind of guy, but if there was enough demand, there would likely be more supply.

Or is it a "Field of Dreams" scenario? If you build it, they will come.

CBC could do stuff like this, but part of the problem may be an ideological "war's not our first priority" bent, as well as how hard it is for big, bulky bureaucratic machines to change course or get ideas through.

Why not the CAF directly in the same vein as the US Army did with "The Big Picture"?

The Big Picture is an American documentary television program which aired from 1951 to 1964. The series consisted of documentary films produced by the United States Army Signal Corps, Army Pictorial Service.
. . .
As an official work of the United States government, The Big Picture was never eligible for copyright and has always been in the public domain, thus allowing it to be distributed far and wide without restriction. . . .

 

[FJAG]

An astounding admission from a German, I would say

I have seen German TV shows and other than "Babylon Berlin" they've been kind of - meh - even the ones with nudity.

Babylon Berlin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org