Quote:
Originally Posted by Capsicum
Another thing it feels like is that European media or entertainment has more sway in Montreal above and beyond being seen as "only for the local ethnic community", the way it is probably in the other three cities I gave here. Maybe it's the "interculturalism" thing.
In order to get a European influence, you have to make it be seen as something normal that non-immigrants care about in more than a symbolic way or a symbolic marker of roots (like wearing an Italian flag shirt etc) but not paid attention to otherwise. Otherwise it's only "European media/culture for European immigrants", "Asian media/culture for Asian immigrants etc" and so-on and so-forth, with "mainstream American culture" for "the rest of us, who already assimilated".
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One of the most controversial topics in the SSP Canada section is always the perceived/denied/alleged European-esque traits of the city of Montreal and more broadly of the province of Quebec.
Even though I am totally aware that such a debate is akin to one about "who is the tallest dwarf?", my own sense having lived in five Canadian provinces, travelled to the five others, and to more three quarters of the U.S.' states, Montreal/Quebec likely do have the most European traits outside of a few small pockets that one might find elsewhere on the Anglo-American (
) continent.
It's also worth mentioning that these Euro traits run the gamut, from widespread public support for "nanny state" government policies, to kissing on both cheeks, to stinky cheeses, to tons of non-gay men wearing clothes that express their feminine side, to an appreciation for tacky trashy dance music, to a higher bar for newcomers integrating wider society and becoming "part of the gang"...
And of course, Montreal/Quebec can be profoundly North American in many ways with gridiron football tailgate parties, Halloween decorations and trick or treating, strip malls all over the place, bacon and eggs for breakfast, etc.
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