The Beaver Bites Back1? This page intentionally left blank The Beaver Bites Back? American Popular Culture in Canada Edited by DAVID H. FLAHERTY and FRANK E. M A N N I NG McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo McGill-Queen's University Press 1993 ISBN 0-7735-1119-9 (cloth) ISBN 0-7735-1120-2 (paper) Legal deposit fourth quarter 1993 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper Publication of this book has been supported in part by a grant from the Faculty of Social Science of The University of Western Ontario and by the Canada Council through its block grant program. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: The Beaver bites back?: American popular culture in Canada Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-1119-9 (bound). — ISBN 0-7735-1120-2 (pbk.) i. Canada - Popular culture. 2. United States - Popular culture. 3. Canada — Civilization — American influences. I. Flaherty, David H II. Manning, Frank E. (Frank Edward), 1944— FC954.B43 1993 306'.0971 093-090373-0 F1021.2.B43 1993 This book was typeset by Typo Litho composition inc. in 10/12 Baskerville. In memory of Frank E. Manning i -i o 944 99 This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface / xi Contributors / xvii Abbreviations / xxi 1 Reversible Resistance: Canadian Popular Culture and the American Other / 3 FRANK E. MANNING PART ONE COMMUNICATIONS AND CULTURAL PENETRATION / 2Q 2 American Culture in a Changing World / 33 BERNARD OSTRY 3 Awakening from the National Broadcasting Dream: Rethinking Television Regulation for National Cultural Goals / 42 BRUCE FELDTHUSEN 4 Broadcasting and Canadian Culture: A Commentary / 75 G. STUART ADAM 5 A Sweet Hope of Glory in My Soul: Television Evangelism in the United States and Canada / 88 ANDREW LYONS AND HARRIET LYONS viii Contents 6 Inflecting the Formula: The First Seasons of Street Legal and L.A. Law I 104 MARY JANE MILLER PART TWO AMERICAN SPORTS AND CANADIAN SOCIETY/ 123 7 Popular Cultures of Olympic Sport in Canada and the United States / 126 JOHNJ. MACALOON 8 Whose National Pastime? Baseball in Canadian Popular Culture / 152 ROBERT KNIGHT BARNEY 9 Ambivalence at the Fifty-five-Yard Line: Transformation and Resistance in Canadian Football / 163 ROBERT A. STEBBINS PART THREE STAGE, SCREEN, AND SOUNDTRACK/175 10 Mounties, Muggings, and Moose: Canadian Icons in a Landscape of American Violence / 178 REID GILBERT 11 Syncretizing Sound: The Emergence of Canadian Popular Music / 197 MICHAEL TAFT 12 Our House, Their House: Canadian Cinema's Coming of Age / 209 SETH FELDMAN 13 Wives, Whores, and Priests: Gender Relations and Narrative Voices in Two Quebecois Traditions / 222 CHARLINE POIRIER PART FOUR MERCHANDISING CULTURE / 235 14 The Canadianization of an American Fair: The Case of Expo 86/237 MICHAEL M. AMES 15 Culture for Sale: American Dollars Preferred / 247 GEOFFREY WALL ix Contents PART FIVE REFLECTIONS / 257 16 Made in America: The Problem of Mass Culture in Canada / 260 PAUL RUTHERFORD 17 American Popular Culture and the Canadian State: The Case of Pornography / 281 THELMA MCCORMACK 18 American Popular Culture in Canada: Trends and Reflections / 293 ANDREW WERNICK Notes / 303 Index / 347