[LINK] "Worthwhile Canadian Coolness"

[rfmcdonald]

I am confused and somewhat embarrassed by Thomas Rogers' article in The New Republic. Its very title, "Worthwhile Canadian Coolness", is a play on "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative", famously selected in 1986 by then-TNR editor Michael Kinsley as the most boring newspaper article imagined. Was the choice an ironic one by the editors or the writer? I can't tell. The subtitle, "Sorry, America: Your northern neighbor is hipper than you", might be tongue in cheek. Or is it?

If you've been listening to music, or reading books or paying attention to movies this year—all in all, if you've been vaguely conscious—you've probably noticed something strange, like a breeze of cold air or a whiff of syrup. You've sensed that your pop stars are bit more likeable than usual, your Hollywood hunks seem more polite and your hipster literary icons more self-deprecating. Don't panic. Just let the Canadian cultural invasion take you in, caress you with its be-mittened hands, and soothe you as it sings, "Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy …"

Canadians, far more so than usual, have been everywhere in American culture. We've given you Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, Seth Rogen, Rachel McAdams, Sheila Heti, and Carly Rae Jepsen. You can thank us for New York's still-thriving food trend (poutine), the year's best romantic drama (Take This Waltz), the electro-goth revival (Grimes, Austra, Purity Ring), buzzy R & B singers (The Weeknd), hipster dance albums (Crystal Castles) and the hottest hardcore act (Fucked Up). Xavier Dolan, who made his first film as a teenager and whose Laurence Anyways was the talk of Cannes, is the new gay hipster darling of the international art film world. We're currently aiding Iranian hostages in Argo, and David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis, filmed in Toronto with a largely Canadian cast, was a critical hit. And then there's Drake, and the whole Justin Bieber thing …

Of course, Canada has been responsible for supplying the U.S. with its leading men and oddball comedians for decades, but at the moment it seems like we're in the middle of a paradigm shift, in which Canada, long considered the U.S.'s boring, denim-wearing neighbor, has become America's leading purveyor of cool. This summer, Frank Ocean, one of the year's most talked about singers, even told The New York Times, that he was planning on relocating to, of all places, Toronto.

How did this happen? How did a land known for politeness and Rush and practical outerwear become a desirable, hip commodity? How did we, dare I say it, become cooler than Americans? And is this yet another symptom in the American crisis of confidence?

Rogers' suggestion that the earnest wholesomeness of Canadian popular culture is endearing to American beset by problems is ... I don't know.

How do you evaluate the article?