Article content

For all intents and purposes, pop culture is American culture.

I know this may seem glaringly obvious if you think about it for even half a second, but we’re about to get into some areas where people seem to be professionally obtuse about things, so let’s spell it out even further: the culture that dominates our attention, that places our stars and shapes our dreams (and for a great many people is just what culture is, full stop) is whatever America cares about.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Let's stop pretending Canadian culture (and the Juno Awards) is popular culture — it isn't Back to video

There’s maybe no place on earth that feels this more acutely than Canada.

A lot of other countries are partially resistant to total American dominance by virtue of having their own language, so at the very least they have some kind of parallel culture that can grow up alongside it, something unique and untouchable.

Among the English-speaking countries, the U.K. has a long enough history to assert itself where necessary — even as it’s been obviously following behind the U.S. for 60-odd years. The Tranzac countries are at least far enough away that their Americanization is time-delayed. Pretty much the rest of the Commonwealth has an expressed interest in shaking off colonial connections, whichever century they’re coming from.