Blame Canada
Encyclopedia
"Blame Canada" is a song from the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
(by Trey Parker
& Marc Shaiman
). In the song, the fictional parents of South Park
, led by Sheila Broflovski, decided to blame Canada
for the trouble their children have been getting into since watching the Canadian-made fictional movie Terrance and Phillip: Asses of Fire and imitating what they saw and heard in the movie. The parents refuse to accept that by not preventing their children from watching Terrance and Phillip in the first place, they are themselves to blame for their children's misbehavior (on the obvious grounds that they do not want to look like bad parents). Thus the South Park film satirizes scapegoating, and the reactions the creators of South Park expected to receive from the very movie the song was featured in.
Blame Canada is also the title of a book about South Park written by Dr. Toni Johnson-Woods, who is an Australian academic and expert in contemporary popular culture
. In it, South Park is examined as a modern popular culture icon and described as carnivalesque
within the theoretical framework of Mikhail Bakhtin
.
for the Academy Award for Best Song (1999). This created controversy, because all nominated songs are traditionally performed during the Oscar broadcast, but the song contained the word fuck
, which the FCC
prohibits using in prime time broadcasts. Comedian Robin Williams
performed the song with a chorus
who gasped when the word was to be sung (Williams turned around at the crucial moment, and did not actually sing it). He included digs at Margaret Trudeau
and Bryan Adams
, partially taken from lyrics of Sheila Broflovski's reprise of the song in "La Resistance". He referenced Celine Dion
as well. Mary Kay Bergman
, the voice actress who sang the female parts in the song, committed suicide months before the performance, forcing the organizers to search for a replacement for her and Trey Parker
, who did the male voices. Williams introduced the song by speaking with duct tape
over his mouth so that his speech resembled that of Kenny McCormick
, then tearing it off and finally saying Stan Marsh
's trademark line, "Oh my god! They killed Kenny!"
There was also some concern about the fact the song referred to well-known Canadian singer Anne Murray
as a "bitch", but Murray indicated that she was not offended by the tongue-in-cheek lyric (Murray was even invited to sing the song herself on the Oscar telecast, but had to decline due to a prior commitment). When asked, the Canadian Consul General (and former Prime Minister
) Kim Campbell
noted that she was not offended by the song since it was clearly a silly satirical piece not intended to insult her country. This is made clear in the final line of the song:
Coincidentally, the Canadian Oscar telecast in which Robin Williams sang the song included the premiere of the famous "I Am Canadian
" rant advertisement, which counters many perceived Canadian stereotypes.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is a 1999 animated musical comedy film based on the animated television series South Park, created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The film was directed by Parker, who also stars along with the rest of the regular voice cast from the series, including Stone, Mary...
(by Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
& Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman is an American composer, lyricist, arranger, and performer for films, television, and theatre. He is perhaps best known for writing the music and co-writing the lyrics for the Broadway musical version of the cult John Waters film Hairspray, for which Shaiman won Tony and Grammy...
). In the song, the fictional parents of South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, led by Sheila Broflovski, decided to blame Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
for the trouble their children have been getting into since watching the Canadian-made fictional movie Terrance and Phillip: Asses of Fire and imitating what they saw and heard in the movie. The parents refuse to accept that by not preventing their children from watching Terrance and Phillip in the first place, they are themselves to blame for their children's misbehavior (on the obvious grounds that they do not want to look like bad parents). Thus the South Park film satirizes scapegoating, and the reactions the creators of South Park expected to receive from the very movie the song was featured in.
Blame Canada is also the title of a book about South Park written by Dr. Toni Johnson-Woods, who is an Australian academic and expert in contemporary popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. In it, South Park is examined as a modern popular culture icon and described as carnivalesque
Carnivalesque
Carnivalesque is an traces the origins of the carnivalesque to the concept of carnival, itself related to the Feast of Fools, a medieval festival originally of the sub-deacons of the cathedral, held about the time of the Feast of the Circumcision , in which the humbler cathedral officials...
within the theoretical framework of Mikhail Bakhtin
Mikhail Bakhtin
Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin was a Russian philosopher, literary critic, semiotician and scholar who worked on literary theory, ethics, and the philosophy of language...
.
Reception
The song was nominated72nd Academy Awards
The 72nd Academy Awards ceremony took place at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium, and was Billy Crystal's seventh time hosting the Awards. The ceremony attracted 46.53 million viewers, an audience 3.7% bigger than the previous ceremony.The Academy Awards ceremony was dominated by two films...
for the Academy Award for Best Song (1999). This created controversy, because all nominated songs are traditionally performed during the Oscar broadcast, but the song contained the word fuck
Fuck
"Fuck" is an English word that is generally considered obscene which, in its most literal meaning, refers to the act of sexual intercourse. By extension it may be used to negatively characterize anything that can be dismissed, disdained, defiled, or destroyed."Fuck" can be used as a verb, adverb,...
, which the FCC
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
prohibits using in prime time broadcasts. Comedian Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
performed the song with a chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
who gasped when the word was to be sung (Williams turned around at the crucial moment, and did not actually sing it). He included digs at Margaret Trudeau
Margaret Trudeau
Margaret Joan Sinclair Trudeau Kemper is the former wife of the late Pierre Trudeau, the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.-Early years and marriage:...
and Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
, partially taken from lyrics of Sheila Broflovski's reprise of the song in "La Resistance". He referenced Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
as well. Mary Kay Bergman
Mary Kay Bergman
Mary Kay Bergman was an American voice actress and animation voice over teacher, who was the lead female voice actress on South Park from the show's 1997 debut until her death and was best known as the official voice of Snow White for the Walt Disney Company starting in 1989 with the Snow White...
, the voice actress who sang the female parts in the song, committed suicide months before the performance, forcing the organizers to search for a replacement for her and Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
, who did the male voices. Williams introduced the song by speaking with duct tape
Duct tape
Duct tape, or duck tape, is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure sensitive tape often sealed with polyethylene. It is very similar to gaffer tape but differs in that gaffer tape was designed to be cleanly removed, while duct tape was not. It has a standard width of and is generally silver or black...
over his mouth so that his speech resembled that of Kenny McCormick
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
, then tearing it off and finally saying Stan Marsh
Stan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
's trademark line, "Oh my god! They killed Kenny!"
There was also some concern about the fact the song referred to well-known Canadian singer Anne Murray
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
as a "bitch", but Murray indicated that she was not offended by the tongue-in-cheek lyric (Murray was even invited to sing the song herself on the Oscar telecast, but had to decline due to a prior commitment). When asked, the Canadian Consul General (and former Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
) Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
noted that she was not offended by the song since it was clearly a silly satirical piece not intended to insult her country. This is made clear in the final line of the song:
We must blame them and cause a fuss
Before somebody thinks of blaming us!
Coincidentally, the Canadian Oscar telecast in which Robin Williams sang the song included the premiere of the famous "I Am Canadian
I am Canadian
I am Canadian was the slogan of Molson Canadian Beer from 1994 until 1998 , and between 2000 and 2005 . It was also the subject of an extremely popular ad campaign centered on Canadian nationalism, the most famous examples of which are "The Rant" and "The Anthem"...
" rant advertisement, which counters many perceived Canadian stereotypes.