September 1, 2013

Dog that doesn't bark barks

One cultural conundrum is that Spanish-language television has very high ratings in the U.S. (headline in Variety in July: "Spanish-lingo net ranks No. 1 among all outlets in adults 18-49 and adults 18-34 demos") but Spanish-language movies rarely make a whisper at the American box office.

One way to notice notice dogs that don't bark is to notice the attention they get when they do (the exception that supports the tendency). Driving by the Century 8 movie theater in North Hollywood this evening, I saw a long line of Mexican families. I finally figured out they were there to see a Spanish-language movie. You would think that would be a commonplace in majority-Hispanic North Hollywood, but instead it's quite rare. Persian-language movies might be more common than Spanish-language ones.

Opening at just 347 theaters, Instructions Not Included [a.k.a., "No se Aceptan Devoluciones"] took fifth place with an incredible $7.5 million this weekend. That's significantly higher than other Spanish-language movies from Lionsgate's Pantelion division—Girl in Progress and No Eres Tu, Soy Yo earned just $2.6 million and $1.34 million, respectively, in their entire runs. Instructions star Eugenio Derbez also appeared in those movies, which makes Instructions's huge debut even more remarkable by comparison. 
Not only do Hispanics represent a growing percentage of the U.S. population, but they also account for a disproportionately high amount of movie theater ticket sales. According to the Motion Picture Association of America's 2012 theatrical market report, Hispanics made up 17 percent of the population, but 26 percent of frequent moviegoers. In spite of this, there are very few movies made each year that are specifically targeted towards Hispanics.  
... Instructions Not Included's focus on family seems to have clicked with the audience. The movie received a rare "A+" CinemaScore, which suggests that it could play well in the long-term. With great word-of-mouth and an incredible per-theater average, it wouldn't be surprising at all if Lionsgate attempts to expand this in to nationwide release next weekend.

My working explanation for the television vs. movie dichotomy is that television is for homebodies, while going to the movies is for young people who want to get out of the house and feel cool. This suggests that Spanish doesn't seem very cool to young Hispanics. This suggests to me that Quebec-style separatism isn't going to happen in the Southwest, but I'd appreciate hearing from those who know more about the history of Quebec than I do.

64 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mexican and Spanish box office numbers have few Spanish movies.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/mexico/yearly/

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/spain/?yr=2013&wk=34&p=.htm

Let's! said...

This suggests that Spanish doesn't seem very cool to young Hispanics.

Hmm. Check the popularity of L.A.-born singers Larry Hernandez or Gerardo Ortiz sometime. The epicenter of their popularity is kind of your backyard.

Anonymous said...

Latinos are not that culturally vibrant or politically active. So the odds of them developing a Quebocois cultural/political movement seem low.

Mexicans have been present in South Texas, Los Angeles, and New Mexico for generations. As have Puerto Ricans in New York. Yet from what I can tell, the Los Angelenos and Tex-Mexers assimilated to the local cultures. While the PRs assimilated to black hip hop culture.

I suppose in very large numbers, there will likely be less asimilation, but I still see little potential for separatism. Latinos don't have the organizing ability or passion for it.

The exception is the Cubans (Ted Cruz, Marcio Rubio). They seem to have a lot of ambition, energy, political interest, an chutzpah. I could see them launching a pan-Latino movement, with massive support from our political/media establishment and the "Scots-Irisih" community, but I'm skeptical if it'll have much non-elite grassroots support. Spanish-speakers may have taken over Miami, but there's enough friction among Latino ethnicites to make a national movement seem unlikely to me.

Anonymous said...

"there are very few movies made each year that are specifically targeted towards Hispanics."

And there aren't going to be many more in the future. Even Hispanics don't want to watch boring, meandering crap filled with Mexican cultural references and Catholic imagery. No, they want what the general public wants. Big, muscular white guys jumping from moving vehicles, blowing up buildings, and shooting aliens/mutants/terrorists/insert name here.

Peter Johnson said...

Another possibility is that making a competitively high-quality movie that consumers will pay to see requires massive Hollywood-type infrastructure. Non-English speaking consumers have to be regulated by law to purchase an "inferior" product (e.g., French movies in France), live with subtitles, or learn a bit of English. For the US Hispanic population (with reasonably good English language skills) it is not surprising that they prefer Hollywood English-language movies given that these expensively-produced globally-marketed movies are probably much higher intrinsic quality in terms by popcorn-film criteria at least.

Anonymous said...

The sort of big budget blockbuster movies that appeal to Spanish speaking audiences are expensive and complicated projects. They are made by sophisticates, from the producers to directors to technicians. Those fancy smart sophisticates feel little but contempt for their audiences whom they see as boorish illiterate rubes.

Obviously, they're going to program their work in English because that's the most marketable way to make money on dreck you don't respect yourself for making.

Spanish language film usually focuses on subjects that will never sell tens of millions of tickets. It's artsy prestige fare with the occasional cheap romantic comedy. Those films are made in English, too, and they also don't make big money in English.

With popular music, on the other hand, the genres and dances from Salsa to Bachata to Texana to Mariachi to Ranchera and so on are made by people who believe in them. The musicians themselves are boorish rubes. They don't need brilliant technicians to make it happen. So the music is made and sold in Spanish, because the people with the talent to make it prefer Spanish themselves and they're not accountable to Hollywood investors.

Anonymous said...

Native French-speaking Quebecer here.

Quebecers enjoy the idea of one day having their own country. It's cool and romantic and has the benefit of annoying the rest of Canada. It appeals to youngster with big dreams, and old-timers that would love to rewrite history.

Yet, when given the chance to do so they failed to take the plunge. It will never, ever happen, and I think it will play out the same way in the South West.

Anonymous said...

Going to movies is for stupid people who pay outrageous prices for tickets and frequently stale poor-quality food, to sit together with distracting yakkers & farting fone-users, while their cars are prowled in the parking lots by street scum druggies who know owners will not return for 2 hours...

Unknown said...

I think the big difference between Quebec and the Hispanics of the US Southwest is Quebec's educated class. For centuries Quebec has had a mostly Jesuit-educated middle and upper class who can argue circles around their Anglo colleagues and provide very effective leadership for their team. Quebec's literally old-school, Jesuit collège classique system was reformed in the late 1960s as part of the Quiet Revolution but the Jesuit-esque skills are still clearly on display to anyone who follows the political conversation in that province. In American terms, this means there are a lot of people trained in the old 18th century arts of grammar, logic and rhetoric of your founding fathers. Obviously only a certain percentage of the Quebec population got or get such an education but it seems to be enough for them to govern themselves and collectively argue their case. I don't get the impression the Hispanics of the US Southwest have a similar talent pool.

Peter Frost said...

In the past, the Quebecois were indifferent to French movies and France in general. This began to change in the 1960s and even more so over the past ten to twenty years. French culture has become a major factor in the way Quebecois think and live. Conversely, many Quebec celebrities now perform in France and even move there to pursue their careers.

This cultural shift has ideological consequences. For instance, the proposal to ban religious signs in the civil service (i.e., hijabs, turbans, etc.) is inspired by French legislation. There is a growing tendency, particularly among the elites, to follow political developments in France.

Anonymous said...

Mexers are like southern whites. Southern whites like to watch movies and TV shows about rich whites in liberal places since southern types and hillbillies aren't cool.

Poor people like to see movies and TV shows about the rich.
Ugly people like to see movies and tv shows about good-looking people.
Unathletic people like to see movies and TV shows about athletic people.

Mexicans don't really stand out in any category. But then, Asians prefer Hollywood movies to their own kind. And American movies far outdraw European movies all across Europe. Some Europeans hardly have their own cinema.
More whites listen to rap than listen to country.
White gentiles follow Jewish intellectualism than their own. Neocons are a small segment of GOP but American cons defer to neocons. White cons are lame too, with little of their own culturally. White cons have to rely on Jews and white libs for feeling of pride in 'our culture'.

Maybe there is more promise with latin stuff but Hollywood suppresses it cuz it wants to dominate the latin market at home and abroad with American products.
Why have bonafide latin stuff gain a foothold in the US and rival the US product?

Japan took this tact with J-pop. J-pop is mostly terrible(and imitative), but the Japanese entertainment industry has ensured its success in Japan over all other kinds of music. So, while Japanese mostly watch Hollywood movies, they mostly listen to J-pop.

Anonymous said...

http://home.comcast.net/~dwtaylor1/chaoticcanon.html

American literature dominates the 20th century.

Anonymous said...

The good ol' Magnolia Theater down at the Burbank line is gone....

Anonymous said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Schiele#Death

"In the autumn of 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic that claimed more than 20,000,000 lives in Europe reached Vienna."

Did the flu really kill 20 mil in Europe?

El Kabong said...

A couple of notes:

1.) Hispanics, especially new immigrants, are less likely to have HDTV, cable and other amenities. So they are probably more likely to go go to the movie theater as entertainment.

2.) Univision is the only Spanish network that has a major viewership. That's because it has an exclusive deal with Mexico's TV monopoly, Televisa. All the competition does very poorly. Rupert Murdoch's new MundoFox network often pulls zero ratings.

3.) I can't imagine that the add rate card for Univision is as high as that for the traditional networks. Is a rating point as valuable if it is 100 percent hispanic?

Anonymous said...

speaking of Spanish movies: "A cinematic mocking of Mexico's nouveau riche"

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-mexico-nobles-20130819,0,3527450.story

Peter the Shark said...

Let's break it down. Most big budget movies today are targeted at the teen demo and most Hispanic teens speak at least basic English. Why waste money marketing Spanish language movies to those people when "Fast & Furious 6" can appeal to both English and Spanish speakers? There's only downside because you are excluding all the non Spanish speakers. Television, OTOH, now specializes in niches, thus Spanish language television makes sense - even to bilingual English/Spanish speakers. Certain immigrant groups contain significant numbers of educated adults who will make an effort to see quality cinema in their own languages (Iranians, Russians, Koreans) - Hispanics apparently don't include many well educated cinemaphiles.

Anonymous said...

The creation myth

http://youtu.be/27RIuUm6jwc?t=4m50s

PC Makes You Stupid said...

The blog post that didn't say anything.

Anonymous said...

Off topic here, but I read Instapundit, and more and more he has come to sound like Steve Sailer. He has a great piece up at the moment on the fake "STEM worker shortage".

Anonymous said...

http://youtu.be/LPg9AWQr7wo?t=1m42s

Mebbe white lib elites see white masses like British elites saw Australian colonists. If colonists were left to do as they please, they would have killed all the colored folks. So, the elites had to play a protective role to spare the savages.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k02IonQsQuE

Tory! Tory! Tory! The Road to Power -

kh123 said...

In other words, the children of the Eagle Rock gentry, who don't feel the need to assert mariachi or "Hecho en Mexico" out the family car. Makes sense.

Though, given your past articles, would it be this group that's also tending the movie fare less towards dialog and more towards the "CG-explosions-in-your-face-every-minute" genre. Or are they getting more Silverlake in their sensibilities and crave that Barton Fink feel.

Prof. Woland said...

Foreign movies in Mexico are usually dubbed instead of using subtitles. While considered less artistically correct, Mexicans are quite proud about how good they are at doing the voiceovers. It is also a cheap way to rip off films from other countries. When I traveled there semi-frequently, I would watch movies from all over the world, and not just the US. Russian, French, Italian, etc. Ironically, many of the foreign movies where already subtitled in English making them easier to watch although they were never subtitled in Spanish. Anything was better than the local junk.

Anonymous said...

Los Angeles had more of a Spanish language cultural infrastructure in the 1970s, when its Latino population was not as numerous as today, than today.

Anonymous said...

Let's hope mestizos do keep speaking Spanish. Otherwise, they'll just dumb down English. The mestizo-ization of English will result in some diluted Vulgate English.

Julius Severus said...

Mexicans who come to America love America. They love the Cowboys, the Lakers, and they love to join the US Army and Marines. The idea of them supporting secession is stupid and unfounded beyond belief.

peterike said...

No doubt the Mexicans are flocking to see the lovely young Mestizo actress performing in "Instructions not Included." Here she is!

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=media&img=44028&id=instructionsnotincluded.htm

And why, here's the whole little fat Mestizo family!

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=media&img=44024&id=instructionsnotincluded.htm



Anonymous said...

It isn't like Quebec was English for two hundred years, and then a sudden influx of French speakers came in and started demanding preferences.

That's the difference.

Henry Canaday said...

This may relate to the question you asked the other day, about why TV had become cooler than movies. In TV now, it may be easier to customize a modest budget and show for a significant but not huge fraction of the audience and then to distribute the show to exactly that audience than it is in movies. Fifty years ago, when the big-3 networks dominated TV, it was the other way around. It was easier to fund and produce a modest movie and find its audience at certain theaters.

Anonymous said...

As a Canadian and a long time reader of your blog, I hope your right about the southwest not becoming like Quebec, Mr. Sailer. If it ever does you guys have NO IDEA how much trouble you will be in. One tip of proactive advice; do everything to avoid "bilingualism". This is a Trojan horse if ever there was one. It will probably be sold to Americans as just another civil rights thing, as it was sold to Canadians as such in the 1960's. Believe me, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with equality and is a path to disaster, whatever you may be told otherwise.

Anonymous said...

I think it's because over 90% of the mass market movies in the world come the following three sources: Hollywood, Bollywood, China. But this is something Whiskey would know about.

Anonymous said...

Say what you like about Quebec, they are the only ones in Canada who are smart enough or self confident enough to worry about multiculturalism.

I have seen letters to the editor in the Globe and Mail (our version of the NYT) saying that English schools should start teaching Spanish instead of French as there is a trend of Latino immigration.

The Quebecois are right to be worried. And fair is fair, they were here first.

AKAHorace

Anonymous said...

Ever see Selena Gomez? She looks like she got the mumps.

sunbeam said...

Anonymous wrote:

"Native French-speaking Quebecer here.

Quebecers enjoy the idea of one day having their own country. It's cool and romantic and has the benefit of annoying the rest of Canada. It appeals to youngster with big dreams, and old-timers that would love to rewrite history.

Yet, when given the chance to do so they failed to take the plunge. It will never, ever happen, and I think it will play out the same way in the South West."

Maybe the best thing that could happen is for them to want to separate though. From my perspective it will become an area where not much of anything will happen or come from, except among the elites in their separated existence.

One big ghetto, or an area just like Mexico running along the entire Pacific Coast, and extending over to the Mississippi, North to the Canadian border, and the Southern US (you see more and more every year).

From an HBD standpoint, maybe the best thing is to write off the Southwest as a lost cause. As I understand things, this area is pretty much going to become a negative asset from an economic standpoint, much as most of the old Confederate states are now.

If they go, you win by losing?

Plus, as a native of Quebec, have you ever stopped to consider that the rest of Canada might be better off without you? This isn't an attempt to slam French speakers, Quebec, or any nationalistic tendencies you may feel.

But how does someone in Toronto or British Columbia benefit from all the language requirement and various concessions to Quebec?

Sometimes everyone wins in a divorce.

Peter the Shark said...

"It isn't like Quebec was English for two hundred years, and then a sudden influx of French speakers came in and started demanding preferences."

No, Quebec was the opposite. An influx of English speakers came in during the first half of the 20th century and started demanding preferences. In the 1980s and 90s Quebec was able to drive most of those people back out.

Alcalde Jaime Miguel Curleo said...

Didn't realize they had gentry in Eagle Rock now

Anonymous said...

What would the point of separatism be from the viewpoint of a Mestizo in the southwest? Right now they live in a Latino country with the added bonus of gringo wage slaves to subsidize their growth and underwrite their family expenses via WIC, EBT, Section 8 etc.

Secession leads to self sufficiency. This is the same reason there is no black separatist movement to speak of because black intellectuals realize the outcome will be Detroit, Gary (Indiana), or Liberia.

The Quebecois on the other hand will thrive on their own. Aren't Montreal and Quebec City considered two of the most livable, beautiful and vibrant cities in North America? Vibrant not used sarcastically.

Alcalde Jaime Miguel Curleo said...

BTW famous friend of the workingman Google put up a Labor Day logo, well, a U.S. flag I reckon. But I can't tell for sure, it's like 30 pixels wide

Anonymous said...

But then, Asians prefer Hollywood movies to their own kind.....So, while Japanese mostly watch Hollywood movies, they mostly listen to J-pop.

This isn't true. Japanese tend to watch a lot of their own films. Just look at the box offices there:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/japan/yearly/

Koreans tend to watch a lot of their own films as well:

http://koreanfilm.org/kfilm12.html

Anonymous said...

Ok but what about a country like Germany? Their box office appears as dominated by Hollywood films as Mexico's is:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/germany/yearly/

Are Germans a dog that doesn't bark as well? Do Germans not think the German language is very cool or something?

Anonymous said...

"This isn't true. Japanese tend to watch a lot of their own films. Just look at the box offices there:"

But they are mostly cartoons.

kh123 said...

Gentry = gentrified. Own the home or other properties.

Anonymous said...

But they are mostly cartoons.

Most of their movies aren't cartoons.

Anonymous said...

OT, regarding Steve's recent post on 3D printing:

Highly efficient guns can be made at home without the use of a mill or lathe:

http://thehomegunsmith.com/pdf/BSP-SMG_Book.pdf

It took me two readings to see how easily I could build this gun myself. I'm pretty sure that I could build a semi-automatic version if I were so inclined.

Guns are much easier to make at home than most people believe. See the weapon used here at 1:02:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GPPxGX8pdA

Anonymous said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/world/middleeast/syria.html

"Administration officials said the influential pro-Israel lobby group Aipac was already at work pressing for military action against the government of Mr. Assad, fearing that if Syria escapes American retribution for its use of chemical weapons, Iran might be emboldened in the future to attack Israel. In the House, the majority leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, the only Jewish Republican in Congress, has long worked to challenge Democrats’ traditional base among Jews.

One administration official, who, like others, declined to be identified discussing White House strategy, called Aipac “the 800-pound gorilla in the room,” and said its allies in Congress had to be saying, “If the White House is not capable of enforcing this red line” against the catastrophic use of chemical weapons, “we’re in trouble.”

sunbeam said...

For god's sake, I guess it is a derailment, but would someone explain to me how Iran would physically go about attacking Israel?

Do they have some arrangement with Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria to move armored columns through, along with overflight corridors and refueling depots?

How exactly is this supposed to work? The whole thing is as utterly stupid as Israel attacking Iran.

The best they could do would be some kind of really wonky airstrike with extremely harsh logistics.

Why does the media even play games with this kind of stupid thing?

Anonymous said...

Assad is a lucky man in one respect.

Anonymous said...

Ok but what about a country like Germany? Their box office appears as dominated by Hollywood films as Mexico's is:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/germany/yearly/

Are Germans a dog that doesn't bark as well? Do Germans not think the German language is very cool or something?


Foreign films are routinely dubbed into German. The amusing thing is that our elites get all worked up about American philistinism when a foreign film is dubbed into English. Of course, provincialism masquerading as sophistication is the hallmark of many of these people.

Anonymous said...

For centuries Quebec has had a mostly Jesuit-educated middle and upper class who can argue circles around their Anglo colleagues and provide very effective leadership for their team.

And an emphasis on verbal intelligence very much like the Jews. The Quebecois and Jews were traditional rivals for many of the same professional niches in Quebec.

Differences: Jews were more the nerdy strivers. They dominated the what little existed of the STEM fields in Canada.

Say what you like about Quebec, they are the only ones in Canada who are smart enough or self confident enough to worry about multiculturalism.

Multiculturalism and diversity and "anti-racism" for whitey ... monoculturalism and racism for themselves. Sound familiar?

Anonymous said...

Foreign films are routinely dubbed into German. The amusing thing is that our elites get all worked up about American philistinism when a foreign film is dubbed into English. Of course, provincialism masquerading as sophistication is the hallmark of many of these people.

Dubbing is not as bad as what Russian and some other Eastern European countries have done in the past (I imagine other parts of the world have done this too), where they have the audio turned low and some surly sounding man narrates all the dialogue for each character.

Whiskey said...

Steve ... you are under the old, naive assumption that movies make money from domestic box office. Hahahaha!

Movies make money from toys, games, bedsheets, dvds, and other merchandizing. Guess what Mexicans don't buy that stuff much compared to Whites.

Secondly movies make money from proprietary 3d showings here and abroad particularly (harder to pirate). Which is why so many movies are made in 3d.

Anonymous said...

Movies make money from toys, games, bedsheets, dvds, and other merchandizing. Guess what Mexicans don't buy that stuff much compared to Whites. Secondly movies make money from proprietary 3d showings here and abroad particularly (harder to pirate). Which is why so many movies are made in 3d.

Whiskey's actually right on this one, and in step with the times.

Anonymous said...

This suggests to me that Quebec-style separatism isn't going to happen in the Southwest

It could happen easier than you think: all that is required is for the Hispanic community to be given some incentive to maintain an identity that places them in perpetual conflict with White, English-speaking, Americans.

Next month, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal in a case where the lower courts ruled that states may not eliminate affirmative action by legislative enactment or popular referendum. If the Supreme Court agrees, every state – including California – that banned AA will be forced to reinstate it.

California's Hispanic plurality – which ardently favors AA -- will ally itself with other minorities to ram affirmative measure after affirmative action measure through the state legislature. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Jews will not only go to the head of the line for education and employment, they will become, for all practical purposes, the line. (Many California Jewish leaders insist that Jews, being historically “victimized,” should be treated as “oppressed” minorities, not “oppressive” Whites, for affirmative action purposes.)

Once that happens, what Hispanic will not want to extoll their Hispanic/Latino identity? Being a Hispanic will be a win-win: They get to take advantage of a neo-apartheid system that allows them to get employment and educational opportunities denied to the dwindling White minority while, with the assistance of gullible liberals, decrying their status as oppressed, Spanish-speaking, people of color.

Beefy Levinson said...

Heck, I wish they were separatists. Instead they're going to stay here and continue voting Democratic.

john marzan said...

"Mexicans who come to America love America. They love the Cowboys, the Lakers, and they love to join the US Army and Marines."

except when they are rooting for the mexican national team, then their true colors show. :)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2008444/Only-America-U-S-soccer-team-booed-Mexico--California.html

john marzan said...

"As a Canadian and a long time reader of your blog, I hope your right about the southwest not becoming like Quebec, Mr. Sailer. If it ever does you guys have NO IDEA how much trouble you will be in. One tip of proactive advice; do everything to avoid "bilingualism". This is a Trojan horse if ever there was one. It will probably be sold to Americans as just another civil rights thing, as it was sold to Canadians as such in the 1960's. Believe me, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with equality and is a path to disaster, whatever you may be told otherwise."

in the USA situation, puerto rican statehood is the trojan horse. PR has 2 official languages (language of government) -- Spanish and English. But they govern with Spanish 95% of the time.

if PR wants to become a USA state, americans should simultaneously counter with insisting on English as the national/official language of the USA (it's not yet in the constitution) to discourage other states like texas, california from adopting puerto rico's model once "they have the numbers" if you know what i mean ;)

but timing is everything, dont start the "english as official language" move before PR makes it's move for statehood. LOL.

sunbeam said...

Anonymous wrote:

"Movies make money from toys, games, bedsheets, dvds, and other merchandizing. Guess what Mexicans don't buy that stuff much compared to Whites. Secondly movies make money from proprietary 3d showings here and abroad particularly (harder to pirate). Which is why so many movies are made in 3d.

Whiskey's actually right on this one, and in step with the times."

Didn't someone on here once state that the profit movies for studios the past decade or so has been the superhero movies?

Seems like I read somewhere they were some amazing percentage of the profits, 30 or 50% or something.

You have to admit, nothing else under the sun is a better match for movie merchandising.

Anonymous said...

"except when they are rooting for the mexican national team, then their true colors show. :)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2008444/Only-America-U-S-soccer-team-booed-Mexico--California.html"

as long as the american team is not competing against mexico, everything's fine.

alfanerd said...

Im speaking as French-Canadian who lives in Ontario but whose family comes from Quebec.

I dont see Quebec-style separatism coming to the southwest either. For one thing, Quebec separatism is based on the probably false but untested notion that Quebec could govern itself better than it is currently governed, as a province of Canada. Based on the way Quebec governs areas within provincial jurisdiction, I truly hope this notion remains untested.

But the desire to separate also comes from a historical sense that Quebec belongs to French Canada, as it did a long time ago before the English conquered it. Quebecors seldom consider that had Quebec remained a French colony it would have had to deal with the French revolution, Napoleonic wars, all the various republics, the Vichy regime, and God knows what else.

Also, Quebec remains a majority french-speaking province, although until recently big money and industry was in anglophone hands.

So an independent, majority French Quebec is certainly a possibility, its appeal is currently at an all-time low, and even then I dont see the conditions which provide for a separatist movement to be present in the southwest.

Anonymous said...

Quality bootlegs.. Ever been to a legit taco stand? They sell quality bootlegs of Spanish language movies.

Anonymous said...

For one thing, Quebec separatism is based on the probably false but untested notion that Quebec could govern itself better than it is currently governed, as a province of Canada.

I think deep inside Quebec wants to rejoin France, and have Big Daddy take care of everything like in 1750. The reality is that "Big Daddy" doesn't want Quebec hanging around its neck like a millstone.

But the desire to separate also comes from a historical sense that Quebec belongs to French Canada, as it did a long time ago before the English conquered it. Also, Quebec remains a majority french-speaking province, although until recently big money and industry was in anglophone hands.

Too bad - but I guess Quebecers would rather prefer everything run from Paris rather than Ottawa, with very little local control, and all the money and industry in France. Such was the reality of New France in its golden age, but Quebecers don't seem to see it. Maitres chez-nous, indeed!

Quebec seems to have a Third World-ish irrational desire for legitimacy ... millions of people who couldn't stand living for Batista, Chiang, Ian Smith, or the Shah would rather starve to death or die in battle for Castro, Mao, Mugabe, or Khomeini.

Alcalde Jaime Miguel Curleo said...

I thought it could be the name of a new street clique. Like, the Ave 51 Gentry

kh123 said...

Now you know what O.G. stands for in the new millennium.