The Québécois parody you linked is amusing, but only to a very limited extent. Its portrayal of English Canadians as conservative, prudish, ignorant and WASP-ish is a trope and tropes are never accurate. They are based on bias and prejudice. Many English Canadian care deeply about their culture and are just as concerned about the preponderance of American television and music in Canada as French Canadians. It’s true that Québécois cinema and music tend to do better than English Canadian film. This, however, has a lot to do with the fact that Québecers are producing something that Americans cannot replicate–namely, French-language films, aimed at more than 7 million French Canadian viewers.

Just watch English-language parodies and satire on the CBC and you’ll see how worried people in English Canada are about preserving their culture and supporting the arts. One of the best such satires is the one linked below and entitled “An Apology To America.” This is a wonderful little sketch/rant from the country’s most popular English satirical show, “22 Minutes.”

“An Apology to America” (CBC)

Christopher Adam

Maybe the caricature of English people not caring about culture and the arts is true. At first I thought this popular French Canadian parody was racist against the English Canadians, but maybe it’s true.

VIVE LE CANADA LIBRE!! VIVE LE QUÉBEC!!!

I am sure that Rupert Hill could have provided equally thoughtful answers to questions relating to acting. My work as a historian/lecturer takes me to Britain several times a year, and I will likely be back in Manchester in the foreseeable future. But I imagine that Rupert is quite busy, so an interview focusing on his acting would depend on both his interest and schedule. However, I should point out that this interview itself lasted for more than an hour, and I would not have wanted to try his patience, or that of Jonny Booth, with anything longer. They were good enough to come downtown to the hotel where I was staying and participate in this interview on a Sunday.

Christopher Adam

The other reason why I chose not to focus on Coronation Street in this interview is much simpler. I don’t personally watch this show and I am not familiar with the storylines. My knowledge of Coronation Street is limited to what you might expect from a historian of twentieth century Europe. In the 1960s, the show was a good reflection of divisions within British society; the divide between northern and southern England, and class-based tension. I came across Rupert Hill’s music a couple of years ago when I spent more time on MySpace and quite liked much of what he had uploaded. I only realized that he played a part in Coronation Street when others posted comments on his page indicating this. As such, I found his music before I discovered that he was an actor.

A final reason why I focus only on Rupert’s band may become clearer soon, when I upload another interview I conducted with a different Manchester-based band. It should be up in early January. Please stay tuned. I do appreciate your comments, as well as all those posted on this site.

Christopher Adam