|
|
|
Oscars to include 'Blame Canada' The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Fans of ``South Park'' will have a ready-made enemy to vilify if the animated film fails to win the Oscar for best song. They can blame Canada. The movie ``South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'' mocked just about all creeds, races and nationalities, but the main targets of its crude humor were Canadians. ``Blame Canada,'' a song in which American parents fault the nation to the north for their own potty-mouthed children, scored a victory for crudity when it received an Oscar nomination for best original song. The movie, a solid hit with $52 million at theaters last summer, also was the latest tongue-in-cheek jab the movie industry has taken at the speech, appearance, mannerisms and lifestyle of Canadians. Its nomination also comes in a year when Canadian-born actors Jim Carrey and Christopher Plummer delivered acclaimed performances that were passed over by Oscar voters. Notable past film forays include Michael Moore's comedy ``Canadian Bacon,'' about a faltering U.S. president who initiates a cold war with Canada, and ``Strange Brew,'' starring Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis as ``hosers'' Doug and Bob McKenzie, Canadian brothers in bulky parkas and ski hats on a perpetual search for the next beer or hockey game. ``I was definitely a Bob and Doug fan when I was a kid,'' said ``South Park'' co-creator Trey Parker, who co-wrote ``Blame Canada.'' ``That was more Canadians making fun of Canadians, though, where we're Americans making fun of Canadians, which really sort of ticks people off more.'' ``Canadians are just so defensive. That's what makes them so fun to make fun of.'' In the movie, children begin spewing profanity after sneaking in to see an obscenity-laden movie by Canadian comics Terrance and Phillip. Enraged parents whip up anti-Canadian sentiment, Terrance and Phillip are sentenced to death and bloody war breaks out. The American parents sing: ``No! Blame Canada, Blame Canada! With all their beady little eyes and flapping heads so full of lies.'' ``It sums up one of the basic points of the movie, which is people blaming everyone but themselves for the raising of their children,'' said ``Blame Canada'' co-writer Marc Shaiman. Canadians are drawn with beady eyes and flapping heads. The Canadian ambassador is scorned by other diplomats when he pronounces ``about'' as ``aboot.'' Canadians living in the United States are herded into camps, and Army recruitment is aided by the slogan ``Kill some Canadian scum.'' Lyette Dore of the National Film Board of Canada said Canadians took it all in stride. ``We kind of smiled and took it with a bit of a chuckle,'' Dore said. ``It was clear from reading the words of the song that it's done in jest.'' If Canadians are at all bothered by this year's Oscars, it's because ``The Hurricane'' by Canadian director Norman Jewison fared poorly, Dore said. The movie has a single nomination, best actor for Denzel Washington. Canada did score a coup in the short animated film category, with four of the five nominations. Besides ``Blame Canada,'' the song nominees are Diane Warren's ``Music of My Heart'' from ``Music of the Heart''; Aimee Mann's ``Save Me'' from ``Magnolia''; Randy Newman's ``When She Loved Me'' from ``Toy Story 2''; and Phil Collins' ``You'll Be in My Heart'' from ``Tarzan.'' All of the nominated songs are traditionally performed on the Oscar telecast. With just one four-letter word, ``Blame Canada'' will be easy to edit for the broadcast, Shaiman said. Other ``South Park'' songs would have been difficult or impossible to edit for television, including Terrance and Phillip's ditty about a certain uncle, whose lyrics are mostly expletives. ``A bleeped version would have way more bleeps than words,'' Parker said.
|
|
ACADEMY AWARDS, OSCAR(S), OSCAR NIGHT, and the OSCAR statuette are the copyrighted property of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. This site is neither endorsed by nor affiliated with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Copyright © 2001, Morris Digital Works, Morris Communications Corporation |
