Monday 21 July 2008
A cliché vision of Québec from Sir Paul
I don't want to rain on their (our?) parade, because the 400th anniversary of Quebec City is a great success, but I still can't get my head around Sir Paul McCartney's presence there. And yes, he reportedly did a great show on the Plaines d'Abraham. Well, duh, there was nothing less to be expected, he is after all no amateur. Still, there is something that bothers me about him. He said "I think it's time to smoke the pipes of peace and to just, you know, put away your hatchet because I think it's a show of friendship." Pipes of peace? Hatchet? Where the Hell did he think he was? Or rather, when? I mean, the First Nations don't use hatchets anymore and I wonder if Quebeckers ever did. And I think last time we smoke pipes of peace, if such a custom really existed in Nouvelle-France, was a couple of centuries ago. Of course, McCartney was speaking metaphorically, but they are such poor metaphores, the things they refer to make little sense in Quebec's cultural context. It seems that Paul McCartney's "knowledge" of Québec is flimsy at best, full of clichés and false perceptions, just as bad as the vision of us the French had not so long ago (and have still). And that's the guy they invited? The funny thing is that, as far as I know, nobody noticed in our medias the stupidities McCartney pronounced. Or maybe they thought that such false perception was to be expected and we should be bothered about it. After all, it's a Beatle, and so on. Still, were the clichés unavoidable?
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4 comments:
Clichés indeed, I hadn't heard about that.
But everyone thinks in clichés, whether the English about us, or us about the French or vice versa. What we know about people generally is clichés.
As for "burying the hatchet" it's one of the most used expressions in English, so I don't think you can begrudge him using that term.
Personally I'm not a fan of McCartney, and wasn't much of Beatles fan either, and his walk on the ice floes with his ex has still pisses me off to this day.
But there you go. He did his show, it was a great success and ultimately that's what will be remembered. That Paul McCartney went to Quebec City to put on a show for the 400th...
Wow, this string of comments is a post in itself.
I wasn't sure whether Sir Thumbs-Up, as the more cynical of his fellow scousers call him, was alluding to one of his most risible songs or his penchant for "waccy baccy" when he made his "Pipes of Peace" comment. I can appreciate how cringeworthy it must have been for the people of Quebec to hear an uninformed millionaire make crass, blundering banalities. On behalf of all discerning scousers, Guillaume, I apologise for Macca's stoner-like platitudes.
Oh, btw, yesterday's title for the Cherie Blair posting came to me when I thought of your blog. My hands are held up; guilty as charged! Pardonnez-moi!
Jazz-By itself, the "hatchet" comment would not have been cliché, but the "pipes of peace" really puts the whole comment in the cliché. I am surprised he didn't mention the war paint and the feathered hats.
Correspondent-Don't feel guilty, I was flattered that you borrowed the title from my blog. And on this entry's topic, I know from having lived there for a year that Liverpool wasn't born with the Beatles. And I love the Scousers, it's a shame the most famous one is so full of himself.
:-)
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