$54.40 Or Fight

Conan O'Brien's invasion of Canada ends in tears, with government officials accusing the comedian and talk show host of "racism."

At one point in the show, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog—a hand puppet that is a regular on the show—said to a Quebecer: "You're French, you're obnoxious and you no speekay English." It told another: "I can smell your crotch from here".

O'Brien's team were also shown replacing street signs in the province with those that read "Quebecqueer Street" and "Rue des Pussies".

An opposition MP is demanding that Ottawa and the province of Ontario take back the $1 million they paid NBC to get the show to do a week in Toronto. The catch is that it's 1 million Canadian dollars. Presumably, Triumph's failure to render his insults in both English and French is what really stings, but shouldn't our neighbors to the north be more outraged that the government is giving their money to an American network that hardly needs it, in a misguided effort at post-SARS P.R.?

Thanks to reader "Honest" for the heads up.

Comments

[Ron Hardin]

The Globe and Mail account is better, via Tim Blair

[kmw]

Anyone who?s seen the Conan show a couple of times should have expected this. What did they think they were getting for $1 million? Celine Dion?

It was all in jest. That's why it's called "comedy."

[Andy D.]

"Obnoxious and dull"... not "dumb" and not "and you no speekay English" (that's just really lame). I saw the whole bit last night and thought it was very good. Now I'm trying to figure out which is worse... people who can't take a joke, or people who can't take a boob.

[s.m. koppelman]

If those MPs can get the government and the Canadian public behind them, maybe they'll have Lorne Michaels's extended family taken into custody and their homes demolished.

[Rex Stetson]

Is it just me, or is this all really reminiscent of the "South Park" movie...?

[Andy D.]

I just noticed that the article linked had a different quote than the one I was thinking of... though I don't recall anything about "speekay English"... I was thinking of when Trimuph said to a few people "So you're French and Canadian, yes? So you're obnoxious and dull," or something like that.

[joe]

That's hilarious. I'll have to watch for reruns.

I would love to a comedian from another country tee off on America like that. A friend of mine in school told me about a mock-umentary about American culture she saw. In one scene, every member of the family had their own jar of mayonnaise. I bet we're a mother load of comedy and don't even realize it.

Then again, I bet we'd see exactly as many uptight pricks who can't take a joke in this country as there appear to be in Quebec.

[richard]

Blame Canada...funny, South Park The Movie also had a Conan O'Brien spoof where he sells out Terrance and Phillip to the Americans...

TERRANCE:
Phillip, we've been tricked and ambushed by The Conan O'Brian Show!!
PHILLIP:
This little scrotum sucker willfully deceived us!
(Pointing to Conan)You are a bad man!

[dj of raleigh]

> A Triumph routine suggested that Quebec citizens are gay

[Douglas Fletcher]

How about rifles in exchange for cheap prescription drugs?

[Jason Ligon]

"I would love to a comedian from another country tee off on America like that."

There's Michael Moore, I suppose. Problem is, he can't really get past his own indignation that people still own private property long enough to make it all the way to a land we call 'funny'.

[Mark S.]

This is an interesting situation... FOR ME TO POOP ON!

[Jay]

Actually, forget the flag decals and prescription drugs. I hear there`s a huge demand for our non-EPA approved toilet tanks down there.

Let`s really get this NAFTA deal working!

[Isaac Bartram]

I am glad that Ron Hardin added the "Gloat and Wail" (my tribute to Richard J Needham) link. From the MSNBC story (which got so many things wrong [this is why I treat so much of what I read in the US media with a grain of salt]) I might have thought that Conan was really out of line. Instead I see a bunch of people who can't take a joke (though it's not a particularly good one).

I feel I should add. French-Canadians are "french" in the same sense as "English-Canadians" (or for that matter, people from Massachusetts or New South Wales or New Zealand) are "english"; ie they share a common language with a European country. Most French-Canadians identify as "canadians" and north americans and have no desire to be part of a French Empire ruled from "la patrie" (tho many would like independence and that would suit many "anglais" just fine). Even before they were conquered by the British 'Les Quebecois' felt that they were forgotten by their monarch and not truly a part of France.

Wow, Jay, yeah, here in Florida I can get all the guns I want (well, almost :{)) but I can't get a crapper that really works.:)

[Ron Hardin]

Crotch jokes don't have to do with not bathing. It's a dog! They're great at smelling. Crotch sniffing is a social thing. Dogs have anal sacs just to produce odor, and it's a social disaster if they stop working. Naturally French speakers take it as an insult.

[Jay]

Words are failing this jaded Canuck right now.
Last week it was Don Cherry making a comment about french guys with visors that prompted a federally funded investigation, now lets see where they run with this.

And yes, the ones and ones of us libertarian Canadians predicted the SARS bail out money would be misspent eventually.

But hey, didya hear the cost of our national gun registry is now up to $2 Billion and counting?

[Overlord]

Jay,

There are about ten times as many Americans as Canadians so that's what, $20 bilion plus, for gun registration in America?

[Robert McClelland]

> would love to a comedian from another country tee off on America like that.

Check out Ric Mercer. He routinely pokes fun at America and Americans.
http://www.cbc.ca/mondayreport/backissues.html

And for the record, there was no uproar in Canada about this, eh. The entire uproar was confined to a few barking moonbat politicians and uptight, anal retentives, who are most likely Americans anyways, eh.

[Jay]

Yes, I forgot, you have to do a conversion to reflect the relative size of this abomination.

$2 billion CDN to harass duck hunters. And of course there is no more gun crime in our cities. None. Zero. Um, except for all those shootings that are committed by criminals with unregistered guns. I`m rambling OT here, but you Americans are really blessed with that 2nd Amendment. Cherish it.

[Vic the Appraiser]

Jay -

Make you a deal. We'll smuggle rifles into Canada for you, in exchange for little Canadian badges we can sew onto our suitcases so people don't blow us up when we go on vacation. Deal?

Vic

[dj of raleigh]

> Ottawa and the province of Ontario paid C$1 million ($760,000) to help O?Brien ? who appears on the NBC television network ? bring his show to Toronto for a week to boost the city?s profile after a deadly SARS outbreak last year.

[Vic the Appraiser]

Where's Jean Bart? Why isn't he defending hypersensitive French (or French-Canadian) culture here?

Anybody who has ever seen Conan or Triumph knows that crotch jokes are the norm. I can understand the French taking offense because they don't bathe regularly (I know - I've been there), but French Canadians have nothing to be worried about. So chill, eh?

[J]

Joe said: "I would love to a comedian from another country tee off on America like that."

I vaguely recall something a couple years ago about a Canadian TV show where the host interviewed people in American cities about their neighbor to the north. The point was to make Americans look stupid by asking loaded questions like "What do you think about the new Canadian gov't policy of sending old people out to sea on icebergs?" then filming answers of people who took the question seriously. Of course, a big difference here is that the Americans were doing all the comedic heavy lifting - all the Canadians had to do was turn on the camera and watch the stupidity fly....

[Andy D.]

J., yeah, a lot of Americans are stupid, and especially ignorant of foreign goings on. I know Jay Leno goes and asks people on the street simple questions in order to point this out... and then there's that show Street Smarts, which does something very similar. But I'm sure the same could be done in Canada just as effectively... Americans don't have a monopoly on ignorance.

[KinaseK]

French-Canadien don't give a shit about Conan O'Brian and his somehow low end humor... The premier of Quebec did't coment on that neither did the mayor of Quebec city nor the responsables of Quebec City's festival. O'Brian is totally unknown in Quebec (guess what... French-Canadien listen to French T.V. chanels...)

[J]

Andy,

Yeah, I'm sure it could be done (probably is done) in Canada and other countries, and I'm sure (and certainly hope!) the host of this show has to interview a lot of people before he finds enough doozies for an episode. I do have to say that I've had the impression based on my travels and discussions with non-Americans that we're worse than most "western" countries at international geography and current events, and the relevant surveys/studies I've seen certainly bear that out. I remember a National Geographic young adult geography quiz a couple years ago where out of 10-12 western countries, the US was second to last ahead of only Mexico. Canada was also down near the bottom (I think right above the US). If I remember correctly, Sweden was at the top of this particular survey.

[joe]

Yeah, Andy and J, "Americans are stupid" counts as teeing off on America, but it's not really the equivalent of what Conan did. Triumph's insult jokes were about cultural and political traits (real and perceived) that are specific to French Canadian culture. Depticting Americans and stupid is something that can is done to every group by its detractors. I'd like to see some humor, like the mayonnaise joke I mentioned earlier, that takes as its humor things that are specific to America.

[J]

Joe,

I've never seen this Canadian show I mentioned, but I would imagine that at least part of its appeal is that it's playing on a stereotype that Americans are _especially_ ignorant of geography and current events outside their borders (and perhaps specifically how ignorant we are about Canada). If I'm right about that, they were making fun of an America-specific trait. As opposed to Leno's "Jay-Walking" bit, which as near as I can tell just makes fun of stupid people.

I would certainly agree with you, though, that there are lots of aspects of American culture that are ripe for mockery (good-natured or otherwise) by foreigners (or "ferners," if you will). They get plenty of play right here by Americans, but I'm pretty ignorant of how the rest of the world makes fun of them (no irony there...).

[J]

An aside on the stereotype that Americans are ignorant of goings-on in the rest of the world: In the now defunct cartoon Futurama, when Fry (the New Yorker from 1999 now living in New New York in 2999) is told that America isn't the entire Earth, he responds, "Wow, things really have changed since 1999."

I thought that show was pretty damn funny. Too bad The Man cancelled it.

[Stephen Fetchet]

I would love to a comedian from another country tee off on America like that

Right on, Joe. What this world sorely needs are more people to poke fun at or be openly hostile to the U.S.

That'd fix us right up. A taste of our own medicine. A real comeuppance. That's what the U.S. needs. In fact, why limit it to comedy?

/s Noam Chomsky

[Jean Bart]

It appears this is more of an issue for the Anglo-Saxons in Canada, than the Quebecois. Alos, Quebecois are no more Frenchmen than Mexicans are Spaniards.

Vive le Quebec libre! 🙂

[MALAK]

Yank, thanks for the offer, but we shall decline. Now if Hawaii would like to become the eleventh province . . .

[Yank]

Would Canada agree to become the U.S.'s 51st state? We really need the beer and wood. Not Quebec, though. Who needs another Puerto Rico?

Think about it, Canada.

[Daniel]

Ignorance, that all is about!

[South of the Border]

Daniel,

You are Canadian, not you are?

[courtney]

J, Andy, Joe et al.

There is no need for Canadians or any other country to poke fun at American ignorance, or arrogance for that matter. They seem to do quite well promoting that image all on their own.

Point in fact, the Conan O?Brian show. Here an American celebrity talk show host accepts Canadian federal and provincial money and uses it to cavalierly insult Canadian culture while doing business in Canada.

Quebec culture IS Canadian culture. Our Constitution and organization of government has recognized Quebec as a distinct province of Canada since Confederation 137 years ago. Acadians and Quebecers have staunchly used their constitutionally protected rights, as outlined in our Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in a struggle to maintain French-Canadian culture, language and identity.

The harassing gestures of the O?Brian dog toward French Canadians who simply could not understand him and the insulting comments that followed illustrates what some might call typical American ignorance. Canada has two official languages. Many Canadians are bilingual. However, not all English speaking Canadians can speak French, nor can all French speaking Canadians speak English.

The sexually harassing comments made toward individual people and Quebec culture as a whole was not funny. It was nasty and offensive, with a comical wit equivalent to tying a string of cans to a dog?s tail for the sport of watching it run.

That the O?Brian show could not be bothered to educated themselves on the basic politics, customs and realities of a neighbouring country and trade partner before doing business in said country speaks volumes about American arrogance. That his line of business happens to be show business making him a veritable American public relations representative while hosting in Canada sends an even more dismissive message.

As a Canadian taxpayer I find it outrageous ? arrogant to the extreme - that the O?Brian show would include this tiresome segment A) under the cowardly guise of ?comedy? B) within the construct of a good will gesture to Toronto and C) with the assistance Canadian tax funds.

Instead of condemning O?Brian for acting like an arrogant fool, I?ve read comments blaming Canadian officials for not knowing better, what did we expect.

I guess it?s a lot to expect respect from an American guest.

I?ve read other comments blaming this issue on Quebecers and Canadian officials for being ?too uptight?.

What a wonderful example of ?blame the victim? mentality.

It?s a wonder any American would have to speculate on their lack of popularity the world over.

[joe]

You don't get it, courtney. We KNOW the dog's being an asshole. That's part of the humor. Don't they have pomo irony up there?

[J]

I think this thread is about dead (who can compete with Mel Gibson and the Christ), but since I was addressed I?ll give it a go anyway.

Courtney said:
?The harassing gestures of the O?Brian dog toward French Canadians who simply could not understand him and the insulting comments that followed illustrates what some might call typical American ignorance.?

Alternatively, it could have been a sock-puppet dog doing what he does with every single person he talks to ? insulting them. He is after all called Triumph the _Insult_ Comic Dog. I don?t know how familiar you are with this dog, but what he said to the Quebecers was no worse than what he?s said to countless other people, American and non-American. His insults deal with gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical appearance, and just about anything else. He even famously almost got in a fight with Eminem (yes, Eminem was really about to pick a fight with a sock puppet). You may or may not find it funny, but I don?t see how he was picking on Canada any more than he picks on everyone else.

?That the O?Brian show could not be bothered to educated themselves on the basic politics, customs and realities of a neighbouring country and trade partner before doing business in said country speaks volumes about American arrogance.?

I don?t see any evidence for your claim that O?Brien & Co. didn?t educate themselves on basic politics and customs of Quebec/Canada. They picked a stereotype about a certain group of Canadians and made fun of it. Once again, this is what the sock puppet in question does with every one of his interviewees. Perhaps the Canadian gov?t should have educated itself a little more about the show, because it?s not like O?Brien had been keeping this dog a big secret.

?Instead of condemning O?Brian for acting like an arrogant fool, I?ve read comments blaming Canadian officials for not knowing better, what did we expect.?

I think that?s a perfectly legitimate question to ask about Canadian officials. Even disregarding what happened with Triumph, Canadian taxpayers could very reasonably ask why their gov?t is giving their money to a late night talk show. And they could even more reasonably ask why their gov?t is giving money to a show that they clearly know nothing about if they?re shocked that an insulting sock puppet dog made an appearance. Anyone with half a clue about the show could have predicted something along those lines.

I find the notion that this whole affair reflects American ignorance or arrogance pretty absurd. God knows there?s some truth to stereotypes about ignorant and arrogant Americans (see my other posts above), but some accusations of American arrogance by non-Americans reflect a lot more poorly on the accuser.

[Benoit]

You don't get it joe... is that what you call humor?

The dog doesn't have a clue what the french society of Qu?bec is. Instead of playing on that, the dog swallowed all the crapt the xenophobic used to say about Quebec. Instead of making jokes, it rather pleased these crappy xenophobic people than making jokes.

"... learn the language..."

yeah right! There is two kind of people. The bilingual and the americans. 😉

As a qu?b?cois myself, I am not that much offended by a loser like Conan but, I am from the reaction of the crowd. And most of all, the use of public fund from my pocket to finance this crapt. Promotion of Toronto to recover from SARS, isn't it? Yeah right!

I guess along this kind of sens of humor we may rename Toronto the Queen city as the Queer city? 😉

[Jay]

Thanks for that, courtney. Your whiny rant pretty much sums up the absurdity that passes for the contemporary Canadian attitude. The whole incident and the huffy responses to it (most of which ironically came from WASPy leftist types, not the Quebecers themselves) defies parody.

I share your disgust that our government funded the show, but then again, I'm disgusted by most of the criminal activity that our govt has been involved in lately.
Instead of directing your ire at the fucktard politicians responsible for this latest disaster, you displayed the classic Trudeaupian inferiority complex by choosing to dump on Americans instead.

Jeezus, get over yourselves, Canada.

[joe]

It's called "a sense of humor," Stephen. You know, that thing you say blacks/women/gays should have when it's their ox getting gored?

[Benoit]

This morning, I saw on the news that Conan O'Brien made his appology about what have been said. Next to him, he had his translator translating very wrong like "I (conan) am a loser with a small penis".

I think it was brilliant. Most of us haven't heard about him before last week, so coming out of nowhere and telling us this kind of things could not be compatible to humor. Keep in mind that we sometime hear some xenophobic people really thinking these kind of crapt. Now we know he wasn't serious at all when he said that.

I might take the time to watch his show sometimes. 🙂

I also red in the newspaper that the manager of the project in Toronto pushed very hard on the show to do such thing about the Quebecers. I don't need more explanation. Conan has now my respect and I like his sens of humor!

[politics]

Hello