[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=EHuOrJQua_c[/youtube]
The comedy sitcom that caught my attention in 2007 was the folk-parody Flight of the Conchords, a New Zealand duo who move to New York to make it big. In each episode two or three songs flow into the narrative of the show, with those songs acting like music videos. The song I’ve chosen riffs on the stereotypical view that English-speaking people have of French culture. In typical Flight of the Conchords-style, they end up making themselves look silly and ignorant. What I also find kinda interesting is that this depiction of French culture (by a pair of New Zealanders) is not any different than what an Edmontonian or Torontonian might believe.
5 comments
I love Flight of the Conchords. It’s shot on location in some interesting parts of New York; one of my favourite videos, “If You’re Into It,” was filmed in front of the Unisphere in Flushing Park.
Pardon my ignorance, but where in new york do they have a supermarket with “La Laiterie” tagged on the wall like in this clip.
And by the way, very funny and catchy tunes. I’m wondering if they are speaking and singing or Lip syncing to someone else.
BruB- it’s their own singing/writing. My favourite song of theirs if Business Time, in particular the part about recycling- cause it is important. You can find almost all their songs (both from their HBO series and earlier performances) on YouTube.
Yeah, isn’t it totally awesome that people from Edmonton and Toronto are so stupid and ignorant that they would never even be able to pick up on the very Serge Gainsbourg-ness/classic Parisian pop of this video? They’ve probably never watched any 60s-era films from France ever. I mean, those films would be in French, right? And no one speaks French outside of France and Quebec.
Those people from Edmonton and Toronto (and everywhere else that isn’t France or Quebec) all think the exact same things all the time about everything. Thank god I moved away from Edmonton and am now finally living in Quebec, where everyone is so open-minded and non-stereotypical! It’s really super duper refreshing!
And what I find interesting is how so many Montréalers believe that everyone else in the country, including those from Edmonton and Toronto, are culturally naive.