So let it be written...
New York, Manitoba.
Yep, that's the way it should be. At the risk of sounding small, I have to say it does kind of irk me when big-time movie companies come up north to shoot their pictures — because our towns are cool and our scenery, awesome — only to co-opt our greatness into some kind of Yankee falsehood.
The other weekend, for example, I watched First Blood — the first of the Rambo series, shot in Hope BRITISH COLUMBIA in 1982.
I'd seen the movie before, but my teenage boys hadn't and understandably took umbrage with the fact Hollywood had, rather naughtily, characterized the town as Hope, Washington.
No way!
You might recall that seasonal flick, Deck the Halls (2006).
Shot here in Surrey, but set in — get this — Cloverdale, Massachussetts.
Humbug!
Why not shoot it in Cloverdale, California, Cloverdale, Indiana, Cloverdale, Kansas, Cloverdale, Minnesota, Cloverdale, Mississippi, Cloverdale, Ohio, Cloverdale, Wisconsin, Cloverdale, Oregon or Cloverdale, Virginia?
Because our Cloverdale is better, that's why.
Remember that flick about a giant crocodile, Lake Placid?
This 1999 movie was set in Black Lake, Maine, but actually shot here in Surrey and at Shawnigan Lake, Buntzen Lake and Hayward Lake here in Beautiful British Columbia.
Maine?
Yeah, right.
All lies.
Here's the real scoop.
You should all know that all United States Olympic Gold Medalists were and are Canadians — every last one of them.
The woman who modeled for the statue of Liberty was, of course, Canadian.
So was George Washington, and Abe Lincoln, eh.
The U.S. flag was invented by a Canadian. So was Disneyland. The Alamo, you should also know, was constructed from a pre-assembled kit produced in Edmonton, Alberta.
And, oh, yeah, about that so-called American Cheese, it's not that at all.
It's not even Cheddar Cheese.
It's Canadian Cheese!
There's more. Remember Davy Crocket? Born in Ontario. Babe Ruth was born and raised in Saskatchewan, and preferred hockey to baseball. Douglas MacArthur hailed from Nunavut and Neil Armstrong came from where else but Armstrong, B.C.
Conversely, Justin Bieber is American. Just like Donald Trump. So there's that.
Feels good to finally set things straight.
So let it be done...