Please note: This is the last Watchable post until Oct. 24. I am on vacation starting next week and will not be screening anything until I return on Oct. 17.
SHOW OF THE WEEK: True Story (Sept. 30, 9 p.m., History and StackTV)
I have a rather shameful confession to make: there was a time when I bristled at the use of the word “settler” as a name for non-Indigenous Canadians. How could I be a settler when I had been born in Canada, as were my parents and one of my grandparents, the other three being emigrants from England and Scotland?
Well, I’ve learned some stuff since then. In fact, the history of Canada cannot be extricated from colonialism, which means that even those of who were born here are descendants of that colonialism.
That point is made even more convincingly in the original documentary “True Story,” being released on Friday, the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, a.k.a. Orange Shirt Day.
But please don’t think you’re in for an hour and a half of browbeating if you watch this doc.
It’s narrated with a touch of playful irreverence by Kaniehtiio Horn, whose voice you’ll recognize if you’ve watched “Letterkenny” or “Rutherford Falls” or numerous other TV shows and films.
Serious information is imparted by Indigenous people with deep knowledge of Indigenous and Canadian history, but humour — even cheekiness — is part of the approach. Think, for instance, of three British redcoats putting up a for sale sign under the banner of “Columbus Stolen Realty”: “Call now . . . We’ll steal your land . . . with a smile!”
The film starts with Indigenous creation stories — and they are varied, Indigenous people are not a monolith — and details the ways in which various peoples shared their histories and cultures, as well as what those cultures offered.
The point is that there were thriving human communities in Canada before white Europeans came along to “discover” them.
You can’t help but wonder what Canada would have looked like if those early settlers had respected the treaties they signed with various Indigenous nations — and much of Canada, by the way, sits on land that was never ceded to the colonizers — rather than reneging on them and forcing the original inhabitants off their territories as white settlement expanded. (It’s worth noting that not all of those treaties were about handing over land but simply obligated the Indigenous and settlers to keep the peace.)
Attempts to assimilate or eradicate the Indigenous were already going on before the British North America Act of 1867 and the Indian Act of 1876 gave these campaigns the weight of white people’s law.
You’d have to be living under a rock not to have heard of residential schools and the ongoing intergenerational harm they inflicted on Indigenous people, but did you know about the slaughter of bison in the Prairies in the late 1800s as a tool for starving Metis and other Indigenous off their lands?
“The slogan at the time was ‘Every dead buffalo is an Indian gone,'” notes Horn.
All those dead buffalos are a reminder that you can’t think of Canada’s “colonial project” without reflecting on its effects on the environment and all the creatures, human and non-human, within it.
Watching “True Story,” I couldn’t help but think that colonialism has been harmful for all Canadians, with its patriarchal rigidity and its emphasis, as enshrined in the Catholic Doctrine of Discovery, on exploiting lands and their non-Christian inhabitants in the mistaken belief that some people are superior to others and that humans are superior to other other species. Are not climate change, capitalism with its haves and have-nots, and gender discrimination and violence the natural results of colonialism?
I’m well aware of how difficult it is to tear Canadian viewers away from their “NCIS’s” and “CSI’s” and “FBI’s” and all the other American content out there to watch something Canadian, let alone something Canadian that’s meant to educate as well as entertain.
But as Horn says early in “True Story”: “Is there any hope of reconciliation? Not without the truth.”
We’ve been taught one version of the truth for so long in this country; now it’s time for the truth of those whose ancestors predated white settlement to be heard.
Short Takes
Mystery Road: Origin (Sept. 26, Acorn)
If you have enjoyed the Australian crime drama “Mystery Road” and its lead, Jay Swan (Aaron Pedersen), I can recommend this prequel series, in which we see a young Jay (Mark Coles Smith, “Hard Rock Medical,” “Picnic at Hanging Rock”) begin his career as a police detective. Jay has moved back to his hometown of Jardine in the outback of Queensland, where his self-absorbed father Jack (Kelton Pell) and drunkard of a brother Sputty (Clarence Ryan) still live. The familial complications — including a tragedy in the second episode — are entangled with the professional ones as Swan and fellow cops Max (Hayley McElhinney) and Cindy (Grace Chow) investigate a series of violent robberies that might have a white supremacist connection. Meanwhile, legal aid lawyer Anousha (Salme Geransar) is digging into a cold case involving the brother of Jay’s new love interest, Mary (Tuuli Narkle), that nobody seems to want exposed. As with the other seasons of “Mystery Road,” the outback setting and prominent presence of Aboriginal characters and actors gives it a flavour all its own. But, as with any good show, the specificity only adds to the enjoyment.
Great Lakes Untamed (Sept. 26, 9 p.m., TVO, TVO Today and YouTube)
We sometimes forget about the natural marvels that exist within our own national boundaries. That was my thought as I screened part of this docuseries about the Great Lakes that intersect Canada and the United States. For the record, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario contain a fifth of the world’s fresh water supply, both a fascinating and alarming fact with that supply under threat. Directed by Jeff Morales, biologist Ted Oakes and Nicholas de Pencier, known for co-directing the award-winning “Anthropocene: The Human Epoch,” the series is a trove of information about water bodies that many of us likely take for granted and the varied species that call them home. Did you know, for instance, that a drop of water that entered Lake Superior in 1715 still wouldn’t have made the 3,000-kilometre journey to the Atlantic Ocean by now, via the other Great Lakes, the rivers that connect them and the St. Lawrence Seaway? The series is really a life story of the lakes, beginning with their formation in the last ice age. But the real star of the show is the stunning cinematography by de Pencier, Morales and Hugo Kitching that rivals anything you’d see in one of the myriad nature documentaries that highlight far-away places. Episode 2 airs at 9 p.m. and Episode 3 at 10 p.m. on Sept. 27, with all three repeated beginning at 8 p.m. Oct. 1.
The Predentians (Sept. 30, 9 p.m., CBC and CBC Gem)
Indigenous documentarian and playwright Drew Hayden Taylor, along with producer Paul Kemp, brings his usual wit and insight to the subject of “pretend Indians,” to use his words. In the doc, commissioned by CBC’s “The Passionate Eye” for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, Hayden Taylor explores topics like fake Indigenous souvenirs and forged totem poles in B.C.; the explosion in questionable Indigenous ancestry claims in Quebec and the Atlantic provinces; the purchase of faux status cards by non-Indigenous people trying to avoid paying taxes on gas and other items; the granting of Indigenous status to white women who marry Indigenous men; and the question of how much Indigenous blood is enough to be able to claim status. Two of the most notorious Canadian cases of disputed claims of Indigenous heritage — author Joseph Boyden and filmmaker Michelle Latimer — are referenced but not examined in detail. The doc does take aim at a Queen’s University professor named Robert Lovelace who has claimed to have Cherokee ancestry and even established a fake First Nation known as Ardoch. Unlike Carrie Bourassa, a predentian professor who resigned from the University of Saskatchewan, Lovelace was still teaching Indigenous studies at Queen’s at the time “The Predentians” was made.
CBC Gem also has the animated shorts series “Dreams in Vantablack” (Sept. 29), directed by Ian Keteku. Each of its 12 four-minute films is based on a poem by a young Black person grappling with identity. Also coming to CBC Gem on Sept. 27 are the web comedy “Virgins!” by Aden Abebe, about four young Toronto women from East African immigrant homes navigating experiences they are unprepared for; and “Bimibatoo-Win: Where I Ran,” about Charlie Bittern, a 75-year-old residential school survivor, who recreates the 80-kilometre journey he made when he fled from the school in a Manitoba blizzard. On Oct. 2 at 8 p.m., CBC and CBC Gem debut Season 6 of “The Great Canadian Baking Show.”
Odds and Ends
Andrew Dominik’s movie “Blonde” (Sept. 28, Netflix) has been slammed by critics for making a victim, and not much else, out of Marilyn Monroe. But I’ve heard that Ana de Armas is fantastic in the role, which means that as a longtime Marilyn fan I’ll probably watch it anyway. Netflix also has the math and physics doc “A Trip to Infinity” (Sept. 26); the comedy special “Nick Kroll: Little Big Boy” (Sept. 27); the docuseries “Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga” (Sept. 28); period drama “The Empress” (Sept. 29), about the love affair between Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and Elisabeth von Wittelsbach; the animated special “Entergalactic” (Sept. 30), from Kid Cudi and Kenya Barris (“Black-ish”); and the docuseries “Human Playground” (Sept. 30), narrated and executive produced by Idris Elba.
I never did finish the first Season 1 of the spinoff series “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers” but, if you’re a fan, Season 2 debuts on Disney+ on Sept. 28 with a new coach, played by Josh Duhamel, stepping in for the absent Emilio Estevez. Disney also has the Kerry Washington-produced drama “Reasonable Doubt” (Sept. 27), about a rebel defence lawyer played by Emayatzy Corinealdi; and the film “Hocus Pocus 2” (Sept. 30), a followup to the 1993 movie about a trio of reawakened 17th-century witches.
I would have liked to get a look at detective series “Suspect,” given that it stars James Nesbitt (“Jekyll,” “Murphy’s Law,” “The Missing”) and features Richard E. Grant and Sam Heughan of “Outlander.” It debuts Sept. 27 on BritBox.
Hard to believe, but the tween series “The Next Step,” about students competing on and off the floor at a dance studio, begins its eighth season on Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. on YTV.
It’s pretty quiet on the Crave front, but the streamer does have Season 3 of Peabody-winning “Ramy” via Starz on Sept. 30, as well as the comedy special “Chris Locke: Captain Bones.”
Finally, Hollywood Suite has the broadcast premiere of the documentary “The Long Ride Home” (Sept. 30, 9 p.m.), about a group of Indigenous riders on a two-week-long horseback journey to highlight colonial ills. It’s part of a day of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation programming that also includes the films “The Corruption of Divine Providence,” “Indian Horse” and “Falls Around Her,” and the TV special “Remembering the Children: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation” at 8 p.m.
NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.
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