07.Jul.2010 Scott Pilgrim Versus CanLit
In the summer issue of The Walrus (cover by Seth), the magazine of record for Canadian arts and letters devotes an article to Scott Pilgrim.
It’s a prelude of sorts for what promises to be The Summer of Scott Pilgrim, complete with the concluding book, downloadable video game, movie, movie soundtrack and even an avatar creator.
Steven Murray/National Post
In the Walrus article “Saneman”, Adam Sternbergh (illustration by Graham Roumieu) connects Scott Pilgrim and its film casting to the broader context of Canadian representation and roles in pop culture.
Sternbergh contrasts Pilgrim to the John Byrne-written Alpha Flight, the early 1980s Marvel team-up of Canadian superhero stereotypes. Whereas Byrne’s cast was ridiculous,
Sternbergh argues Pilgrim offers Canada a new kind of superhero:
“[Pilgrim’s] a Canadian hero, and he’s the role Michael Cera was born to inhabit: the ultimate Canadian sane man comedian will now embody the ultimate Canadian sane man comic book superhero”.
Sternbergh positions Pilgrim’s intrinsic Canadian flavour in relation to American sensibilities. Scott Pilgrim is the sane man relative to the zaniness brought on by American Ramona Flowers and her seven evil exes just as Akroyd played the foil to Belushi’s wild exuberance. It’s an interesting take, but I think Scott Pilgrim has an equally compelling contrast within Canadian literature.
For a long time, CanLit has been preoccupied with certain themes, including rural Canada, frontier life and the garrison mentality.
In an Inkstuds podcast, Seth argues that this focus of Canadian art and culture will change, “I imagine that in the next 30 years much of that Canadian imagery will be gone entirely. We’re interested in these images of the land, of the north, that have nothing to do with our lives anymore.” As opposed to the bulk of the CanLit canon, Scott Pilgrim is distinctly urban, modern and confronts external forces (well, when Scott’s not feeling lazy).
Pilgrim seamlessly synthesizes manga and video game tropes, indie music and the American influence of Ramona in a Toronto setting that is as much a character as any of the individuals in the series. Through its integration of cultural influences (Ramona’s even an Amazon delivery girl, literally connecting people to these influences) Pilgrim provides a metaphor for the highly valued Canadian ideal of the inclusive cultural mosaic. This pastiche doesn’t rest on a comparison between Canada and the US like Sternbergh’s comparisons of Bon Jovi to Loverboy and L.A. Law to Street Legal. Rather, it manages to represent the modern and urban life Seth acknowledges most Canadians live through its incorporation of various cultural influences. Well, I guess most Canadians don’t live a life with power-ups (although we should) but we can’t all be Scott Pilgrim.
Related posts:
- Scott Pilgrim Film Review
As soon as the opening credits rise on Scott Pilgrim Vs. The... - Scott Pilgrim Reviews
Writing for McMaster University’s Silhouette, Mitch Wilson reviews Scott Pilgrim... - Scott Pilgrim Launch Party
The most anticipated comic of the year (with apologies to...
Maybe with Don McKellar as Ed?
