America, the bold, sexy and stupid

If the World was a high-school cafeteria, The United States would be the biggest, most popular table, and it has nothing to do with their staggering obesity rates.

Despite its numerous and glaringly obvious character traits, the US encompasses so many aspects that other countries aspire to: massive and diverse population, celebrities around every corner, lush landscapes, quirky travel hot-spots and all the glitz and glamour crammed into 9.83 million square-kilometres. Everyone wants to be protected by it, and some countries even want to be like it (again, numerous and glaringly obvious problematic character traits aside). While not the best example, the most topical pop-culture reference to the emulation of the US is reality television.

The World can thank the US for Jersey Shore, the Next Top Model franchise and the plentiful incarnations of "The Real Housewives of [insert densely populated and deeply flawed city here]", all examples of how beauty is far more important and profitable than things likes intelligence and personal values. In a depressing  turn of events, Canada has become the target of the latter of said reality television list, as a Real Housewives of Vancouver is set to air in the near future.

Anyone who has watched any of the Real Housewives series understands the plague it has bestowed on the general population – outrageous and overly-dramatic women who engage in stereotypical wealthy woman activities, often knee-deep in even more outrageous and overly-dramatic catty battles with the other women featured on the show. Obviously something all women — especially in a country where 15.1 per cent of the population is living below the poverty line as of 2011, and the unemployment rate is at 8.3 per cent — can relate, if not aspire to. But, they're beautiful! And rich! And kind of smart sometimes! And beautiful! How could one not want to emulate everything about this reality series, especially in a country where we all live in igloos and work at breweries?

Though it may be a bit of an exaggeration, but the emulation of US television series in Canada is what is empirically wrong with our country. Rather than focusing on our diverse and unique character traits, we try to copy those of a more popular, glamorous, superficial nation. While The Real Housewives of Vancouver may be drastically different from the rest of the Housewives shows, it probably won't be. These shows follow a strict plot progression (despite being marketed as "reality television") meant to tease the viewer with future scandals and fist-fights.

There is no doubt that the women involved will come to represent the female population of  Vancouver to the rest of the World, just as the rest of the Housewives have done – embarrassing caricatures of how the lives of a few may be (or at least the highlight reel of it) in one of Canada's most well known and populated cities.

However, Canada's fascination with the glitz, glamour and superficiality of the US extends far beyond what we do in our leisure time: a perfect example being the Republican primary debates.

Certainly the US election is important to Canadians, in particular those living near the border. What happens in 2012 between the Democrats and the Republicans will have an effect on how our country runs – whatever social, political, environmental or monetary disaster the US faces, Canada will see the repercussions. What is concerning, however, is just how much Canadians care about US politics. Everyone knows that we can't vote for that election, right? We are at the whim of whatever our southern neighbours decide is best for the third most populated country in the World, just as is the rest of the planet. Distance is certainly a factor, but you would be hard pressed to find people in, say, Russia, Egypt or Syria who give as much of a shit as Canadians about who moves into the While House in November of this year. The US is a powerhouse, and their actions affect everyone in the World – not just Canada.

It would be ignorant to ignore politics in the US, and embarrassing for an engaged citizen. Yet, there is still roughly 40 per cent of Canadians who don't care, or can't be bothered with politics in their own country.

Sure, the US is sexy, powerful and interesting, but it is also a train-wreck. Perhaps Canadians should spend more time celebrating what makes us sexy, powerful and interesting, rather than trying to force ourselves into a mould that has already been over-used.

-Katherine Gottli