Oh, Canada; forever a punchline on American television. From the constant prodding of Cobie Smulders’ character on How I Met Your Mother to the parents of South Park blaming us, viewers often seem to be laughing at our home and native land’s expense.
The latest jab came on Tuesday night’s episode of the hit NBC/CTV dramedy This is Us. When the news that his birth father was bisexual made Randall (Sterling K. Brown) feel uncomfortable, he asked his wife Beth (Susan Kelechi Watson) if she thought he was homophobic, and the dialogue went this like:
Beth: You are not homophobic.
Randall: How do you know?
Beth: Because you’re good and you’re open-minded, that’s why. Plus, your favourite co-worker is gay.
Randall: Keith’s not gay.
Beth: Really?
Randall: No, he’s French-Canadian. It’s confusing.
A throwaway line, yes, but a line that has since garnered plenty of attention in the Twitterverse. Some are offended by the blatant stereotyping, others aren’t sure whether or not it was funny, while most responded with a straight up “LOL!” For example:
“‘He’s not gay. He’s French-Canadian.’ Randall. What does that even mean??” tweeted Maya(@1979original).
“He’s not gay…he’s French Canadian ..there’s a difference!!” tweeted Lori Donovan (@donovan_lori).
“@NBCThisisUs Being a French Canadian your reference to us last night well I pretty much LMAO,” tweeted Stephanie Cannizzaro (@mrspanetta).
In any case, the Canadians who watch This is Us are more likely to be anglophones, as the series doesn’t even crack the francophone television charts. Outside of the Quebec, This is Us is regularly one of the Top 10 most-watched series, with its Dec. 6 midseason finale pulling in the No. 7 spot with 1.72 million viewers, according to Numeris.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
