Canada!

(This was originally posted as a comment here)

Canada, unlike other nations of the world, is defined not by what it is, but by what it is desperately trying not to be: The United States.

Canadians generally resent us. We meanwhile, generally don't think about Canadians or their country at all. We don't hate them, we just don't notice them. How can we when they don't really do much to make themselves known?

Other than the Mackenzie brothers and the Red Green Show, definitively Canadian cultural content never seems to make its way down here. I don't know why because lots of Americans love British TV shows. Why are there no Canadian shows of note? Lots of Canadian actors show up in American films and TV shows, with Elisha Cuthbert being my personal favorite, but when they do they're playing American characters, not Canadians. Why?

The Shipping News, set in Canada and supposedly about Canadians, used an American, two Brits, and an Australian as actors to portray the main characters.

For all these reasons and more, Canada is one of those places that you don't really think about unless and until something comes up that gives you a reason to, and then its like "Oh yeah, there's this whole country up there isn't there?"