No More Mr. Nice Guy

by Michael Friis Johansen

Television character gives Canada a new face

Canada has a new hero for the 21st century.

He's not, as one might think, one of our military leaders like Romeo Dallaire or Lewis Mackenzie, or even any of the thousands of troops who have been sent overseas to fight in one of America's wars. It's not a sports figure either, like (as much as they deserve it) swimmer Sylvie Frechette or curler Colleen Jones, or any of the highly paid athletes who play in one of North America's professional hockey, baseball, or football leagues.

This hero is not an environmental activist like David Suzuki or Elizabeth May. He's not a journalist like Rex Murphy or Peter Mansbridge. And he's certainly not a politician like Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper or New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton or any of the dozens of Liberal Party leadership hopefuls.

Actually, Canada's new hero is not even real. He's a fictional character named Dr. Rodney McKay who's been on American television for almost two years and is now appearing in syndication on Canadian cable.

The series in which he appears (for those woefully unfamiliar with science fiction beyond the mediocre Star Wars universe) is called Stargate Atlantis, a spin-off from the long running Stargate SG1, the premise of which is that hundreds of centuries ago an alien race constructed thousands of mechanisms (machines that look like large stone rings) that link to each other by creating temporary wormholes through space, allowing almost instantaneous travel to distant planets.

Canadian scientist Dr. McKay (who is described as being considered by the Pentagon as Earth's foremost expert on Stargate technology) was assigned to be a member of a large international team sent through a wormhole to a planet in another galaxy, to an ancient floating city called Atlantis, the abandoned home of the alien gate builders.

At first glance the McKay character (played by English-born, Toronto-raised actor David Hewlett) does not appear to be hero material, especially for Canadians. He is not tall, dark, or handsome -- although some women (and presumably some men) might find him cute in a frog-like way no one is liable to swoon over his looks. Neither is he a hero (as one might expect) just because he is able to rise above his strong sense of self-interest in a crisis and has been known to save the entire expedition at the risk of his own life. Nor is it because he is clearly the most intelligent member of the team, which says a lot because they're all pretty smart.

No, what makes him a Canadian hero for the new century is the fact that he is so very rude -- not just annoyingly rude, but obnoxiously rude. He displays the kind of arrogant rudeness that cuts to the centre of the unfortunate target's self-respect and induces unreasoning indignation in the minds of anyone who hears him. It's an arrogance that makes you want to punch him in the face and not feel sorry about it afterwards.

To Dr. McKay rudeness is not just an affectation or a hobby, it's a way of life born from an extreme sense of honesty. McKay knows he is intellectually superior to everybody else and he sees no reason to hide the fact. He has absolutely no tolerance for stupidity, especially if that stupidity threatens his own existence. If he thinks you're wrong he'll tell you so and he won't apologize for his opinion.

And, to top off his Canadian hero credentials, while everyone around him calls the last letter of the alphabet "zee" (a common American habit) he sticks with the proper Canadian pronunciation "zed" -- even when that confuses the intergalactic aliens he encounters who are not familiar with the differences between Canadians and Americans. As he heroically stands his ground he simply does not care if others understand or not -- their ignorance is their problem.

In other words, he's a Canadian who is not content to be a hewer of wood or a drawer of water. Although he works under an American command he refuses to assume a colonial disposition. He won't bow to orders just to be polite. In fact he won't do anything at all unless he's convinced it's the right thing to do -- no matter what his hierarchical superiors might think.

That's why McKay is a Canadian hero for the 21st century. In the face of so much stupidity in world affairs (like all the killing done in the name of peace-loving gods, or the military invasions that take place under the cover of blatant lies, or the destruction of our fragile environment undertaken to increase the already bloated profits of large corporations) it's time for Canadians to stand up for themselves, declare their superiority in no uncertain terms and to rudely tell everybody else to stop acting like morons.

Of course this would require that Canadians clean up their own act first. If they're going to be superior they have to act superior -- they

have to repair and stop polluting their own environment, stop persecuting their own minorities, eliminate poverty in their country and stop participating in foreign military adventures. Only then will they be able to tell everybody else where to go.

The rest of the world might start considering Canadians rude (and they might wish they become again the diffident and polite Canadians of old), but at least they'll have the world's attention. Who listens to Canadians now?

Too bad Dr. McKay is in another galaxy. He's needed on Earth today.