#Examples of non-racist francophonie topics for a show/movie:

[uranodioningin]

This was way too long for replies so I'm commenting. Apologies for the avalanche of text. Also, apologies to my followers who will have no idea what I'm talking about or why.

Quebec is super racist, and those of us who live here are tired of tax money being thrown towards racist policies and shitty treatment of immigrants, forcing them to learn French under the least supportive circumstances.

It would be fantastic if some of that money could go towards expanding language learning, not just in terms of the classes available to people, but also low-stakes ways to practice speaking & listening; namely, TV/movies and fan spaces. As opposed to, you know, work. Where there are financial consequences if you don't learn fast enough. Streaming Quebecois French shows (yes Quebecois French, watching Parisian French does nothing to help you understand your Quebecois coworkers or clients) is an excellent way to offer that sort of learning & practice, and funding for such shows is a good thing.

It would also be fantastic for Quebec to put more support in indigenous language revival, as mentioned in the replies. I will just point out here that Netflix and Disney aren't exactly bastions of indigenous language revival, and asking them to offer Quebec-French media in Quebec itself is in no way taking away space for indigenous voices. Quebec's goal with this bill seems to be to stem the tide of Anglo-colonial media pushing down any and all diverse voices in online streaming. I don’t think that’s the best priority to have, and indigenous language revival should receive far more attention, but it’s not in and of itself a racist project to make streaming platforms offer media in the languages & on the topics relevant to the local consumers.

There is, certainly, a link between modern francophonie and white supremacy. If this bill is implemented fully (with that nonsense about temporary international workers needing to learn French, and [as mentioned in the replies] with less & less structural support and just plain time for that learning to happen) there will be negative shock-waves, most strongly felt by the linguistically disenfranchised (which is basically to say non-white anglophone & allophone immigrants). On this I agree with OP's view, that this bill is framed as "preserving" the French language when in fact over 50% of the funding is going towards making immigration harder for POC in a way that will in no way increase the ratio of francophones in the province. The streaming stuff is a good start, but it's tacked on as an afterthought, with the bulk of the bill going to good ol' QC racism.

I try not to be pessimistic, though. I hope it’s possible to build a future francophonie, built on values of diversity and acceptance and decolonisation. I am under no illusions that it will be easy to shape this future franco culture so that it includes none of the long history of oppression of French colonisation, but I believe it's possible, and more importantly, that it's important to try. To pretend that making a better future that includes all currently extant cultures of a region isn’t possible...to put it politely, it's a little grim.

And frankly, Quebecois-French TV and movies are a damn good tool for creating a new francophonie without the racism--IF the shows/films are made with anti-colonial values, with messages of acceptance and celebration of all Quebec's cultures, with an exploration of what makes Quebec be Quebec that extends beyond on parle français icitte tbk.

To end, I’m not saying “if Francos don’t oppress Native voices, someone else will, so we might as well be the ones to do it.” I’m not saying “Let's give all disenfranchised people equal support whether or not they face equal hurdles.” I’m not saying “French in Quebec is dying and we must save it.” I’m not saying “Quebec is better when it's French.”

I’m saying “There are anglophones and allophones in Quebec who want to learn French, but who lack the structural support to achieve that, and artistic efforts to support these people are a good thing.” I’m saying “Artistic efforts to encourage language learning can and should be implemented alongside academic efforts, and neither effort is being made with sufficient emphasis right now.” I’m saying “Asking Netflix/Disney/etc. to offer Quebecois media is a way of increasing artistic support for French learners (and positively shaping franco culture) without trodding down any other linguistic/cultural revival efforts.” I’m saying “French culture is a lot more than just being able to work in French, but currently there is little to no space in modern Quebec for francophone culture made by Quebecois artists for a Quebecois audience. Quebeckers seeking a cultural handhold find only the labour market.”

I’m saying “Quebec has a future and we want to actively shape it instead of being subsumed by the USA's cultural trajectory.”

I don't trust the current government, or any of the other parties contending for the next gov't, to shape Quebec into something non-racist. But if the revolutionary spirit of Quebec, its working-class history, its multicultural history, is stamped out by American reactionary politics, then the Quebec of 30 or 50 or 100 years from now is going to be so much worse.

Quebecers could soon see more homegrown content on streaming services like Netflix and Disney+.

The provincial government announced that it plans to introduce a new bill within the next year to force online streaming giants to add more made-in-Quebec media on their platforms. It was one of nine measures unveiled on Sunday under the province's plan to spend $603 million over five years(opens in a new tab) to protect the French language in Quebec.

Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe did not provide specifics of what would be inside the bill. [...]

The new funding will be aimed at nine priorities outlined by the government to boost the status of French. More than half of the money — $320 million — will be earmarked for ensuring temporary international workers speak and learn French. After immigration, culture is poised to get the second-largest chunk of the funding, at $187.3 million. [...]

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