Just f*cking watch me

Last night was the first instalment of CBC’s October 1970, about the FLQ crisis. And today is the anniversary of Pierre Trudeau’s famous “Just watch me” interview.

This is by far my favourite clip on the CBC Digital Archives site. I even caught the tech guys who work beside me watching it yesterday, and they were as enthusiastic about it as I am.

What’s so exciting about the clip is not just the context of terrorism and the War Measures Act, but Trudeau’s electric personality. You are probably familiar with the soundbite, but watch the full six minute tete-a-tete posted on the Archives site. Trudeau really takes reporter Tim Ralfe on, questioning his own beliefs and taking as much time as he wants (transcript here).

You’d never see a politician engaging with the media that way today. It’s partly a reflection of the time, and partly of the man - but it’s certainly captivating.

For me, at least. Turns out that 36 years later, Canadians are still divided over the P.E.T. legacy.

Two weeks ago - before the TV series - this message was sent to our “contact us” e-mail address. It was sent by someone who works for the government, sent from work, using their lastname.firstname address - I should publish their name here, but I won’t. Asterisks inserted by me.

Subject: Could you give me a f*cking break with Pierre Elliot Trudeau for Christ’s sake

Message: Is this guy the only person of interest in the entire history of this country or are you guys just too f*cking lazy to research other subjects?

Then today, we got a message from someone else, who saw Trudeau in our newsletter:

I loved the Trudeau clips from the last letter. But I am enjoying so much receiving these newsletters! I can scarcely get anything else done on the days they arrive.

So, does Trudeau drive you nuts with excitement or rage? I’ve installed some poll software, so you can have your say - just vote in my sidebar, a few inches down and to the right of here.

EDIT: Poll moved to the Polls Archive.

Posted by: Paul Gorbould | 10-13-2006 | 03:10 PM
Posted in: CBC