I Say Regina, But You Say....?

There was a horror feature shot out here in Saskatchewan about a year and a half ago. At the time it was called 'Harvest', then 'Untitled Pang Brothers Project', and is now being released as 'The Messengers' (in theatres yesterday).

Here's an excerpt from an interview in MovieWeb News with the teenage star Kristen Stewart...

Is this a genre you want to continue in?

Kristen Stewart: I would love to do more suspense and horror; I would kill to do a slasher movie, cause I like watching movies like that.

Where was the film shot?

Kristen Stewart: Regina, Saskatchewan; I call it 'Reggie,' I can't bring myself to say that name too much.

Was it a real farm?

Kristen Stewart: Yeah, I think they built a house for another movie, Tideland, Terry Gilliam's movie; but we took that, and altered it.

I'm not here to promote the film as much as to comment on her statement about the name of this provinces' capital city...Regina (pronounced Ruh-jahy-nuh).


Several years ago, a good friend of mine took a trip over to London. He returned raving about this new tv show he'd seen there...something called 'The Office'. He tells me the concept, and says it is set in Slough, which, in his words "...was perfect because it's like the armpit of England." He proposed developing a simlar show and setting it here because, his words again, "...Regina is so the armpit of Canada."

Then a couple weeks ago, this article appeared in MacLeans magazine naming North Central Regina the worst neighbourhood in the country..., yes, the worst in the country. Everyone around town got their tits in a knot about the story, and it is subjective, but it's also hard to argue with a lot of the facts.

Back on point. All of the above is tough to overcome, but to top it off, there's the name. Regina. (again, pronounced Ruh-jahy-nuh)

If you grew up here, the city's name just was what it was. Nobody questioned it. Or made fun of it. It never crossed anyone's mind. When we moved to Toronto, there was some ribbing...but more to do with the place in general. As in: "You're from where? Regina? Oh, I'm sorry." But when we moved to Los Angeles, holy crap.

"Regina? Ruh-gina??!! Like Vagina?" Seriously. I heard from my older daughters that they were getting a lot of teasing from their peers... "Hey Vagina girl!"... or..."You know where she was born? Vagina!!" Much pointing and peels of laughter apparently ensued. At first I thought they were exaggerating, but not after witnessing it for myself one day picking them up from school. Pretty astonishing.

It got so my kids stopped telling people where they were born and raised, resorting to just saying Canada (Saskatchewan tended to get a confused look and the inevitable...Huh? or Where?). Mentioning Regina became a "no no". And that's probably a good thing...Ms. Kristen Stewart's comment in the interview above tells me there would still be grief endured today.

Not sure of my point here, other than it was annoying. And also confusing. If you happened to be from Luck, Wisconsin...would American's gasp and say: "Huh? Yer from F*ck?!" Or if your name was Delores, would you ever hear "What? Like Clitoris?!" (okay, post-Seinfeld maybe).

And it wasn't just me...I've heard many a similar story from numerous Reginians when I decided to share my little tale. And I've been told it's probably as simple as 'you say to-may-to', and I say to-mah-to' - but I'm starting to think there's something deeper and more sinister afoot.

I need a cutesy punny line to close this post...help me out here. All I got is...

Nevertheless, it's tough to defend your hometown as a tiger when everyone else sees it as a pussy.

SONG&ARTIST? - "All my friends are so small town

My parents live in the same small town

My job is so small town

Provides little opportunity..."