Quebec television serves as a link between Isabelle Gallant and Jade Léveillé, her 19-year-old daughter. This year, they watched and talked about several series, including STAT, Indefensible, Composite, Red Wristbands, Before the Crash, Double Fault, and Plan B. “TV is what we have in common. »
In interviews, both speak with great enthusiasm (and eloquence) about the content they watch, the plots they dissect and, above all, the influence they have on each other in matter of program choice.
This sharing began when Jade decided, during a summer break in sixth grade, to watch La galère, a series Isabelle had often talked about. Then came the unmissable District 31, which the CEGEP student started alone, until she convinced her mother to board.
Both have followed Luc Dionne’s popular crime drama diligently and invested. Isabelle Gallant remembers in particular the brutal death of Nadine (Magalie Lépine-Blondeau), which had caused a stir among the 1,300,000 viewers in October 2017. “I called Jade after the episode, and she was crying. She didn’t want to talk about it. She was like, “Let me have my moment!” »
The example of Isabelle Gallant and Jade Léveillé illustrates an important phenomenon in Quebec television: mother-daughter filiation. According to a recent survey by the Academy of Digital Transformation (ATN) concerning the connected viewing practices of young adults in Quebec, parents are a major source of content discovery. In fact, 31% of respondents aged 18 to 24 say they have discovered fiction series, reality TV or even Quebec variety shows by talking with mom and dad. This proportion is even more marked on the side of young women, with 40%, specifies the report produced jointly with UQAM and the Quebec Association of Media Productions (AQPM).
Knowing how many young adults are abandoning Quebec television in favor of American programs, the role of parents seems even more crucial to ensure its sustainability. “It’s an important responsibility because of young people’s lack of access to Quebec content,” says Christine Thoër, full professor in the department of social and public communication at UQAM.
According to Christine Thoër, who leads the research team behind the ATN investigation, young people aged 18 to 24 “don’t see” Quebec television content on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and all the other platforms or applications that they regularly use.
Christine Thoër also mentions the numerous testimonies of young women collected for the study, in which they described the privileged moments they had spent with their mothers in front of the screen.
“It was sometimes moving, comments the professor. The respondents told how, together, they talk about the series they watch. I heard beautiful testimonies about Fugueuse, discussions about sexual exploitation that they had after seeing her. Others had spoken about domestic violence after Can you hear me? »
To maximize the chances that an adult between the ages of 18 and 24 will be interested in Quebec programming, they must have grown up being exposed to local children’s programming, and not just those from the United States, which can be found on Netflix and other Disneys. Christine Thoër calls this contact an “imprint”.
For Jade Léveillé, this “footprint” was made with series like Tactik (Télé-Québec), Une grenade avec ça? (Vrak) and L’appart du 5e (Vrak). “I have always been attached to Quebec television, to the craftsmen who work on it, she says. We have such talented people here, why would I look anywhere else? »
In addition, the maternal influence also acted on Isabelle Gallant in matters of television. When she was younger, she watched soap operas like Cormoran, Le temps d’une paix and Entre chien et loup because she saw her mother sit in front of her television every time they played.
“Jade is less fond of period series,” says the 44-year-old mother. She likes reality shows. She listens to it a lot, but I, less. »
Nevertheless, Isabelle Gallant is interested in the “little gossip” that she sees on Double occupation and company, specifies her daughter.
“With our schedules, life going fast, and me at CEGEP, we see each other less than before, we talk to each other less than before, but TV is a subject we come back to all the time, underlines Jade. It all started with the fact that when I was younger, I often saw my mother watching TV. She followed the Quebec media, she knew the stars, the actors… And when I got hooked on a series, I had so much fun that I wanted to listen to all the others. My whole childhood I wanted to be a lawyer because of All the Truth! »
