The Oh my God Project
The phrase, “Oh my God” is filling the everyday talk of Canadians. As a communications professor, I’m incredibly curious about this phrase and how we make sense of its meaning. The Oh my God Project is focused on producing media that explores the presence and meaning of this phrase in our everyday experience. This is a multi-year undertaking with several phases.
Phase One – short film
The first phase has been to produce a short documentary film (8-10 minutes) that explores when people say “Oh my God”. The short doc invites you into a series of humorous and compelling conversations with people on the streets of Winnipeg and surrounding area to discover where the phrase shows up for them.
Phase Two – audio documentary
The second phase focuses on the production of a longer form audio documentary that explores how and why we say “Oh my God.” The audio doc will draw on cultural and religious experts, linguists and of course, everyday people on the streets. I like to think of the Oh my God Project as a documentary adventure into the everyday talk of Canadians.
David C Balzer
Associate Professor of Communications and Media
Canadian Mennonite University
Winnipeg, MB.