In the vincity of Canada, on November 11th, we all slap a red plastic poppy on the left side of our chest, and watch a cerimony in our school auditoriums. This year, my Drama10 class of 14 people is putting on that ceremony.
Does anyone REALLY think about what Rememberance day means to those who were directly affected by war or terrorism? Your perception of what Rememberance Day is changed profoundly when you have to write scripts, preform scences and articulate monlouges for the occassion. You have to be cautious when you are in charge of presenting the ceremony to your school and surrounding area. Stuff like that is a sensitive subject to some, and just a reason to get out of class for others.
Okay, I know the presentations are long, boring, and tedious. When you're trying to represent people dying without being direct and in a non-commical matter, it usually DOES end up like that. I'd like to see YOU come up with a Rememberance Day (Or Vetran's Day or whatever) ceremony that didn't involve something written by Dr.John McCrae, or some kind of letter from a son to a mother or vice-versa. But please. If you're "forced" to watch a ceremony, think about what actually DID happen. Think of all the people who died so you could be watching this "crappy ceremony" today. Think about all the SERIOUSLY insane people who did all the killing. Hitler wanted only blonde-haired, blue-eyed people to live because they were perfect. But he had brown/black hair and brown eyes. Scary ne?
Canada may not be all "gung-ho" for war like the states, but we do play a role. Amazing. We do all the peace-keeping missions. It may not sound like much, but when you think about it on a larger scale, Canada does a lot, and you can see that all the other countries are thankful for it.
So on Rememberance Day, don't sit next to your friend and talk about "who-did-who/what", pay attention to what the actors or speakers are saying, and try to picture yourself in a uniform fighting for your country. Watching the people die around you, wondering if it will ever end. It all seems so far away, doesn't it?
-Shae Sackman, with the help of Amber Hawker |
