"Nine times is enough" seguing to "National identity"

For the ninth time I've been sent the same petition in an email. Disregarding the fact that email petitions don't count for anything, I'm refusing to sign this one. This petition in particular is trying to ban the production of a film based on the Paul Barnardo crimes. It claims that in the name of decency and out of respect for the parents this film should not be allowed to be made.

Sorry. I have every sympathy for the people involved, but I absolutly refuse to sign this petition. Yes it was awful, yes it was deplorable, yes it was disturbing.... but so was World War Two, and how many movies are there about WW2? How many war movies are there?

We can't pick and choose which stories are going to be told. There is no difference between the horrors of war and the horrors of a murderer. There are movies about David Berkowitz, so it's not like this is the first movie ever made on the subject. Things like this don't just go away because we'd like to forget them.

In a similar vein, Chapters has long refused to carry "Mein Kampf" (aka Hitler's book). I had a conversation with a professor who I respect on the subject, and she had this to say about it; While it may not be pleasant or enjoyable to learn that people think and act in these ways, it is important to know that these things happened so that we can prevent them from happening again. If this kind of censorship is applied to society, we are doomed to repeat ourselves.

In the end, education is always preferrable to ignorance.

So I won't sign this petition. Partly because of the above, but also because after the spiel about why I should sign it was written "Let's be Canadian." While this was pushy to say the least, it implied that if I supported this movie I was being "Un-Canadian." Don't tell me what it is to be Canadian. If you think that just because we live in the same country we share the same ideals, you are sorely mistaken. Perhaps I was mistaken, but I was under the impression that Canadians were a free-thinking group, willing to let people make up their own minds. But now I'm generalizing. People can be as open or as closed-minded as they want to be. Just don't assume I'm on your side because we're both citizens.

Besides, what does it mean to be Canadian? "Canadians are nice. They're so polite." Whoever said that doesn't know some of the Canadians I know.

I felt so much more comfortable with Jean Chretien in charge of my nation's affairs. I think of this new lot, and this is the first thing that jumps into my mind. I think I liked how damn charming Chretien was. He was probably conniving and underhanded like lots of politicians, but he never came off as a used-car salesman. I barely pay attention to the nation's politics anymore. Probably because I can't even get the CBC on tv. Lousy lack of an antennae. It was nice when the only stations I got were CBC, CTV, and Global if you stood over the set waving your arms up and down. TV is a trap.

Man, I should change the name of this page to "Rambledom" or "Tangent-ville." That's it. Go away now.