This trend bodes well for future films with historical themes. Winston Churchill might be played by a woman of mixed African-Asian descent who chews gum and deplores the use of tobacco, particularly cigars. As the RSL has already noted, the dwindling number of World War II veterans may mean that the form of the commemorative Anzac Day services will have to change in the future. Perhaps the War Memorial in Canberra should begin protecting reality by offering licences only to scriptwriters who refer to original, authentic source materials and provide a seal of historical honesty to approved films and documentaries. As we have seen recently, reports from bodies such as the United Nations can provide depictions of Australian situations distorted beyond belief, much as the material published in the Bringing Them Home document furnished by Sir Ronald Wilson has failed the test in courts in NSW and the Northern Territory.
History can only suffer from such virtual treatment.
Realities such as the appalling nature of war should not be avoided. The blood, the gore, the waste of human life, are all part of the tragic lesson. Future generations should no more be able to duck such truths than they should be able to avoid confronting such facts as the provenance of bacon and eggs. With any luck, they might even learn enough to avoid making the same mistakes as some of those who have gone before. They might also understand why we honour the memories of those whose legacy has permitted us to live in freedom now.