Wednesday

On the morning chat show The Wright Stuff a few days ago they were discussing the rights and wrongs of whether a film about the Iraq war should be shown on television - exposing as it did the cruelties of British soldiers to prisoners of war at a time when our own soldiers were being held. The general consensus amongst the panel was that it shouldn't be shown. Someone went even further than this to say that no films should be made about the war because it was still a recent event. We should wait a few years, he believed. This is what they did during the Second World War, he argued - no films were made about it until long after.

You can see why I was annoyed. The first point to be made, however, is why would what worked for one generation necessarily work for another? Or, maybe it didn't work for them. We don't know. Anyway, the main point is obviously that many, many films were made about World War Two as it was happening. This is the amazing thing, for me; and for a panellist on a chat show to dismiss them out of ignorance was startling. It was the first time I've wanted to phone in to one of those things. So, as I think I've argued here before, I want to see more films about the Iraq war. I won't try to call the (re)presentation in art of contemporary, traumatic events necessary, but I do think it is a good idea.