An old Canadian co-worker of mine here in Cambodia wrote his masters thesis centred around the idea of internationalizing the curriculum in Canadian universities -- only to be met with a resounding lack of interest which sounds typical of a problem that I think infects far too many Canadian schools, both secondary and post-secondary (or did when I was student, anyways.)
What did I learn about the world in high school? I'm not talking about the world of literature, or the world of science, or the world of dodgeball. I'm talking about the real world, the one that exists beyond the boundaries of the Canadian border.
Very little, I'm afraid. I vaguely remember some South African lady coming into my geography class to talk about apartheid...and that's about it. I swear. Even our history classes were concerned almost soley with WWII, and the geography lessons made use of film reel strips that dated from the seventies (and looked it).
Maybe times have changed. Maybe the Canadian curriculum, thanks to the rise of the Internet, has become a bastion of internationalism.
I kind of doubt it.
So why is this relevant?
I think it has to do with the issue of dreams, the notion of belief, the concept of reaching out beyond your usual boundaries.
Very few Canadians travel to foreign countries outside of the U.S. Our knowledge of the world is pretty limited. There are terrible, atrocious events happening halfway around the world, yes, we know that, but what time does Seinfeld start again? Is it the one with the 'contest'?
Part of this lack of awareness (or interest) in the world comes from our schooling. Canada was voted by the UN as the best place to live in the world for two years in a row. The magnitude of that had never even occurred to me before I lived in a place like Cambodia.
What that means is, there is no other way of life on the face of the planet that is better than the suburban lives most of us grew up in. This is it, the top of the human food chain, the cream of the crop of human existence.
(And if you're thinking: If suburbia is as good as it gets in the world, I might as well kill myself, well, I hate to say it, but you're wrong. It is as good as it gets. Wander around some of the villages over here and you'll find it hard to moan about the 'cultural wasteland' of the suburbs. We should be kissing the grass on our weekly-cut lawns on a daily basis just to have such a wasteland to grow disillusioned with.)
Given that our place in the world is so high, I think Canadians have a responsibility to at least consider the rest of the world for even a moment, because guess what? The rest of the world is considering us, big time, and the amount of immigrants coming to Canada does not seem to be stopping. My old co-worker here is a Somali whose sister lives in Canada, and who wants to become a Canadian citizen himself.
Why?
Because Canada is seen as someplace good, honest, fundamentally better than other countries.
That's a reputation, is what it is.
And that reputation has to be validated by the people who are left with the responsibility of holding it up.
To cut to the chase, I don't think students are given the sense of power that they should have, the sense that they can go out and affect the world and, possibly, even change it. I know I sure as hell didn't have any teachers that were telling me that kind of stuff. Good, kind people, yes, but not inspiring, not lighting the flames under the asses of energetic teenagers who have not yet allowed the cynic inside of them to take full flight.
Abnormal success is caused by abnormal people, I read recently, and 'abnormal' does not have to mean deranged. It can mean different from the norm, parallel to the norm.
Canada is abnormal compared to the rest of the world. It is filled with abnormal people, ones who actually have qualified doctors to go to, clean water to drink, lawns to water. If there is a problem, you can go to the police. You can't do that over here. The police don't care.
I think it's time that Canada lost its provincial, small-minded ways, its relentless, ultimately pointless inferiority complex that causes it to constantly compare itself to the States.
Maybe the new influx of immigrants and refugees will bring the stories and legacies of their homelands to the rest of Canada, and together a new Canada can be built, one composed of third and fourth generation Canadians and first generation Canadians working together to integrate Canada more fully and completely with the rest of the (developing) world. All of the Chinese and Indian and Pakistani and Somali young people (soon to be Canadian citizens themselves) that are increasingly filling Canadian classrooms can somehow help the rest of us whitebread Canucks create a new kind of patriotism rooted in a true global consciousness.
That's only going to happen through education. That's only going to happen when Canadians who have lived abroad and have a grasp of international issues are brought into the education system and allowed to create learning systems that reflect their overseas experience. That's only going to happen when young black and white and Asian and African Canadians are reminded again and again that they are a strong, resilient, powerful, abnormal people who live in a place that millions are trying to reach, and that they, themselves, have the obligation to sustain and transform. That's only going to happen when they utilize their potential and capacity to bring themselves up and out of their tiny world and into a state of being much larger than themselves.
Monday, January 03, 2005
MY VERSION OF ROGER EBERT
Recent movies watched and books read under the heat of the December sun, if you're interested. (If you're not interested, go to www.rogerebert.com. He writes better than me, anyways. And he's skinny now, too, which is in and of itself a miracle worthy of your attention.)
MOVIES WATCHED:
HOTEL RWANDA -- Involving flick about the massacres in Rwanda ten years ago. Similar to SCHINDLER'S LIST in some ways. A great central performance by Don Cheadle. Quite moving and powerful, mostly in the leisurely, gradual way that the story develops, the insidious way that horror and corruption go hand in hand. I saw a powerful documentary at the Toronto Film Festival that profiled Romeo Daillaire, who was the Canadian UN general in Rwanda at the time. (In this movie, Nick Nolte plays a character based on Daillaire; does Nolte pull off being a Canadian? I think he does. He has a Canadian flag on his uniform, so that's half the battle right there, right?)
Watching this, though, and other stories of heroism and survival in the midst of war, reminded me of a quote Stanley Kubrick's screenwriter on EYES WIDE SHUT made. He was talking to Kubrick (a Jew) about SCHINDLER'S LIST. Kubrick said something like:
"You think SCHINDLER'S LIST was about the holocaust? That movie was about six thousand Jews that lived. The holocaust was about six million Jews that died."
MADADAYO -- The legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's last film, a long and simple story about a retired professor and his decades-long relationships with his students. In its visual composition, pacing, script and overall theme, it is quintessentially Japanese. It is lengthy and slow and not much happens and it includes everything that American films would leave out. See it to see why Asian films are so much more better than western ones. (A blanket statement, but I think it's true.)
THE JOURNEY HOME -- This is by Zhang Yimou (sp?), the brilliant Chinese director, and it's a simple story, beautifully told. (As was MADADAYO, come to think of it.) Upon the death of his father, a Chinese urbanite returns to his rural village for his father's burial, prompting the story of how his parents being met to be told. The present-day sequences are in crisp, grim black and white, while the idealized narrative of his parents' courtship is in glorious colour. Another excellent Asian flick.
INFERNAL AFFAIRS III -- The first chapter of this Chinese trilogy was just released back in America, and it's going to be remade by Martin Scorsese, starring Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. You should see this orginal flick first, if you can find it. A Hong Kong action series, it focuses on betrayal and loyalty in the police force. This is a fitting end to the series -- entertaining, dramatic, suprising, and a worthy coda to the trilogy that, I suppose, is worth watching on its own, but it has added bits of resonance if you've seen (and remember) the first two flicks. On the whole, I'd say the first film is the strongest -- isn't that usually the case? The second film is a prequel, and the third film jumps back in time from before the first film until the present day. Got that? A convoluted but suspenseful trilogy that deals with poweful themes of memory, forgiveness, revenge and redemption. If foreign films scare you, check out these movies.
BOOKS READ:
CAMBODIA CONFOUNDS THE PEACEMAKERS -- A somewhat clunky title, and a bit of a boring read, but it highlights the long and winding road Cambodia took to achieving even a semblance of democracy after the Vietnamese rule ended in the early nineties. Very informative and exhaustive, illustrating how legal, circular and messy negotiations can become at the end of a genocidal regime that is longing for a semblance of normalcy. Not a fun read, no, but if you're interested in the Cambodian legal system and present-day society, worth checking out.
TWILIGHT OVER BURMA: MY LIFE AS A SHAN PRINCESS -- A memoir of an Austrian woman who, while studying in America, met a Burmese man, married him, and just happened to find out, upon arriving in the country (Myanmar/Burma) that he was a genuine prince of a Shan province. (Uh, sorry honey, he says. Forgot to mention that point.) Simply written, notable mostly for its first-hand details of life in a Burmese province circa 1950. A first-hand portrait of how an Austrian woman becomes a princess, raises a family, and then reacts and responds to ten years in an independently run province of Burma. The personal trauma she experiences when the military regime overpowers the country and her husband serves as a quiet testimony to the dreadful, basic unfairness of so much of Southeast Asian politics and life.
YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS -- This is the autobiography of John Mcenroe. I always liked Mcenroe, probably because he's left-handed, and probably because I remember that when I was in high school he made his final, desperate stab at a Wimbledon singles title at the impossibly late age of thirty-two, which is only three years older than I am now, which makes me feel freakin' old. I can remember reading a British biography of Mcenroe while waiting for a pizza at Pete's Pizza in the plaza near my house. (Is that place still there, I wonder?) Now I'm getting sentimental...
Strange thing is, the British edition, the one I read, is titled 'Serious'. Its cover features Mcenroe in a suit and tie. The American edition's cover shows the famous shot of Mcenroe circa the mid-eighties, strolling through Times Square in a lengthy black overcoat, looking cool. Maybe the publishers thought British readers wanted a little more depth, and the Americans a little more flash?
In any event, if you're a tennis fan, it highlights all the highlights you'd want from Mcenroe's career, but it's more than that. The title -- taken from one of Mcenroe's legendary rants to court officials -- is also kind of a lament for his own immaturity. It's a self-portrait of a guy who is trying to learn how to move away from being a selfish brat now that he has six kids, a wife, and a little bit of a loony ex-wife. How to balance the real world with the illusionary world that tennis players live in. ("Tennis players are not well-rounded people," he says. "There's nothing in the lifestyle whatsoever that requires us to be.")
Mcenroe is a true character, and he tells it like it is; the book pulls no punches on himself or other people. Read if you like or hate Mcenroe. It will probably confirm your opinion of him either way.
LIVING FAITH -- This is Jimmy Carter's memoir about his life as a Christian and how it's affected his career(s), politics and life. Reading this, you wish that Bush were this articulate and broad-minded about his religious beliefs. Carter is remarkably progressive in his beliefs, while never denying the central truths he holds dear. He is not heavy-handed or 'preachy'; he's showing what Christianity has meant to his life through specific examples that are usually poignant and sometimes funny. He's not afraid to criticize his own religion, and he's honest about his changing views. Carter was a pretty lousy president his first time around, I guess, but given all the great work he's done since then, is he still able to have another shot at it? The world needs more leaders like this guy.
MOVIES WATCHED:
HOTEL RWANDA -- Involving flick about the massacres in Rwanda ten years ago. Similar to SCHINDLER'S LIST in some ways. A great central performance by Don Cheadle. Quite moving and powerful, mostly in the leisurely, gradual way that the story develops, the insidious way that horror and corruption go hand in hand. I saw a powerful documentary at the Toronto Film Festival that profiled Romeo Daillaire, who was the Canadian UN general in Rwanda at the time. (In this movie, Nick Nolte plays a character based on Daillaire; does Nolte pull off being a Canadian? I think he does. He has a Canadian flag on his uniform, so that's half the battle right there, right?)
Watching this, though, and other stories of heroism and survival in the midst of war, reminded me of a quote Stanley Kubrick's screenwriter on EYES WIDE SHUT made. He was talking to Kubrick (a Jew) about SCHINDLER'S LIST. Kubrick said something like:
"You think SCHINDLER'S LIST was about the holocaust? That movie was about six thousand Jews that lived. The holocaust was about six million Jews that died."
MADADAYO -- The legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's last film, a long and simple story about a retired professor and his decades-long relationships with his students. In its visual composition, pacing, script and overall theme, it is quintessentially Japanese. It is lengthy and slow and not much happens and it includes everything that American films would leave out. See it to see why Asian films are so much more better than western ones. (A blanket statement, but I think it's true.)
THE JOURNEY HOME -- This is by Zhang Yimou (sp?), the brilliant Chinese director, and it's a simple story, beautifully told. (As was MADADAYO, come to think of it.) Upon the death of his father, a Chinese urbanite returns to his rural village for his father's burial, prompting the story of how his parents being met to be told. The present-day sequences are in crisp, grim black and white, while the idealized narrative of his parents' courtship is in glorious colour. Another excellent Asian flick.
INFERNAL AFFAIRS III -- The first chapter of this Chinese trilogy was just released back in America, and it's going to be remade by Martin Scorsese, starring Brad Pitt and Matt Damon. You should see this orginal flick first, if you can find it. A Hong Kong action series, it focuses on betrayal and loyalty in the police force. This is a fitting end to the series -- entertaining, dramatic, suprising, and a worthy coda to the trilogy that, I suppose, is worth watching on its own, but it has added bits of resonance if you've seen (and remember) the first two flicks. On the whole, I'd say the first film is the strongest -- isn't that usually the case? The second film is a prequel, and the third film jumps back in time from before the first film until the present day. Got that? A convoluted but suspenseful trilogy that deals with poweful themes of memory, forgiveness, revenge and redemption. If foreign films scare you, check out these movies.
BOOKS READ:
CAMBODIA CONFOUNDS THE PEACEMAKERS -- A somewhat clunky title, and a bit of a boring read, but it highlights the long and winding road Cambodia took to achieving even a semblance of democracy after the Vietnamese rule ended in the early nineties. Very informative and exhaustive, illustrating how legal, circular and messy negotiations can become at the end of a genocidal regime that is longing for a semblance of normalcy. Not a fun read, no, but if you're interested in the Cambodian legal system and present-day society, worth checking out.
TWILIGHT OVER BURMA: MY LIFE AS A SHAN PRINCESS -- A memoir of an Austrian woman who, while studying in America, met a Burmese man, married him, and just happened to find out, upon arriving in the country (Myanmar/Burma) that he was a genuine prince of a Shan province. (Uh, sorry honey, he says. Forgot to mention that point.) Simply written, notable mostly for its first-hand details of life in a Burmese province circa 1950. A first-hand portrait of how an Austrian woman becomes a princess, raises a family, and then reacts and responds to ten years in an independently run province of Burma. The personal trauma she experiences when the military regime overpowers the country and her husband serves as a quiet testimony to the dreadful, basic unfairness of so much of Southeast Asian politics and life.
YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS -- This is the autobiography of John Mcenroe. I always liked Mcenroe, probably because he's left-handed, and probably because I remember that when I was in high school he made his final, desperate stab at a Wimbledon singles title at the impossibly late age of thirty-two, which is only three years older than I am now, which makes me feel freakin' old. I can remember reading a British biography of Mcenroe while waiting for a pizza at Pete's Pizza in the plaza near my house. (Is that place still there, I wonder?) Now I'm getting sentimental...
Strange thing is, the British edition, the one I read, is titled 'Serious'. Its cover features Mcenroe in a suit and tie. The American edition's cover shows the famous shot of Mcenroe circa the mid-eighties, strolling through Times Square in a lengthy black overcoat, looking cool. Maybe the publishers thought British readers wanted a little more depth, and the Americans a little more flash?
In any event, if you're a tennis fan, it highlights all the highlights you'd want from Mcenroe's career, but it's more than that. The title -- taken from one of Mcenroe's legendary rants to court officials -- is also kind of a lament for his own immaturity. It's a self-portrait of a guy who is trying to learn how to move away from being a selfish brat now that he has six kids, a wife, and a little bit of a loony ex-wife. How to balance the real world with the illusionary world that tennis players live in. ("Tennis players are not well-rounded people," he says. "There's nothing in the lifestyle whatsoever that requires us to be.")
Mcenroe is a true character, and he tells it like it is; the book pulls no punches on himself or other people. Read if you like or hate Mcenroe. It will probably confirm your opinion of him either way.
LIVING FAITH -- This is Jimmy Carter's memoir about his life as a Christian and how it's affected his career(s), politics and life. Reading this, you wish that Bush were this articulate and broad-minded about his religious beliefs. Carter is remarkably progressive in his beliefs, while never denying the central truths he holds dear. He is not heavy-handed or 'preachy'; he's showing what Christianity has meant to his life through specific examples that are usually poignant and sometimes funny. He's not afraid to criticize his own religion, and he's honest about his changing views. Carter was a pretty lousy president his first time around, I guess, but given all the great work he's done since then, is he still able to have another shot at it? The world needs more leaders like this guy.
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