You’re absolutely right about it being a film in shades of grey. For me, the most powerful moment (stop now if you don’t want to be spoiled!!!) is ….

when the white cop tries to save the black woman he’d sexually assaulted during the arrest. To watch him understand what he’d done to her was almost unbearable. A terrible moment of clarity. Didn’t make me like him or her, but it was a great moment.

I think one of the things I liked was the film’s honesty – it didn’t try to whitewash anything. The second thing I admired was the way nothing was black and white. There were no unflawed heroes; just ordinary people with a huge complex range of hang-ups, and just when you think you’ve got someone sorted out, wham, they show another side of their character.

Due South is available on DVD, if you’re into DVDs and have a multi zone player. It’s a fascinating excursion through story telling, the development of the show depending on who was calling the shots at any given time.

I once had a classful of boys tell me it was okay to bash up gays, because they deserved it. That lesson got a bit heated, I can tell you … *g*

I remember the amazement of my daughter when she realised that the Yehudi she heard about in the school classrooms here were the same people as the Jews she heard about from me and read about in books such as “Anne Frank’s Diary”. Fortunately she managed to leave all that classroom crap behind her as she grew up.

Sadly the woman in the Tourist Bureau obviously did not.

“naughty people”? i’ve met ignorance in my classrooms here –
one student when told about the holocaust actually said to me “what does is matter? they were only jews”

oh boy did i disabuse them of their prejudices!

I don’t think they show Due South here, although I could be wrong. And in Sabah we actually don’t have a working TV in the apartment…

While I found Crash to be brilliant, I didn’t actually like it, mainly because I didn’t like any of the characters and didn’t care what happened to them. Having said that, I really do think it’s a fantastic piece of work. I appreciate the craft. I just couldn’t connect to it emotionally.

If you can manage it, have a look at Due South. It’s priceless!

As for your government person. Sheesh. The Jews are naughty peoples. Well, I’m so glad you told me. I didn’t realise that.