For one thing, I think people of my generation have really
fallen for the spin. The media are
selling us a particular version of our own culture and it seems to be working,
with more and more young people participating in Anzac Day services, possibly
because we feel like we have to be seen taking part in these activities if we
want to be truly "Australian" (Pacella, 2011, pp26-28).
But this has more serious consequences than just us being
taken in by media hype. Amelia Johns
suggests that the Anzac Myth and its implied patriotism and opposition to the
"other" actually led to the recent Cronulla Riots (2008,
pp3-16). More generally, it gets in the
way of us thinking critically about war (MacCallum, 2010).
I actually discussed this issue at uni, and I was surprised
that none of my classmates' comments engaged with the actual issue, i.e. the
possibility that the reality of Anzac Day has been twisted to suit someone
else's agenda. Instead, people argued
that I was wrong because for them, Anzac Day was simply a day to remember the
people who died. That may well be true,
but isn't it interesting that people took a theoretical discussion as a
personal criticism of their own behaviours and values?
That's the root of the problem here. Because the Anzac Legend is so sacred in our
society, any criticisms of it are seen as offensive to the entire Australian
identity. And when our media and
politicians tie the Anzac Legend up with current conflicts, our criticisms of
those conflicts start to look like criticisms of the Anzacs and of very nature
of Australian-ness. This is ultimately
what's wrong with militarist cultures like ours: if the glory of war becomes a
part of our national psyche, there's no room for genuine criticisms and
academic debate. (MacCallum, 2010, pp152-183)
MacCallum, A 2010, "What's Wrong with Anzac", University of Melbourne
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