He's not the Fuhrer - he's just a very naughty boy

A primary school in Western Australia was forced to apologise to parents after a student dressed as Hitler won first prize in a costume party.

They didn’t have to apologise because his costume was somehow lacking – only because he was dressed as Hitler...for a “Character of History” dress-up.

According to the news reports some parents at the Catholic school also made complaints about others dressed as a vampire and Grim Reaper.

Now while Hitler won’t be on my list of people to catch up with for coffee he is an important historical figure. Clearly that meets the brief!

He was extremely intelligent, a great orator, very charismatic and quite the visionary for his country – everything from industrial modernisation and civil improvements to massive infrastructure builds and even being cited as one of the people who had a say in the design of that marvel of German engineering – the VB Beetle.

Why shouldn’t someone dress up as Hitler for a costume parade about famous historical people?

The school should not have to send a written apology to parents, although maybe an informative and age-appropriate bit of class time about Hitler would be a wise move so other students (and perhaps some parents) have some facts and context.

What’s truly concerning about this is why some parents would obviously like a particular version of history to come through for the students. You cannot wipe significant individuals from history simply because you don’t like them.

Remember the furore over rumours Time Magazine might name Osama Bin Laden “Man of the Year” complete with cover photo, in 2001? They eventually shied away from him and went with NY Mayor Rudi Giuliani instead. Personally I think that was a cop-out as “Man of the Year” (forget the gender issues for a moment please!) is supposed to mark that year’s most influential individual regardless of the nature of that influence.

Ironically Hitler made it to that famous cover in 1938 so I reckon he’s very fit for this school activity!

And what about the vampire and Grim Reaper dress-ups?

Donning the cape, fake fangs and running around yelling “I vant to suuuck your bloooood!” in a cheesy Transylvanian accent, is one of life’s great joys for children (and for some adults). It’s getting involved in a little bit of fantasy where myths and monsters come to life in a way they can’t hurt you.

Why contaminate that with the unimaginative, rigid and often oversensitive, sullen adult view?

For goodness sake – it was COSTUME PARTY! How very boring if people only ever dressed in things which were completely safe. Part of being in a costume is to have fun and enter a world of make-believe, however small or subtle.

We spend enough time as adults treading carefully to avoid offending anyone about anything at anytime. How about we let our kids dress their lives in more than the beige and black/white we have to contend with.

We wouldn’t want to start telling these kids they aren’t allowed to dress up as a vampire or the Grim Reaper because they go to a Catholic school would we? That would be a little Christo-fascist and even Hitler might give that the thumbs up.