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Hope on Hope

By April Anderson, Massachusetts

Emily (Tamara Hope) in 'September Dawn'.

For 22 year old Canadian actress Tamara Hope, the savage attacks against the U.S. on September 11^th 2001 redefined our view of the world in the most unimaginable way. "September 11^th shapes everything still in terms of how I think my generation in Canada feels about the world at large and our sort of optimism about the future," Hope said.         

Hope, who plays the part of Emily in the movie September Dawn (released August 26^th) about the Mountain Meadows Massacre in which 120 Arkansas pioneers were brutally slain by Mormon religious fundamentalists on 9/11 in 1857 said the movie reveals close parallels to the events of September 11^th 2001.

"[Like me], my character in the film led a very sheltered life," she said.  "I think my character is innocent and young and that is basically taken from her when she gets attacked which kind of correlates to the way we all felt about 9/11."

Although 9/11 is a defining event for her generation, Hope argues that it seems like a strange idea to wage a war on the forces of evil. "Violence in general is sort of an aspect of humanity," she said.  "The idea of waging a war on the dark spaces of the human mind seems very odd in a lot of ways. Terrorism has nothing to do with what your religion is or isn't. It's just who we are as human beings, for better or for worse. We all have the capability to do evil.  We have to come to terms with that and try to fight that but I can't help but think that fighting it has to be a peaceable process as opposed to one of malice."

Hope looks forward to bringing her experience on set to her peers in the audience, "I really hope in watching the film that Emily will be the character that we can really relate to because she's young and she's approachable and I think she embodies the point of view that many of us would have in that situation."