This is very, very true.
I will now plug one of Broadway’s greatest shows currently packing them in at Lincoln Center: War Horse. It tells the story of WWI through the eyes of two horses. Never has a play shown the devastation of that insane war on the British nation and psyche as well as this simple play taken from a children’s novel. It is a production out of the National Theatre of Great Britain - possibly the greatest theatre company in the English-speaking world. The Brits may not do “polite” all that well, but they certain do great theatre.
I think the movie version of War Horse is now in the works - I’ve seen a trailer of it in the past few months.