This weekend marks the opening of Jojo Rabbit, a movie about a young German boy named Jojo, who learns that Jews are not as bad as he has been taught, through a blend of irreverent humor and surprising seriousness. However, I think that despite the advertising, I did not feel this movie was as focused on being an “anti hate satire” as it so claimed. Instead, I saw it more as a commentary on the opinions people may have about others who are unlike them, and how easily stereotypes can be broken. Young Jojo completely assumes the Jewish girl he finds hiding in his attic is the epitome of the devil, however he learns that when you get to know someone, they are not always the people that others claim them to be. While there were definitely an abundance of comedic moments, I was surprised by how many times I felt emotionally moved, either to sadness or contemplation. In between the humor, there were scenes that were very real and addressed the intensity of the time period, reminding viewers they they were, in fact, watching a movie about the mass genocide of human beings.
As a Jew, I found some of the scenes containing actual events to be a little underwhelming, in terms of how serious or intense they should be. While I do understand that it was a comedy, these events are not to be skimmed over. The beginning of the movie really threw me off in this respect, as it showed people enjoying heiling and having a good time at political rallies. The teenage girl who lived in the attic did not seem nearly as unhappy as you’d believe someone living in a small space for probably over a year might be, and some of the aspects of the war scene were not as traumatic as you’d imagine they would be for a young boy.
The character of Hitler, played by Taika Waititi, the director, was an integral part of both the comedy and profundity of the movie. He brought an interesting twist to the idea of an imaginary friend as he was at times scarily realistic, but at others, seemed just like a 10 year old boy. Waititi played such an interesting role, as both a dictator and a kid’s imaginary friend. At first, he was just funny commentary on Jojo’s life, but continued to lose his influence over Jojo and got more and more terrifying as Jojo began to befriend the girl in the attic. I really enjoyed Jojo as a character as well, and the arc that he experienced was very uplifting as he learned that Jews are not mind-controllers with horns. It made me hopeful for our future, that if we can get to know each other, maybe those who are different than us will not seem so scary after all. As a female, and a Jew, I related very strongly to the girl who was being hidden in Jojo’s house. She represented the reality of the situation and the fear of having such a dangerous and uncertain future very well. Her stories of her previous life being ripped away were intensely tragic.
Overall, I do not think the movie was as good as the critics are raving, but it was definitely an experience I enjoyed. Its perceptivity of how different people can learn to understand each other as well as its humor made it a movie worth going to see.
