Jojo Rabbit is both a potent satire about the hateful indoctrination of children, and a coming of age tale about learning how to love. Movies have frequently covered the Second World War, but Jojo Rabbit examines the war through the eyes of 10-year-old German boy, Jojo, played by Roman Griffin Davis, who joins the Hitler Youth and has an imaginary best friend, Adolf Hitler. The imaginary Hitler of the film is a humorous caricature of the historical figure who morphs as Jojo develops over the course of the film. Jojo’s desire to be a faithful Nazi faces a crisis when he discovers that his mom, played by Scarlett Johansson, has been hiding a Jewish girl in their home.
If you’re wondering whether Jojo Rabbit is worth experiencing, here is why I think you should see the film.
1. Humor is an important tool against hate
Getting the tone of a satire right is challenging; getting the tone of a comical Hitler right is even harder. Taika Waititi manages to get both tones correct while both directing the film and acting the part of Hitler himself, a decision required by the studio, Fox Searchlight, that was ultimately successful. Even though Waititi’s Hitler is primarily a buffoon, there is still a powerful layer of hate underneath the comical surface.
Jojo Rabbit uses its humor as a weapon against oppressive leaders like Hitler, who rule by fear. Some people find the notion of a comical portrayal of Hitler problematic even though there is a precedent to such portrayals, such as Charlie Chaplin’s The Greatest Dictator, which was released in1940 during the war! In order to use humor to undercut hate, the film cannot hide from from the era’s difficult subject matter. Without spoilers for materials beyond the trailers, Jojo Rabbit presents children needing to hide to survive, the fear of being identified as a traitor by the Gestapo, the enlistment of small children into the military, and more. Some of the best work in the film is its subtle hints at additional forms of oppression that were occurring at that time. While this is a comedy, it’s not one that makes light of a difficult world.
Jojo Rabbit uses its humor as a weapon against oppressive leaders like Hitler, who rule by fear. Click To Tweet2. We must stop teaching our children to hate
Jojo Rabbit reminds adults of their culpability in breeding hate in the next generation. Children learn their hate from adults. The movie opens with this illustrated bluntly. Jojo offers a weak, non-convincing “Heil Hitler,” which the imaginary Hitler ridicules. The imaginary Hitler then coaches Jojo to say it over and over with more strength. While Hitler isn’t a literal adult in the movie, he is an image of the historical figure’s importance to Jojo as well as a manifestation of Jojo’s teachers and friends who are trying to indoctrinate Jojo.
Jojo Rabbit reminds adults of their culpability in breeding hate in the next generation. Click To TweetJojo begins the film hating and fearing Jews, but he realizes he doesn’t even know how to identify one. He must learn how to identify the person he is supposed to hate. The fact that he doesn’t know if he could identify a Jew in person is held in tension with his other propaganda inspired belief that Jews were misshapen monsters. The two realities, that people look the same and the propaganda that someone is subhuman are hard for Jojo to hold together. He is still learning; he still can’t even tie his shoes himself. And so Jojo trusts those around him to help him understand the Nazi way of looking at the world. The cycle of hate seems to continue in the film as Jojo not only buys into being a distributor of Nazi propaganda, but seeks to sketch propaganda of his own.
3. We must learn to love even when it’s difficult
While many people are teaching Jojo how to hate, there are others in Jojo’s life who want him to learn how to love too. It is revolutionary, and dangerous, to teach love in at culture of hate. Even if Jojo were to see past the Nazi propaganda’s lies, he would still need to display a nationalistic loyalty in order to remain safe. Would you teach Jojo to love if it meant risking Jojo’s life? Would you teach Jojo to be a Nazi if it meant risking Jojo’s soul? That decision has people shaping and world changing consequences.
Jojo’s life has been dominated by a time of war. And being raised during a wartime makes it tempting to understand strength in a militaristic, violent way. What takes even more strength than war? Love. To love during conflict is not easy. But just as Jojo doesn’t know how to hate, he also doesn’t know how to identify love yet either. Jojo wants to know how he can identify love, but he can’t understand it in advance; it’s something that you feel when you encounter it. Jojo has to learn how to dance, how to see the individual in front of him and respond in kind, instead of just following the marching orders of his political party. Jojo’s ability to learn how to dance in love partially relies on the dance partners he encounters.
Jojo has to learn how to dance, how to see the individual in front of him and respond in kind, instead of just following the marching orders of his political party. Click To TweetConclusion
Jojo Rabbit made me laugh, cry, and everything in between. The movie is both heart breaking and heartwarming. Roman Griffin Davis deserved his Critics Choice award for Best Young Performer. You care for the boy even when he is speaking Nazi ideology. Scarlett Johansson deserved her many nominations for best supporting actor. Her motherly love for her child is felt so strongly on the screen. The overlooked performance of this movie is Sam Rockwell’s who gave a very powerful, multi-layered performance. A lesser movie would have let Rockwell stay the same goofy character you encounter in the first few scenes of the movie, but this movie invites more complexity. In a world where people are trying to reclaim Nazi language and iconography, and where hate’s voice grows louder, we need more satires like Jojo Rabbit that undercut the fearful facade of hate and reveal its vanity. It’s time to kick hate out of our lives and learn how to dance with the complexities of life.
It’s time to kick hate out of our lives and learn how to dance with the complexities of life. Click To Tweet