Ok, so last night after the kids went to bed, my wife, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law went out to see the movie "The Boy in Stripped Pajamas." Not knowing much going in, let me say that it was a good movie... although it's hard to say that I truly enjoyed it when the subject is the Holocaust. Did I enjoy Schindler's List? No, but I thought it was a movie important to see but too hard to see a second time. As the Jews have said, never forget. By not forgetting, we are not doomed to repeat the past.
I put this movie on par with Schindler's, although it is not as gripping. It's hard to say much about the movie without giving up everything, but it goes where my wife feared from the very beginning, even before we walked in. It is a story about the innocence of a child in a time of extreme hatred and seeing beyond the stereotypes to find who is really inside.
Ok, if you don't want to know more, stop reading now. It's hard, like I said, to talk about this without giving some specifics.
Are you still here?
Ok. In the end, hatred conquers innocence inadvertently. The best, and worst laid plans of mice and men end in the destruction of what is good. There is a point in the movie where you know how it is going to end and want to reach out, grab the kid, and tell him to stop being so naive, stop being so innocent and trusting -- but in all reality, is this ever something that you want to tell a kid? When confronted between hatred and innocent, our hero chooses humanity. Our hero looks past the hatred of others to see who is inside -- the doctor, the watchmaker, the happy child. He learns the danger of betrayal and learns loyalty while never losing his child-like view of the world.
In the end, this is a divine irony and a tragedy.
I recommend if you get a chance to go see it, do. It is gripping and worth watching once -- although, like Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, End of the Spear and other movies that are stronger than our emotions can handle, it may be hard to watch a second time.
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