Rebellion in the Movie Swing Kids

Swing Kids is a 1993 film that takes place in Hamburg, Germany in 1939. Teenagers, who called themselves Swing Kids, rebelled against the Nazis by refusing to join the Hitler Jugend (Hitler Youth), better known as the HJ. They wore their hair long, liked American movies, dressed in British fashion, and listened to swing music. They used the salute “Swing Heil” as a mockery of the “Heil Hitler” salute with each other. The movie follows three Swing Kids: Peter Muller, Thomas Berger, and Arvid. Peter ended up joining the HJ because he was forced to join it. Thomas joined the HJ after Peter because he believes that the Nazis cannot split up both him and Peter. They will both be deeply affected by the Nazi movement.

Peter is the main character and protagonist of this movie. He was forced join HJ after attempting to steal a radio. This was his suffering. This was also the death of his beliefs. Peter always had to hide his beliefs from the HJ leaders. The final scene shows his self-emptying. In this scene, he goes against Nazi rules and attends a swing dance at the Bismarck. The Nazis come in and assault every person there. He even fights with Thomas, his former best friend. He is then taken by the Nazis to a work camp. He rides away yelling "Swing Heil!" This shows his love and passion for his beliefs.

Willie is Peter's younger brother and the one who will gain the most from this movie. Willie's suffering is losing his father at a young age and then, at the end of the movie, losing his brother to the Nazis. He has suffered death by knowing that when Peter comes back he will be in ashes.

Willie has hope that when the Nazis fall he will be there to witness it. His love for his music and his beliefs will stren...

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... street dancing and beats him. This shows that he has completely lost his own identity and would rather follow the Nazis than to be himself. Emil would rather take pride in the Nazis than himself, which is not the way you should live.

If there is an overall lesson that you can learn from this movie than it is to always be true to yourself. This movie has shown that staying true to yourself can lead to much better things and make you happier. What I have learned over the course of my existence is that you have to make yourself happy before others. You will soon find that what you want in life will come faster and be more meaningful if you believe in yourself.

Works Cited:

Swing Kids. Dir. Thomas Carter Perf. Christian Bale, Robert Sean Leonard, Frank Whaley, Barbara Hershey, Kenneth Branagh. Buena Vista Pictures, 1993. DVD.