Anti-Semitism in “Swing Kids” and “School Ties”
“Anti-semitism has no historical, political, and certainly no philosophical origins. Anti-Semitism is a disease”- Daniel Barenboim. According to the “Merriam Webster Dictionary” anti-Semitism is defined as “hatred of Jewish people.” Two films were released in the 1990’s that deal with different issues involving anti-Semitism. One titled “Swing Kids” was set in Nazi Germany and tells the story of a group of teenage resisters who rebel by doing swing dance, but are forced to be involved with the Nazis anyways. The other film is titled”School Ties”. This film is set in the United states, but also also deals with issues of anti-Semitism.
In the film, “Swing Kids” a group of teens named Peter,
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Thomas and Arvid rebel against the Nazis by being swing kids, those that listen and dance to swing music. Swing music was not tolerated by the Nazis in those times, so it was a way to be against the Nazis. One day Thomas breaks Arvid’s record and as a way to repay him, Thomas decides to steal a radio from a lady who owns a stolen Jewish radio. Peter and Thomas are both in the act of stealing the radio when they are caught by German police. Thomas escapes, but Peter is taken away and forced to join the Hitler Youth. Thomas joins the program with alongside Peter but unlike Peter he succumbs to the propaganda and is brainwashed. After Thomas continues to make fun and insult Arvid, Arvid commits suicide. Peter comes to a better understanding of what is happening and he is later seen at a dance club by the brainwashed Thomas. They fight, but Thomas tries to let Peter escape before he is captured. Peter is hesitant and is taken away, presumably to a work camp. “Swing Kids” has many strengths and weaknesses. One of the film’s strengths is that it had a lot of emotion. There were some scenes that showed that not all Germans shared the same views. One of them was where Peter is delivering packages and finds out that he has been delivering the ashes of dead people, Jews, to their family members. He is horrified and completely shocked by it. A weakness of the film is the ending. It was so anti-climatic that it felt downright lazy and or rushed. It did provide some information in the form of reading, but it would’ve been better to see it in action. There could’ve been a scene that showed what happened to Peter, as it is presumed he went to a work camp. Instead it only says what happened to swing kids back then. In the film “School Ties” a Jewish teenager named David Greene is transferred to St.
Mathews High School with a football scholarship. At his new school, David keeps his religion a secret he befriends other students as he moves in. David puts on great performance at a football game and manages to win along with his team. Later that night at a dance/party, David meets a girl who he shows interest in, and she is Charlie’s, one of David’s friends and teammates’, girl. The two teens begin to connect until Charlie takes Sally, his girl, away from David. At another football game, Charlie is out shined by David as he takes the spotlight away from him for having an important play. There is a dinner later that day and Sally and David go to dance while Charlie stays behind to talk about the game he starred in earlier. After a while Charlie goes to the teens and tries to take away Sally, but she says that she doesn’t want to be with Charlie anymore. She confesses that she likes David and not Charlie. Obviously, Charlie is infuriated by what had happened and leaves. He learns from one of the coaches that David is actually a Jew and is driven by hate to spread the word. Charlie lets out David’s secret and everyone begins to see him as different and begin to harass him. Sally tells David that she doesn’t want to be with a Jew and so the two split up. Towards the end of the movie, and the end of the school year for the students, Charlie cheats on a history test and the teacher threatens to …show more content…
fail the whole class unless the cheater comes out. The student council responsible for figuring out who cheated all agree that David did it only because he is a Jew. David is forced to say that he cheated to the teacher and be expelled, but the teacher knows that he didn’t do it because the history teacher had found the notes that Charlie used to cheat. Charlie is expelled from the school and David stays. “School ties” had multiple strengths and weaknesses. One of the strengths from the movie was the way that Jews were still portrayed even after the war. Everything is fine for David and people even praise him for being such a good football player, but once people learn he is a Jew, they start treating him as if he were a completely different person. It shows how some people were still racist and anti-Semitic. However, the film wasn’t completely perfect. One of the film’s weaknesses was once again the ending. It kind of left off with a cliffhanger of David walking into campus as Charlie drives off after being expelled. What exactly happened after that? That’s up to you to decide or figure out. It would’ve been nice to see what happens, such as a view of the future or some text that explains what happened after that, but no, it had no such thing. With the situation that David was left in, The ending could’ve improved. Were the other students still harassing him? Did he ever get back with Sally? What did his classmates think of after Charlie was punished for his actions? If only the ending did a better job. In the end each movie had its ups and downs while showing different perspectives towards anti-Semitism.
One perspective was focused on German teenage rebels during the war, while the other was focused on American teens after the war. In my opinion, “ Swing Kids” was a better movie. That’s not to say that “School Ties” was bad, it’s just that I prefer “Swing Kids”. Both films focus on anti-Semitism, but I feel as if “Swing Kids” did a better job at it. It showed a viewpoint that normally isn’t shown, and that is of Germans not hating Jews. “School Ties” was more of a generic bully type of situation, whereas the other movie shed some light on a different perspective. Both movies still did a good job at showing how anti-Semitism affects people around you and I’d recommend both films. However if I had to choose only one, I’d go with “Swing Kids”. It might teach you something that you might not
know.
David’s enemy, Sam, is the leader of the Varsity gang. Sam becomes a very bad kid; he actually kills a student during one of the food drops. David has to offer to do laundry for kids in order to get some supplies for him and his brother since they aren’t members of any of the gangs.
In addition to the harsh feelings shown toward the Jews by the non-Jewish community, this film shows the cold relationship between the different groups of Jews.
In school Eva encountered a hard time because she was Jewish and the other children knew they could get away with blaming things on her. An example of this is when a group of boys put bird eggs on the teachers chair so she would sit on them. This joke caused the teacher to become upset and ask who had put the eggs on the seat. The children replied that it was the dirty jews referring to Eva and Miriam. The teacher then punished them without investigating what had really happened. Also within the classroom there were examples like if you kill two jews out of five how many do you have left.These events in the school shows how antisemitism was present in young children and lessons. As talked about in class many schools had lessons that were directed to teaching children how awful the Jewish people were compared to
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, anti-Semitism is hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group. There are two main types of anti-Semitism: classical anti-Semitism and modern anti-Semitism. Classical anti-Semitism is the hatred and intolerance towards Jews because of their religious differences. According to remember.org,
...b here in high school, and that is where she meets boys.” pg-10. “He’s playing football for Penn State, but he needed the summer to get his grades right to play football”.pg-5. Charlie explains his siblings lives a lot all throughout the book.
Anti-Semitism is the hatred and discrimination of those with a Jewish heritage. It is generally connected to the Holocaust, but the book by Helmut Walser Smith, The Butcher’s Tale shows the rise of anti-Semitism from a grassroots effect. Smith uses newspapers, court orders, and written accounts to write the history and growth of anti-Semitism in a small German town. The book focuses on how anti-Semitism was spread by fear mongering, the conflict between classes, and also the role of the government.
Anti-Semitism, hatred or prejudice of Jews, has tormented the world for a long time, particularly during the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a critical disaster that happened in the early 1940s and will forever be remembered. Also known as the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, an assassination by the German Nazis lead by Adolf Hitler.
In Sartre's Anti-Semite and Jew, he makes reference to the notion that anti-Semitism arises not against individual Jews, but against the " idea of the Jew." That is to say that the Jew is recognized only as a member of a group associated with fear and disgust, not as an individual capable of being anything but the stereotype of the Jew. I agree with Sartre's theory as I have seen first hand the disgust associated with being Jewish. The Jew is judged not by his action or words but simply by the fact that he is a Jew, and the preconceived idea of what this means. As discussed in class, Jews have been used as scapegoats throughout history.
Throughout history Jewish people have been discriminated against relentlessly and while one may think that the world has finally become an accepting place to live in, unfortunately the battle against discrimination still exists even in countries such as the USA. Different opposing groups such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the Knights Party have not only discriminated against people of non-white races, but they have helped promote anti-Semitism in the United States. Anti-Semitism is the hatred of or discrimination of against Jews, which according to Efron et al. “anti-Semitism was born of modern racial theories and political ideas, or for that matter with Christian anti-Semitism, fueled by distinctive theological ideas unique to Christianity” (Efron et al. Pg. 68).
Before the nineteenth century anti-Semitism was largely religious, based on the belief that the Jews were responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion. It was expressed later in the Middle Ages by persecutions and expulsions, economic restrictions and personal restrictions. After Jewish emancipation during the enlightenment, or later, religious anti-Semitism was slowly replaced in the nineteenth century by racial prejudice, stemming from the idea of Jews as a distinct race. In Germany theories of Aryan racial superiority and charges of Jewish domination in the economy and politics in addition with other anti-Jewish propaganda led to the rise of anti-Semitism. This growth in anti-Semitic belief led to Adolf Hitler’s rise to power and eventual extermination of nearly six million Jews in the holocaust of World War II.
Anti-Semitism has been a plague on humanity since biblical times. According to Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, anti-Semitism is defined as “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.” This is one of the major themes of Philip Roth’s fictional novel The Plot Against America. In his novel, Roth creates an alternate universe where Charles A. Lindbergh, Nazi sympathizer and friend of Hitler, was picked as the republican candidate and ends up winning the presidency over the democratic candidate, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Throughout the novel, Roth shows how this theoretical change in history could have affected both the outcome of the war and the future for Jews in America, all through the eyes of a young Philip Roth and his family.
Anti-Semitism has been changed into countless forms and each of them mean something different but none of them take away any part of the cruelty that was placed on Jewish people. “In 1879, German journalist Wilhelm Marr originated the term antisemitism, denoting the hatred of Jews, and hatred of various liberal, cosmopolitan, and international political trends of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries often associated with Jews (Anti-Semitism).” “Anti-Zionism” is the hatred of Jews and “Anti Semitism” is discrimination of Israel and Zionism is racism (Lipset). Theses two terms can often be misused or misunderstood but the...
In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will cause people to draw false conclusions about a person’s true character. One stereotype that developed in ancient times and has lasted throughout the centuries is that of the “greedy Jew.” Over the course of history, the Jews have discovered first-hand the destructive and gruesome effects that stereotyping has on a vulnerable people. The Jews have been and will continue to be objects of stereotyping unless something is done to stop it.
Even though extraordinary changes have been made in the past to achieve racial equality, America is still racist, especially in schools. In the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is criticized for defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. During the 1930s, the time this novel took place, America was a very segregated country. At the time when Harper Lee wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird," America was fighting a civil rights movement. The events of racism in “To Kill a Mockingbird” reflect the time period.
First we need to clarify what is Anti-Semitism, a term that references the prejudice or hostility against the Jews. Known as the persecution of Jews, Anti-Semitism did not only happen in Germany, it had long been part of the history and tradition of other countries including the United States. However, the level of persecution in Germany changed dramatically after Hitler came to power in 1933.