F*#k off, Hitler!

Reflection from the Trenches

I’m a Taika Waititi fan. I love Boy, and love, love Hunt for the Wilder People. I get so excited whenever he’s got new content out and I was so grateful earlier this spring that my whole family was into Reservation Dogs because it’s so hard for us to find things we all enjoy together. But my absolute favorite is Jojo Rabbit. After Waititi’s involvement in Our Flag Means Death (which I also really enjoyed, btw) I doubt he’d appreciate this analysis of his film about Nazi Germany, but I feel the portrayal of the conflict in the movie and its similarities to what our families are currently experiencing are difficult to miss. 

My daughter also loves Taika Waititi (we watched OFMD together,) and I’m pretty sure Jojo Rabbit is also her favorite among his work. If you don’t follow me on Twitter, you may not know that my daughter had a friend from out of state stay for a couple days with us last week for her graduation. This (trans-IDed) friend is unfamiliar with Waititi’s content, and I’d hoped maybe we could all watch Jojo together, but in the end, my kid decided not to risk having her friend around me for any extended period of time. Mind you, I was very careful to not talk about her friend but rather to her so as to reduce the risk of pronoun offense, and I’m pretty sure I pulled this off. The day her friend left, we watched it again. This was our 4th—maybe 5th? time. 

SPOILER ALERT: If you have not watched Jo Jo Rabbit, I would strongly encourage you to do so before reading the rest of this essay which is filled with spoilers. Also I want you to have your own experience with this poignant and engaging movie (and would love your response to it in the comments!)

The film opens on our main character, a young boy in Nazi uniform, Jojo (short for Johannes) Betzler, giving himself a pep talk in the mirror. He’s pumping himself up for a “very special” weekend training camp. As he tells himself, “It’s going to be intense, but today, you become a man. I swear to devote all my energies, all my strength to the savior of our country: Adolf Hitler” an adult in uniform passes in front of him amid soft ominous music. 

Jojo continues, “I am willing and ready to give up my life for him…so help me God.” 

“Yes, that’s right,” hisses the man in uniform whose face we can’t see yet. The man joins in the pep talk to boost Jojo’s courage and prepare him for the weekend ahead. He paces behind him, issuing a call and response move that ends with: 

“Jojo Betzler, what is your soul?”

“A German soul.” 

“Yeah, man. You’re ready.” 

Jojo stammers, “Adolf, I…I don’t think I can do this.”

“What? Of course you can!”

Then the man squats next to Jojo to engage with him through the mirror’s reflection, and we see dark-skinned Taika with blue contacts. It’s both hilarious and disturbing. 

Jojo’s imaginary friend, Hitler, proceeds to lift up his insecurities, “Sure you’re a little bit scrawny, and a bit unpopular, and you can’t tie your shoelaces even though you’re 10 years old,” then builds him back up with, “but you’re still the most bestest and loyal little Nazi I’ve ever met.” 

Jojo continues to look apprehensive and doubtful. Hitler continues, “So you’re going to get out there and have a good time!” They face each other and Hitler says, “Heil me, man!” 

Jojo’s “Heil Hitler” is underwhelming, so Hitler makes him say it repeatedly until it meets expectations, like a coach in the boxing ring psyching up his fighter to go back in and take more violent punches. If you’re a first timer, you’ll not realize just how many times you’ll have to hear this phrase. It becomes as ubiquitous in the movie as TWAW or “protect trans kids” is in real life these days.  

This opening scene is amusing and ridiculous and so on point if we think of Jojo’s imaginary friend as his “inner Hitler.” Our teens all have their own inner Hitler that assails them with insults and reminds them who (what) is their savior. Programmed with the lexicon of the cult, this inner Hitler keeps them in line and focused on the goal. 

As Jojo bounds out his front door, screaming “HEIL!” and ready to take on the world, the opening credits are ushered in with a Beattles song, “I want to hold your hand.” The shots are of masses of adoring Germans displaying their fanaticism in what can only be called Hitlermania in its comparison to the rock band’s insane popularity. Of course, these fans are also mindlessly “heiling” with their straight right arms angled up in the infamous signal of loyalty to the Fuhrer. 

It’s absolute brilliance, and every time I watch it, I see more symbolism that I find chillingly perfect. The meta-modern tone is so achingly entertaining. It’s a classic Waititi telling of a devastating reality through the eyes of a child. And it fills me with both compassion and dread for what our children, ourselves, and the culture are experiencing. It also reminds me that there’s nothing new under the sun. 

While at the camp, we witness some of the propaganda and indoctrination the children are experiencing including the ridiculous ideas of what it means to be Jewish along with the reinforcement of gender stereotypes. Ludicrous mythology is weaved, books are burned, violence is encouraged—sound familiar? And all with the backdrop of the Tom Waits’ song, “I don’t want to grow up.” 

During the book burning, you realize not everyone is all in–but they’re playing along. Jojo himself looks upset by all the pages going up in flames until he looks around and sees the delight on the faces of everyone else and his expression transforms to match theirs. 

Jojo shares a tent with his “second best friend,” Yorky and that first night they’re clearly high on the exciting day they just experienced. We’re reminded that this violence is being trained into children when Jojo insists he’d recognize a Jew and kill it “just like that” and tries to snap his fingers—but he can’t quite get his fingers to make the noise. Jojo reveals his desperate wish to be a part of Hitler’s “inner guard.” It’s hard to not think Waititi must know what he’s doing with lines like Yorky’s,  “I guess I’m just a kid in a fat kid’s body.” 

The camp is such a farce, with Captain K (played by Sam Rockwell) even stating in his welcome speech, “Even though it would appear our country is on the backfoot and there really isn’t much hope in us winning this war, apparently we’re doing just fine.” Jojo’s unpopular status and hesitation are reinforced (he’s even asked to kill a rabbit in front of his peers to demonstrate what he’s willing to do for the cause,) and we meet some endearing characters that will be important to the plot, but the main story line develops after Jojo blows himself up a little with a grenade (leaving him with a limp and his face now scarred for life) and is unable to finish the camp. He soon discovers his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home and is an active member of the resistance. 

Of course, I’m rewatching as I’m writing this, and I swear, every scene is now taking on new meaning and relevance (the reactions to his bloody appearance on the way to the hospital, grown-ups regularly offering children guns and cigarettes, Jojo spending his days with those sent home maimed from the frontlines—normalizing the sacrifice, the unsubtle tactics of coercion, indoctrinating children, gaslighting, dehumanizing, and scapegoating.)  I’m very aware of my own meaning-making tendency; right now my story-telling instinct is firing on all cylinders, so I’m going to rein it in or this would become far too long. I’ll summarize certain relationships and characterizations and will welcome any additional observations of the film’s relevance in the comments! 

Even though we all know the horrific nature of the holocaust, the film quickly ensures we’re clear about who the bullies are, demonstrated by the actions of the teenage boys who essentially serve as the camp counselors. After another eerily relevant pep talk from his imaginary bestie, Jojo determines to “be the rabbit” and prove his capacity and devotion to his hero and Germany’s savior. Jojo’s inner Hitler keeps his thoughts in line by being both derisive and encouraging. Because this Hitler is in the imagination of a child, there’s also a whimsical quality to him (he regularly eats unicorn for dinner) that’s rather endearing most of the time, but of course, the audience is well aware that Hitler’s the monster. 

Jojo’s mother, Rosie, doesn’t allow him to look away from the bodies hung in the square, and when Jojo asks what they did, she responds with “what they could.” She recognizes her son has been radicalized (“I know he’s in there somewhere…the little boy who loves to play and runs to you because he’s scared of thunder and thinks you invented chocolate cake”) and navigates carefully, consciously but imperfectly nurturing her relationship with him. (They even wear matching pajamas which I take to symbolize their attachment.) He’s understandably confused by his mother’s participation in the work of “the enemy” and he begins to regard her with suspicion (and maybe some disgust?) while also still clearly loving her. Jojo has had trauma in his life. We know that Jojo’s older sister has died and his father has been away for a couple years, likely also “doing what he can” like Joio’s mom to support efforts to free Germany. Jojo’s mom ensures she connects with her son, but is also in pain and when at home, she carries around a bottle of wine from which she’s taking regular swigs. 

Elsa, the Jewish girl being hidden, is about the age of Jojo’s sister when she died, and a complicated and sweet relationship develops between the two, eventually softening Jojo. When we first meet her, Elsa seems very aggressive and even frightening. Yet, we know Jojo has a rich imagination so it’s hard to know just how much of these details are twisted through his lens. Elsa’s fear and anger understandably erupt sometimes reinforcing Jojo’s ideas about what kind of people Jews are. (It’s hard not to worry about the story my daughter is telling herself about me that her friends encourage her to embellish and own.) He decides to have Elsa help him write a book about Jews to make the most of the situation, and at one point he asks her to draw a map of where the Jews live.  Instead, she draws a picture of his “stupid head” scars and all, and says, “that’s where we live.” 

At one point, Elsa tells Jojo he’s not a Nazi. He replies with “Uh, I’m massively into swastikas. I think that’s a pretty good sign right there.” And she points out, “You’re a 10 yo kid who likes swastikas, likes to dress up in uniform, and wants to be part of a club.” You don’t need me to point out the relevance here, right?

I sometimes imagine my daughter’s friends give her similar word salad advice about me as Hitler’s warning to Jojo about Elsa: 

“When you see what’s in her mind, where she’s trying to make you go in your mind, in your mind, you must go the other way. Get what I’m saying? Do not let her put you in her brain prison…DO NOT LET YOUR GENDER–I mean GERMAN BRAIN BE BOSSED AROUND!” By this point, Jojo is very self-conscious about his scars and limp and perceives himself as a freak. In this scene, Jojo asks if Adolf thinks he’s ugly. Inner Hitler’s response? “Yes.” 

It’s painful to recognize Rosie’s determination and the risks she takes to save Elsa are likely born from her inability to save her own daughter. At one point Rosie describes what it is to be a woman to Elsa, who is legitimately afraid she’ll not live long enough to know herself. “Trust without fear.” Elsa asks her how you know you can trust someone and Rosie says with a shrug, “you trust them.” How nice to have that much faith in one’s intuition! Do we, as women, really have the capacity for this strong of a connection to our inner knowing? How attractive to know we can have such a healthy relationship with our body that we experience this much confidence. What young girl wouldn’t want that for herself? 

This is easily my favorite film–and maybe you can relate? Some may think it bold and even a touch dramatic, but it almost feels like a theme movie for us mothers of the current resistance—whose children have been captured by a new totalitarian cult. After a bloody battle that ends the war in Jojo’s world, the film has a hopeful ending with the main messages being summed up in some of Rosie’s memorable lines, “Love is the strongest thing in the world” and “Life is a gift. We must celebrate it.” But of course, the best films, those with the richest stories, are never without tragedy. I’d take an alternate ending. One where I don’t end up hanging from a rope before my daughter says, “Fuck off!” to her inner Hitler and kicks him out the window for good.  

The soundtrack is so well curated and supports the ironic tone of the film. After this viewing (remember it’s #4 or 5) my husband pointed out that some of the classic rock songs (including “I Want to Hold Your Hand”) were in German. I didn’t believe him. He had to replay those parts for me to prove it. Damn, our minds are powerful!

I exercised restraint in this essay because I thought it might be fun to invite you to add additional moments from the movie you think are relevant to our struggle as families caught up in the current mass psychosis; the families who can see the monster.