Hollywood directors refuse to draw a line between fantasy and reality anymore. Or maybe they really don’t have much to say when they come out from behind the camera, so they drop thoughtless pap they figure the rest of Hollywood wants to hear.
Jojo Rabbit director Taika Waititi made a critically-acclaimed satire film about World War II Germany. But his post-Oscars press-conference indicated he didn’t learn much about Nazism from the experience.
Waititi won the Academy Award for best “Adapted Screenplay” for Jojo Rabbit, a film about a Hilter Youth whose imaginary friend Hitler tells him how to be the best little member of the Third Reich despite the child’s conflicting convictions on being a good Nazi and a friend to a nice Jewish girl he met. It sounds poignant in a vacuum but when you recall that Hollywood always associates conservatives or right-wing anything with Hitler, you just know it’s at least a lecture in part.
Taika revealed that skeptical JoJo viewers weren't far off in saying he was bashing modern politics, telling the Oscar press pool after his win that much of the reason he made the movie was because Nazis are still running around like they didn’t learn their lesson in 1945.
Well, I mean, Donald Trump is president. And Charlottesville happened sooooooo ... Yeah it’s that same ignorant reasoning.
He told the press, “Yeah, making the film was sort of a response to a resurgence of hate and intolerance and hate speech.” Well when hate speech in the hollywood definition includes disagreeing with anyone on open borders, LGBTQ issues, and denying that Russia is in charge of the United States it’s hard to take him seriously.
He claimed, “Here’s the thing, at the end of the war there was a very clear rule: If you were a Nazi, you went to jail.” Well, that's a simplified version, but we get the point.
Waititi concluded, “Now, the rules have changed a bit. If you’re a Nazi, feel free to have a rally down in the town square and you can invite all your mates. So something’s changed and something is not right.” Yes, because Nazi rallies are as common as AA meetings in Las Vegas. If you take Waititi’s word for it, Charlottesville-style events happen every other weekend. Eh, not really.
If you want a real number, apparently the KKK claims “between 5000 and 8000 members nationwide.” Out of 300 million Americans, that’s about .003% of the population — not really as threatening as Nazi Germany was to global stability. One Nazi is too many Nazis, but a few thousand lost souls shouldn’t be an excuse to violate the First Ammendment..
Look we know Waititi’s pounding that anti-Trump narrative. “This is the perfect time for a film like this,” he boasted, adding, “I feel like the film’s become more important and more relevant today.”
Sure, kiss your own timely butt, why don’t you? Though can we get a satire directed on the Black Hebrew Israelites? They’re out here chopping up Jewish folks in New York. Or is that not politically expedient enough for you?
