The Universal Vantage Point of Youth

When I was living in Moscow, a verbose acquaintance of mine once described the day tanks were shelling the White House (equivalent to a Senate). There was fighting and shooting around that building, but only one block away parents were simply taking their kids to the zoo!

Sure, everyone just wants to live their life, but that does not mean some pretty messed up things are not happening around you. As a child, did you have a good parent (or guardian) on the lookout for you? I hope so. If you are a parent, are you a good one that watches out? I hope so.

The black-and-white rendition of “To Kill a Mockingbird” showed us a normal family life amid the great social strife of racial injustice during the civil rights movement in the US. On a similar note, “The Boy in Stripe Pajamas” brings the line between family life and a social injustice much closer to the main character, the child. Does that strike you as okay?

Good parents instinctively want to protect their children, even if war is raging; but that still doesn’t change the fact that the background to “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” is freaking World War II, which is raging in the background. Well, not quite raging. I mean, the fighting is a few hundred miles/kilometers away from your house. In another country.

Daddy is still at home and so is mom and sis. Snowfalls in summer are strange, but daddy knows why. It must have something to do with his uniform and why he doesn’t spend much time with the family. Instead, that previous time is spent with people in less colorful and less impressive uniforms.

Based on your own personal experience, what do you think a child would crave after moving to a new city with their family? A friend, of course!

See? Presenting this kind of story from a child’s perspective makes the whole thing digestible in one, big adult gulp because we know which intersections to turn at and which roads not to walk down.

There is no doubt that the black-and-white film adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird” put something on the big screen we would have rather left in a deep recess. And yet, we are the better for not doing that. “The Boy in Striped Pajamas” takes this one step further by involving the main character, the child, more. And don’t worry, you won’t miss a beat!

Look, I am not going to sugar coat it for you. The holocaust was not the kindest and cuddliest story ever told. As a social cover-up and denial that was painfully revealed after prolonged conflict, sure, it ranks way up there. But “The Boy in Striped Pajamas” is not a long, drawn-out movie like others on the topic of the holocaust. Instead, it feels nice and warm and normal the whole way through. To be frank, this makes the ring from the alarm bells that much clearer.

Note: Do not wear pajamas while watching “The Boy in Striped Pajamas” and, above all, be sure to sit in a chair with a comfortable edge and soft armrests. Why? Before I saw it for the first time, I was warned that I would sit closer and closer to the edge of my seat and my grip on the armrests would tighten more and more as the movie progressed. I am now passing the same bit of advice on to you.

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