Swing Kid Hitler Comparison

In the movies “Swing Kids” and “The Wave” both portray the actions and ways of Hitler and the German Nazis and show the power of propaganda, brainwashing, and indoctrination.
Hyperinflation and the Treaty of Versailles were the main circumstances under which national socialism arose. “Swing Kids” takes place in Hamburg, 1939, right on the brink of World War
II. Hitler has already taken over and many children and young adults are part of HJ, or Hitler
Jugend. The main characters of “Swing Kids” are in love with swing music, but it is looked down upon by Hitler and the Nazis. Yet in “The Wave”, takes place in the 1960s in the United
States of America. The teacher of a history class, Mr. Ross conducts an experiment to demonstrate to his students how the Germans stood by when the Nazis took over. It begins
Members of the HJ made up much of the Gestapo as they were young adults. Students in The Wave also acted as the “police”. In certain scenes of the movie, students even acted as guards, much like the Gestapo in “Swing Kids”. Then, there are the character similarities. The main character of “Swing Kids”, Peter and the main character of “The Wave”, Laurie are very much like each other. Both are strong, stay true to themselves, and do not conform to the ways of others. Then there is Thomas
(Swing Kids) and David (The Wave). They are both extremely close to the main characters,
Thomas is Peter’s best friend and David is Laurie’s boyfriend. Both Thomas and David drift away from Peter and Laurie but reconnect in the end. They both drift away, lose sight of themselves, but finally see the light again at the end. One last character comparison is between Mr.Ross, the history teacher in “The Wave” and of course, Hitler. Both are the leaders of parties that promote National Socialism and a New World Order. Though in the end Mr. Ross realizes what he is doing is wrong, unlike Hitler.

Setting was a major difference in these two movies. “Swing Kids” took place
The difference between the groups, the HJ and The Wave, were their principles. In
Germany during that time, individualism was not valued while in America it was always encouraged. This factor helped shape the HJ and The Wave. While the Hitler Jugend was an extremely exclusive group, The Wave was inclusive. Only boys were allowed to join the
HJ and they had to be ethically pure, physically strong and perfect, with no disabilities.
Anyone could join The Wave, boys and girls of any race, ability, and physical well being. Another major difference between “Swing Kids” and “The Wave” are their endings. At the end of “The Wave”, the students are told it was all just an experiment by their history teacher, Mr.Ross to explain why the Germans let the Nazis took power and just stood by while doing nothing. But to Hitler and the Nazis and the HJ, it was pure indoctrination and genocide, there was nothing experimental about it. Mr.Ross was just teaching a lesson to his students, but on Hitler’s part, it was just one big hate crime. Watching “The Wave” is very useful in understanding “Swing Kids” and watching
“Swing Kids” is useful in understanding “The Wave”. They both tell a similar message