Comedy is a powerful artform, both in it’s constructive and destructive powers. Sometimes, laughing can bring humans closer together and help us relax. Other times, tasteless jokes can be made at the expense of some (or many) people groups, causing unease or alienation. So a comedy about Nazis (one of the most infamous, detestable, and destructive ideologies in recent human history) is a risky endeavor. That didn’t stop “JoJo Rabbit” from trying. The film caught my attention immediately when its first trailer dropped. It had all the right ingredients for an unconventional comedic romp. Eager, naive children? Check. Band of awkward misfits? Check. Hitler as an imaginary friend? Check. But also a vision for their comedic license: “. . . A satire that goes to war on hate.”
Satire (a specific type of comedy) usually seeks to advance a cultural conversation about a particular issue. According to Merriam-Webster, satire is “[Sharp] wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly.” Satire (done well) usually engages with a relevant topic that most people perceive is a problem, but does it from the angle of fiction. The “laugh” comes from the ridiculous, overdone nature of the situation and the audience’s simultaneous comparison to its real-life counterpart. The Onion and The Babylon Bee are two notable satire-news sites (literally “fake news”) that comment on modern-day issues; taking caricature-like jabs at anyone and everyone. The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis is a satirical work on the nature of spiritual warfare and the vices in culture that so easily ensnare us and lead us down the gently-sloping road to hell.
In the same vein, “Jojo Rabbit” is a satire about the fanatic, supremacist views of Nazi Germany from the vantage point of a little boy, Jojo. He aspires to become the best Nazi he can be and to make his best (and imaginary) friend Hitler proud of him. So he immerses himself in the one-dimensional interpretation of the Nazi party with all the zeal of a young boy going to summer camp. However, his indoctrination to Nazi beliefs slowly erodes over the course of the film as his eyes are gradually opened to the reality of what Nazis represent. His imaginary friend Hitler also changes over the course of the film (in both mannerisms and appearance) to reflect how Jojo’s beliefs on Nazism transform. While WWII is a narrative-rich period in human history, the themes that Taika Waititi (“What We Do In The Shadows”)) chooses are left intentionally broad: A satire that goes to war on hate. And that’s really the beginning and end of the subject matter. Many of the details of WWII (America’s involvement, the atrocities of the Nazi concentration camps, the devastation to other European powers, etc.) are left largely out of this story. On purpose.
Satire has a fine line to walk when engaging with culture. It can be easy for people to confuse the satire with reality or, if they’re zealously against the subject matter, to think satire didn’t go far enough. And this is exactly what happened in the review community. I found myself surprised by how divisive the online opinions were over (what I had thought) was a charming, funny, and heartwarming film. Do a Google search for “Jojo Rabbit Nazi Satire,” and the first page of results will show opinions split right down the middle on whether “JoJo Rabbit” was brilliant satire or a vague impression of one that didn’t go far enough—even though the film won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
And there might be a couple reasons for that. In part, they’re right; “JoJo Rabbit” doesn’t implement satire the entire film. The first act of the film is, indeed, full of satire; it’s perhaps what we imagined when we signed up to see it. Lots of laughs. But the middle of the film quickly shifts away from this tone and chooses a quieter, more sincere route. There’s still plenty of comedy and hints of the satirical world that was created during the beginning of the movie, but it’s much more of a child’s interaction with reality than a satire of reality. It’s here we see more of the touching moments of the film as Jojo interacts with a Jewish girl (who defies all his Nazi-ingrained stereotypes) and begins to wrestle with his crumbling belief system. It was rather impressive how the middle of the film could pivot from a moment where I was chuckling, to one in which I was choking back tears. We don’t really see the same opening level of satire again until maybe the end of the film, when everything comes to a climax.
So is “Jojo Rabbit” a “satire that goes to war on hate?” Sort of. It most certainly goes to war on hate, but perhaps less as a satirical movie and more as a movie that uses satire at certain points to advance its message. Perhaps this is why some people felt it didn’t possess satirical wit through and through; because, well, it didn’t.
There are some out there, who again, criticized the film for not diving into some of the deeper, more significant issues raised by this period in history. It’s understandable. They’re important issues to continually bring to the silver screen. But again, Waititi is painting with a very broad brush. Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” (an excellent Nazi satire made during WWII) also left alot of detail of this time period out of its greater narrative, focusing almost exclusively on Hitler, his motives, and mannerisms. Both Chaplin and Waititi have a simple message and bring it to audiences without distractions.
Satire ultimately (after the initial laugh) should help push culturally relevant narrative to the forefront. The satire of this movie focuses on the thematic message of hate of other people groups and how it is only being stoked by the propaganda-infused portrait we’ve painted of our enemy. If we were to humanize our enemy, we might find that we not only had much in common with them, but that the entire system of belief that made us enemies in the first place was rotten to the core.
Written By: