24 April 2010

The Wave

Recently a friend and coworker told me about an slightly aged public service-type movie called The Wave, in which a teacher turns his classroom into a cult after not being to explain adequately how the Nazis came to and endured in power for so long while committing so many heinous crimes. The dialog and acting are sometimes stilted and forced, but the ending scene is particularly effective.



The full thing is a little over forty minutes, during which time Mr. Ross's classroom becomes more and more a cult experience beginning with lessons on posture, acquiring chants and symbols, and maturing the way such things do -- creating violence against those outside the group or those inside who question its merits. Even the teacher, who knows what he is doing, is affected by the increasing role he plays in his students lives. The film culminates with a group-wide meeting in the school auditorium, where Mr. Ross tells them they are part of a nation-wide youth organization intent on reforming the nation. "Look at your future", Ross yells, and the entire audience is struck dumb by footage of Hitler and the Hitler Youth, perhaps taken from Triumph of the Will.


You thought you were so special. Better than everyone outside this room. You traded your freedom for the luxury of feeling superior. You accepted the group's will over your own convictions, no matter who you hurt. Oh, you thought you were just going along for the ride, that you could walk away at any moment... but where were you heading -- and how far would you have gone?  [...]

If history repeats itself, you will all want to deny what has happened to you and the Wave. But if our experiment is successful, you will have learned that we are all responsible for our own actions, and that you must question what you do -- and that you will never allow a group's will to usurp your individual rights. I know this has been painful for you. It certaintly has for me, but it's a lesson we'll all share for the rest of our lives. 


Freethinkers such as myself and most readers will probably not think themselves too susceptible to this kind of thing, but we all have our weaknesses. The idea of community is particularly alluring for social animals like ourselves, as is perhaps the instinct to cooperate with tribal rulers.  When do the ends justify the means? Whatever our weaknesses, strengths, or desires, someone is willing to take advantage of them and corrupt good intentions to foul deeds. The price of liberty  -- both from other people and from our weaknesses -- is indeed vigilance.

4 comments:

Baley Petersen said...

I love it. I mean, I don't love it, because this kind of blind faith is what has created so many atrocities in our history, but I love the study of how and why is happens. Perfectly intelligent people have been drawn into evil organizations--or even evil relationships with partners!--for all eternity. I often think of humans as living on auto-pilot. We go with the flow so as to not stir up the waters, but at what cost?

Fascinating stuff. Thanks for sharing!

Michel Daw said...

Thanks for this.

Here is a link to the section you refer to in your post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXi71XBdh1o

Jump to around 17 minutes in to get to that part.

dbackdad said...

Just dropped into your blog for the first time, having seen you comments on Cyberkitten's blog. Great stuff over here. I'll be adding you to my list on my blog. Keep up the good work.

Stephen said...

@dbackdad: Thanks for saying hello. :)