Saturday, October 25, 2008
The Destroyers
After watching the clip, we were most concerned about the historical accuracy of the film clip and the presence of enough context clues to accurately understand Sophie's decision. Why exactly did she choose her younger daughter (whom she could have stayed with for a longer period of time) over her older son? Other questions that came up in the discussion was the exact destination of her daughter and why they were being separated as possible residents of the ghetto? Also, a final issue is whether or not the clip (and the entire film itself) is even appropriate for middle school students.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
Our group also discussed her reasoning for choosing the young girl to go to the camp. Was there something about her children that we couldn't see from the clip, or maybe even the entire movie, that would have prompted this choice?
We thought that older high school students would be best suited to deal with this film because of the issues involved. Younger students may have a difficult time seeing through the eyes of a parent.
Our group also wondered why she chose the son over the daughter. What was going through her mind at that moment? We postulated that in the period of history, boys were more "valuable" than girls as far as rights, property, and family name.
While I believe this clip could be used by younger audiences as a discussion starter or writing prompt, I agree that the deeper meaning could be lost on them; therefore, we need to find other material that will encourage student thought.
While there may be unknown factors for Sophie's choice, I believe she is faced with a torturing decision that will haunt her continued life.
Thus, the movie theme....
The concern over the appropriateness of showing this film to middle school students is a reasonable question.
I think with the proper background discussion and with appropriate introduction to the subject of the Holocaust itself, the film could be a great motivation for great writing and great discussion.
Why choose at all? Why didn't she just sacrifice herself instead of selecting a child at all? Why did the soldier take such pleasure in her pain? Who was he to force her to do this? Is there something about the Power of Pain Control that drove him? Why did he see her as less than human? Wasn't she also a Christian? What would he do if he had to make this choice?
Regarding the issue of "younger audiences" I think it becomes a question of depth. My question is: would younger audiences be able to see beyond the surface "bad" Nazis for taking away Sophie's daughter, to the underlying theme of choice. Well, it is in the title, so hopefully they would make the connection. Something that comes up quite a bit in Holocaust education is the idea of "choiceless choices." If this discussion could be introduced into the viewing of the film, I think the students could get much more out of it.
The only real value I believe this clip has is it demonstrates the anguish heaped upon people caught up in the Nazi's nasty business. Beyond this, it really has no value. There is not that much historical accuracy with what is going on., Yes there was a ghetto, some Poles were interned there, and those in ghettos were eventually emptied by sending the inhabitants to death camps. But that is about it. Even the scene where the officer shows his "compassion" and Sophie makes the choice has no real historical significance. The scene takes about four minutes. In reality, the Jews were not given choices, and they certainly were not given the opportunity to plead to an officer. Separations and selections were usually done in seconds, and the survivors live with those "choices" for the rest of their lives.
It would be difficult to get past the surface of the clip to the deeper meaning of what was happening at the time. The students i work with will have a hard time getting past the numbers.
High school students, for the most part, love drama. Part of maturation is "playing" at making adult decisions. This clip will be an eye opener into the possible consequences of adult decision.
Post a Comment