Ride the Wave: Or How To Turn Your Friends into Fascists in Less Than A Week!

Every so often I watch a film that really hits home. The likelihood of this happening is greater because I also watch foreign films. This is not to say that Hollywood doesn't do good work anymore, but sometimes there is something to be said to look at things from another perspective. Recently I saw two German films, both of which had dealt with a topic near and dear to the German heart - police states and fascism. Not to make light of the German's past, but totalitarian police states and oppressive fascism (DRG and Nazi Germany) often serve as archetypes for students around the world. The first film that I saw was The Lives of Others. An exceptional piece, Others details a Stazi surveillance team on a poet suspected of disloyalty. Even though this is not the film that I wish to talk about today, I mention it because it should be viewed by all who think they live under a police state, or even think that such existence would be preferable. Also, anyone interested in politics or just history would find it a moving piece of cinematography.
The second film is called Die Welle, or the Wave. Die Welle is the story of Ron Jones's original experiment set in modern-day Germany. For the majority of you, you have never heard of Ron Jones, and that is okay. The film first shows us the main characters, a gymnasium teacher (high school) and his students, each very normal and typical. They are approaching their project week, in which they break into classes and spend the week learning about different governmental topics. A very good idea I might add. The Ramones-loving Mr. Wegner, who desires to teach about anarchy, gets stuck with the autocracy class. Finding that the students don't take the subject seriously, believing that since the German people have evolved beyond tyranny, they don't need to learn about it. They believe that it can't happen again. Mr. Wegner proves them wrong.
I won't spoil the movie for you, as I truly believe that you should go watch it. The gist of it is that by starting small, Mr. Wegner takes a group of individuals and molds them into a brutal fascist organization. Very few of the students resist this. His point is clear, by experiencing autocracy his students would learn about it. However, the experiment goes wildly out of control, and serious consequences are to be doled out before it is all over.
The thing is that this actually happened, very close to how the movie describes it. The explosive ending aside, the events of Die Welle resemble the Third Wave experiment done by Ron Jones. Jones was a history teacher, who wanted to teach his class about how the German people could have gone along with the extermination of the Jews. This experiment was done at Cubberley High School in Pala Alto, California. It started on a Monday, April 3, 1967, and lasted until Friday of that same week. The students of his class joined this fascist organization known as the Third Wave, a figment of Jones's imagination. They began small, just like in the movie, but by the end of the week people outside of the class with Third Wavers and members would report failures by other members to Jones, even with out express instructions to do so.
Both the experiment and the film end similarly, with the organization assembled in full in front of the teacher. The lesson of the experiment is shown to all. The biggest message of the film is that the dangers of fascism are real, even for a people who should be on guard for them. Being who I am, I try to extrapolate into real life what is shown on the screen. The fascism of the Wave is obviously seen in the Dear Leader. Slogans are important, and his word is taken as truth by supporters. Detractors are to be reported. If you don't believe this, there is a new website and email address for people to report to the White House those who are against the plan to "reform" health care. There are people who view the Dear Leader as a messiah, hanging on each word that he says. Just like prior manifestations of fascism, opponents of the group are maligned. In this case they are called rich, wearing Brooks Brothers and full of hate. If you choose to report these things, the website is called www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/.
Films like Die Welle are very important. Even though it makes no modern political message, one can see a subtle criticism of those who practice fascism today, and they are out there. We all should be afraid of a slide into autocracy and fascism. Yes, people cried out that the prior administration was a fascist organization. They certainly had a few points, but the Dear Leader has left them in the dust.
So, in conclusion students, go and see Die Welle and The Lives of Others. Sure you will have to read subtitles or speak German to understand the movie. But that is a small price to pay to see what is reality. Autocracy is a constant danger, one that we as Americans now face front and center. It is not the first time, nor sadly will it be the last. We cannot bury our heads in the sand. If we do, we might wake up a week later and everyone we know will be marching in goosestep, saluting the Dear Leader. Now that would be scary.