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Just saw @jojorabbitmovie and I'm blown away. It's absolutely one of my favorite films I've seen this year, and I'm so impressed by the way it walks the line of humor and serious messaging. More to say, SPOILERS AHEAD. #filmtwitter #longtake #spoilersahead #spoilers
WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS.
I know there has been some criticism of the film as to whether it makes light of something that oughtn't be the subject of jokes. The humor made this film enjoyable, endearing, and personable. It helped to get me in the head-space of our sweet protagonist, who is a brilliant
young actor. What I took away from this film is a story about growing out of black & white mindsets, and seeing past the fanatical messaging around us to see how infinitely more complicated, and beautiful, the world is. Jojo reminded me of a younger version of myself, but with
religious fanaticism, not political. Jojo's entrenchment in the Hitler Youth reminds me of my zealous participation in the Mormon church, and my absolute confidence in its tenets. While Jojo is taught that Jews are evil and inhuman, so I was raised with ideas that gay people were
wicked, and not to be trusted. My journey of disillusionment and finding love took many more years than Jojo's. It wasn't until high school that I personally met an openly gay peer, and I was too scared to get to know him because I didn't want him to discover my secret that I had
"same gender attraction." (which is how I referred to my gayness until I was in my 20s) While my parents weren't secretly harboring gay people in my house, my getting to know other gay people was happening surreptitiously. I started by chatting with gay people online, locally and
around the country. No, I wasn't writing a book ("Heyyyy Gay" might've been a good parallel title, lol) or expose. I was trying to figure out how they, especially the ex-Mormon ones, dealt with the cognitive dissonance between what they felt to be true as gay folks, and what they
had learned about gays growing up in this church. Watching as Jojo started to realize that his preconceptions about Jewish people were wrong, and seeing his confidence shaken, manifested visually through his changing demeanor and the way he dresses, felt so familiar. Jojo was not
an evil child, or a person of guile. We learn this when he refuses to harm the rabbit early-on in the film. Young people are intensely susceptible to the messaging they see and hear. I was, and so is Jojo. As we model love and understanding people can soften and change. I firmly
believe that. I adore this film, and this message. I highly recommend it, and I look forward to seeing it again, hopefully soon!
