Extra Blog Post, Nuclear Pacific. 

Book Thief. SPOILERS. 

It is funny how after studying American Representation through media in an academic class, I tend to view films far more differently now. Last week, I failed to convince my fiancé to go see the new Godzilla movie with me because he was so disinterested. We opted to rent a movie at home instead, and settled upon Book Thief. It is a film about Nazi Germany, and by nature is extremely depressing. SPOILER everyone dies. Well everyone except for this poor little girl whom happens to be the main character. Well, throughout the entire film there is no representation of the US, although it is hinted at because the film takes place at the hight of WWII. As you can image, everyone dies, the film is depressing, blah blah blah. The the screen goes black, subtitled with the text “Two years later US Troops Occupy Germany 1945”. The next shot is an image of the US troop parading through the streets while the Germans cheer them on. This is typical american commentary in media but what kills me is what happens after this. The final scene in the movie, though is the last little girl standing is finally reunited with her beloved Jew, the one her family was hiding in their basement. I totally took this as a statement that the happy ending could only come after the US had occupied Germany. The same ending could have been achieved without altering the story line whatsoever by simply saying “two years later 1945” and cutting the the reunion scene between the little girl and the Jew. Completely cutting out the whole ‘praise US troops crap’. Anyways, I had a very heated discussion with my family about this after the film and maybe I am just jaded. My fiancé did not agree with my view on the film, however, my history buff brother-in-law totally was on my side. I followed his advice by looking up who made the film to gain a great understanding and to my utter surprise it was made by a BRITISH director. To further confuse my argument about american commentary through media, the film was based on a book written by an AUSTRALIAN author!  The screen play was also written by an Australian. Although this movie was not made by Americans (to my surprise) do any of you share my jaded view on films now?

-Alli