Swing Kids presents several themes and questions revolving around the role of youth in society, the ‘goodness’ of people, and propaganda of governments. The movie follows Peter Müller in Nazi Germany during World War II. Peter and his friend, Thomas, enroll in Hitlerjugen, where they are bombarded with pro-Hitler propaganda daily. Over the course of the movie, Thomas begins to believe the propaganda, calling another friend unworthy because he is a cripple. In the end, Peter, unlike Thomas, does not succumb to the Nazi propaganda and is carted off after Nazis raid a swing club.
The movie has several characters that are not inherently bad people succumb to Nazi propaganda. Both Peter’s mother and Thomas show inclinations towards the Nazi’s pro-Aryan messages. Thomas goes so far as to report his own father to authorities
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Many people admit that they want to do the right thing, no one comes into the world planning to murder civilians or stealing from the poor; however, these terrible things still happen. One reason for this could be intense propaganda from governments or higher powers. When looking back on genocides such as the Holocaust, I have heard many friends and classmates state that they could never commit these crimes against humanity. These people fail to account that messages can be extremely powerful. For example, in Nazi Germany, Nazi’s constantly reinforced the idea that the Aryan race dominated other races—dedicating schools and newspapers to this message. This strong propaganda makes people believe that what they are doing is the right thing and that these terrible actions are beneficial to society. When people are constantly hounded with certain messages with no alternative way of thinking presented, alternative ways of thinking is near