Swing Kids, By Thomas Carter

When the world is in danger by a certain group, people have to choose the following; conform to society, or evolve and resist society. The movie, Swing Kids, by Thomas Carter, is about friends that have pressure from the Nazis to either join the Hitler Jugend (HJ) or be a resistor of the Nazi regime. The boys are lovers of swing music and listen to swing classics like Benny Goodman and Django Reinhardt. The three boys undergo changes in their characters that make them either evolve and grow or comply with society norms. One of the boys, Peter Müller transforms into a resistor and decides not to conform to society. Peter evolves in the movie from being shameful of his dad to realize that his dad loves him after all, from being silent to standing

Peter and his friends are coming back from somewhere, and they see a boy getting beat up by the HJ. One of his friends, Thomas, decides to stand up for the boy, but Peter stays silent. This shows that Peter chooses to stay silent, and not stand up for what is right even if it goes against Nazi rationale. He could have stood up for the boy, but instead, he waits for someone to step up to the plate, rather than doing it himself. He had the chance to stand up to the HJ, and tell them not to hurt the boy, but he himself looks afraid of the HJ. Peter does not want to risk getting beat up by the HJ, so he decides to stay back and let someone else take action, even though he does not agree with Nazi propaganda and Nazi beliefs. At the end of the movie, he goes back to Frau Linge’s house to talk to her about his father. Peter realizes that his dad was a good man, and Frau Linge reads a letter that states “It is when I think of my son that I know what I’m doing must be done”. The letter also states that “if those who have a voice, we don’t speak out against the outrage at the treatment of our fellow human beings, we are guilty of complicity.”. Peter has this epiphany that changes his beliefs drastically. Although he has a realization about his father, he also realizes that his father dies because he was standing up for his beliefs and what was right. Peter realizes that he should not let the Nazi’s control

When Peter joins the HJ, his friend, Arvid was beaten up by Emil, the original swing-kid. Even when they visit him in the hospital, it is Thomas, not Peter that asks “ Who did this to you?”. Thomas and Peter have a boxing lesson with Emil, and Thomas volunteers to help the demo instead of Peter. This scene shows that Peter is a timid guy, and he does not want to embarrass himself in front of the HJ. One of his best friends was beaten to pretty much death, and he has the chance to get his revenge for his friend. But, he decides to not get revenge for his friend, and he lets Thomas do the honor of getting revenge for Arvid. Arvid was the closest with Peter, and Peter was too timid to go out and stand up for his friends not matter what happens to him. The HJ hurt one of his best friends, and he lets someone else take the honor of punching Emil rather than doing it himself. At the end of the movie, Arvid commits suicide. His death impacts Peter in a huge way, and when he goes to Cafe Bismarck, the HJ raid it. Thomas gives Peter a chance to escape, but Peter does not care; he states that “I know who my friends are.”. This scene shows that Peter does not care whether or not he gets or caught or not; he cares because he has the courage to stand up for what is right and he does not care about himself. Before Arvid dies, he goes on a huge rant in front of his friends and his colleagues to show that the Nazi’s are doing more harm than