Re-creates the classroom experiment in which a high-school teacher formed his own "Reich" to show why the German people could so willingly endorse Nazism.
We watched this in my Social Studies class in 1993. I remember rolling my eyes and thinking it was going to be a dumb movie, but wound up enjoying it. Here I am nearly 30 years later, watching it on youtube.
It doesn't have to be shown in classrooms today because it's being acted out on a grand scale, under the direction of our whole public education system.
I remember being shown this in middle school thinking holy shit, kids will fall for anything in increments. Then I came to the same realization about adults later on. Thank you Mr. Nider
If they were to remake this it would have to be written differently with social media being worked into the narrative. Imagine how this would spread like wildfire almost immediately with RU-vid, X, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat.
This is an excellent lesson. I think EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH it regardless of age, especially in today's political climate. I wonder if they would understand it and wake up. It's good to think for yourself and not get swept up in the crowd. (USA 4/21)
@@Channeleven2345789 The younger the better. It is the young who are more easily indoctrinated. They may not totally understand it, but it will reside in their subconscious. Although, with the events of today it is the adults as well. At the end of the day it is human nature to want to be a part of a group. When making these choices, one should be prepared to see warning signs and make the right decisions.
@@sallyartis3766 Funnily enough, I didn't really take much out of this the first time I watched it as a kid, but then again I probably didn't pay that much attention. Interestingly, at that point I also watched The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.
I remember watching this as an After School Special when I was 11...it was pretty powerful when Hitler's face was splashed on the auditorium screen. Thanks for posting.
They saw Robert sitting there at lunch all alone. They could have asked him to come over and eat with them, instead of making him out to be some weirdo. He obviously wanted to be apart of them, otherwise he wouldn't have been so heartbroken to find out the wave, was just a teaching lesson. Robert said he finally felt like he was a part of something.
@cr People first and foremost want to be accepted amongst their peers. Especially when you have to meet those people every day. If all of your peers avoid you and ridicule you on a daily basis, you are put so down that you mostly don't have the energy to go out and do something else after school. Everything becomes about trying to avoid the bullies and trying to make the other kids like you.
That is the problem. Most people so badly want to be "a part of something" when they find out things are wrong they cling to them even more beyond reason. The original experiment only took a week to get to the stage the special gets to.
When you've been labeled as different/outcast, you can never breakout away from the label until you leave. No one lets you forget or values you. You can try to get involved, but when certain people find out, they will worn against you. Often you face suspicion and mistrust for the rest of your life
I remember seeing this when I was very young. I never thought how we as society can be so different and still look the same now more than ever. Looking into the mirror and seeing the opposite of ourselves on the other side of it.
There is a 2008 German cinema movie adaptation of the same happening (though the details of the plot are different) called "Die Welle" ("The Wave"). I can highly recommend it.
I agree. The younger generations have no clue about such things. There's a reason for that. You can't know what's coming if you don't know what's been. 😢 However, if I was told I was being moved "deported" to another part of the country and upon arrival I'd be expected to take a shower for hygiene reasons ... I would know exactly what was happening because I'm an old European Jew. Good luck educating MAGA.
@@aitchgee921you’re doing it now. Group think against others 😂 Maybe get out there and meet some of them. Meet people of all walks of life actually! It would do you some good.
That was very moving. Every single they did showed me exactly why it happened in the 30’s in Germany, and exactly why and how it’s happening again today.
@@christinemcconnell7114 pres. fdr cleaned the nazi's out, so keep that from coming back and stop undermining the allies's effort that kept earth safe, nazi/kkk leader has been removed, keeping usa from being bombed/atomized to smithreens as was done to nazi in wwii
@@christinemcconnell7114 recorded & studied history is clear to read and understand, so your dumb game failed again, and they always fail on me. and such history has a purpose, so that "The Seduction of a Nation" doesn't have to be bombed & atomized back into control. i'm guessing you think the results of hiroshima & nagasaki are science fiction, and germany was a garden-paradise after wwii.
We are seeing people today mindlessly following the herd, and we have people claiming that they don't follow X and are not sheep, but they are really following Y, juat like sheep. And it is rapid getting worse and worse, and I am seeing this with my own eyes. It's getting very frightning, actually. Don't depend on anyone, think for yourself, and don't let anyone manipulate you. It's even truer today than when this film was made.
I remember watching this TV show when it first came on the air. I was in my early 20's when this episode was broadcasted but it still left an impact on me. It is scary to know that with the history we study and the psychological information we have now, we can still be brainwashed to blind obedience in following a person or group without questioning the intent of what that person or that group wanted. It looks like we are going through something like that today with a certain political figure now.
Thank goodness this time, Drumpf and his cult have been exposed. But this definitely fit the Jim Crow era of the south and the remnants of it still floating about today. Confederates=Nazis
This never gets old and should be shown to everyone at some point. A really potent moment, for me, is an underplayed one: when he has a student correct another student, in front of the class. Sets multiple psychological and sociological wheels a-spinning.
This is very old and is obvious from the first second. A modernized English language remake, without the over-the-top elements from this and the German film should be made though.
This story was adapted again by a German film company and released in 2008. It's called "Die Welle" (The Wave) and it is so interesting to see where they got their inspiration from. It's worth watching, though it's more dramatic and violent than the actual story.
I saw the 2008 movie too and I liked it very much. Interestingly Ron Jones, the teacher who initiated the real experiment in 1967, stated that the plot of the German movie comes closer to the original happening than this one and the novel by Morton Rhue (which is based on this movie).
I hear you loud and clear, friend! It's pretty damn scary that if you don't conform to what the political agenda demands, you can get labeled as a domestic terrorist, just for disagreeing. We live in scary times indeed.
It is "scary" , in the similarities. However, another point of the film (and from history, over and over) is don't stand by and let it happen. Too many people run around scared or wring their hands expecting someone else to do something. Some people are the type of people who hunger to be accepted by others and will do anything for it. Then there's the disenfranchised that are preyed upon by manipulative people who have agendas that could negatively impact others. These people suck others in by preying on their fears, willful ignorance and using confiirmation bias. People have got to remember the dangers of losing the ability to think critically and value individuality.
Not the full truth. *Professional* historians are trained in ways to separate truth from hogwash - actual history from feel-good, ego-massaging self-glorifying propaganda. For the average person, you have to rely on your gut instinct PLUS the facts, data, and both the strictly-logical and "socially logical" argument you can feel are good sensible issues.
The US had a Presidential candidate today, quite literally publish, on his social media page, "re truth if you agree to public military hangings".....and 50% of the country are behind him.
Military-like discipline has its place. But when it allows individuals to take no responsibility for their own behavior, or to deny basic human rights, time to pull back.
@jillbroadhead3655 "I was just following orders" will get you straight into a cell IF you are lucky enough that it's Law Enforcement or Military that is addressing your actions.
Thank you for sharing this movie. I am 61 y/o and have never heard of it. Thank you Egberto Willie's/Politics Done Right. I have shared it in my social circles. This must be standard teaching material.
It's unacceptable, and it needs to stop! Starting with college administration. They need to go directly to the sources, and we know that they have been encouraging this behavior.
Not to mention nazis marching in the streets with the confederate and nazi flags. No shortage of nazis on the far right. It’s always been a significant portion of that base. It’s manifested in America in the ‘30s as well. Glad to hear more denounce anti-semitism. Important to denounce Islamophobia too and all sorts of hatred towards “others.”
Actually, when I first started teaching, the German teacher used to do a somewhat similar 'experiment' every year. Of course it was not this extreme, but the kids all had to wear white shirts and brown pants, had a strict code of conduct and received rewards for telling on each other. Wow, can imagine the outcry if anyone tried to do that today!!
People called the police on their neighbours in the UK for meeting more than 2 people in their garden while covid lockdown was on. The world is a mess.
The interesting part about this movie is you can apply it to many human ideologies because the ultimate truth it presents is immutable. Authoritarianism only brings more authoritarianism and eventually violence and death, and if people feel like they are a part of something they set aside every ounce of morals and dignity they ever learned.
I am watching this for the first time since 8th grade in the early 90s. It is SCARY how relevant this is now. I remember everyone laughed at this poor guy back then: 45:02. I tried not to, but...
I saw this in 1981 when it originally aired. I had such a crush on Bruce Davison 😘. Ironically, he played the German soldier in "Summer of my German Soldier" with Kristy McNichol. ❤️...and Willard, lol. He's still acting all over the place.
@@Redmenace96 I don't feel like he's dismissed.... He's been in a ton of great movies, it's just that nobody knows who he is. Look up his acting career. 🙃
The only time Robert ever felt accepted and part of something is when he was suckered into mock-Nazism by a teacher with no idea where to draw the line...
This is really really disturbing. If I'm interpreting the timeline correctly, it only took about 3 class sessions; 3 hours! to congeal this "nazi replica" all the way. Yet I totally believe it can take place this way, and this quickly.
Back in middle school, I remember seeing this movie. It's so chilling how charisma is used to influence a population to follow a ruthless dictatorship. Charisma is a gateway quality to a personality cult, and they are quite common in dictatorships.
In a allergorical and reversed sense you are right this has been happening for years to groom and prime us for this dark astrological and technological reset for humanity if you know what I am talkig about. Fascinating times we are in.
@@grahamzvi3293 2 people in this competition section, the right who think they are the opposition to the modern "wave" and the left who think the same. None of you think for yourself and critically analyse anything, you just say nonsensical crap.
i saw this in class in 1985 on VHS. made such an impact that i was thinking about it today, googled details because i could not remember the name, and found this. so impactful, almost 40 years later im still thinking about it. i even tear up a bit. and now we have our own AMERICA FIRST party, with a charismatic leader and followers who admit they would support him no matter the crime. MAGA my ass…
This is based on actual events in a Palo Alto HS, by a radical teacher. 1967? Unfortunately, no teacher has the guts to do this, today. (or since?) What a valuable educational lesson! Lost! The teacher would have been fired, immediately, post 1977.
How about the documentary “eye of the storm” back in the 1960s . Brown eyed people vs blue eye people with Jane Elliot the teacher. Very controversial at the time. Can’t do that in today’s society. You will be fired immediately for that post 1977
... You mean School Boards, School Superintendents, and #RightWing Politicians won't allow it... And nutty Extremists like Moms of Liberty and other Radical Religions groups 🤔
I was in high school at the time. One of my teachers showed this film. We had to get signed permission slips because this was quite controversial. BTW, these high school students don’t look like teenagers!
Watched this in my social studies class today, my group of friends and I walked the halls chanting. Our ela teacher said we couldn’t anymore bc it’s creepy… 😭
Well damn, for forty freakin' years I thought the teacher was the dude from The Greatest American Hero. Come to find out he's the senator from the X-Men. This is what happens when all you had was a 13inch B/W TV. :D
Back then there were no super fragile fee fees to destroy, or the million other things designed to restrict people and let the bad students get away with anything (like this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JHWfZhDTEgw.html ) while good ones suffer and get violently attacked. But now everyone is obsessed with fee fees and soo soos and the bad guys know how to work this system and play everyone like a fool.
@@someone4585 Yes it is, look at the ending credits at 45:33. Ron Jones, the teacher of the real experiment, published it as a short story named "The Third Wave - Take as Directed".
I remember watching this when it came out. Still cery good, this is how it happened in Germany, the Soviet Union, China, Cambodia…. the methods and outcomes were similar. It will always be timely. If you think you wouldn’t have been a Nazi or a Bolshevik, ask yourelf how many times you’ve shut your mouth for fear of cancellation or being fired because you don’t have approved views … and thats without the fear of disappearing.
I think the "cancel" part is really irrelevant in this case, i could analyze your political stance just you saying that (joking) but still canceling people in most cases is just cases of people on the internet at least being scrutinized for things they did do and are inappropriate, it happens with all the time with a functioning civilization that has social codes to certain things deemed offensive, but that does not limit the speech or fear in any sense, you just get what you got for saying it as it is
I saw this in elementary school, and I’ve never forgotten the profoundly important message. I wish films like this were still made and shown in schools, but now sex-ed is more important.
True, but simply stopping there neglects another huge problem. How do you correctly identify what a cult is? Back during the 60s and 70s cult hysteria, people thought of it as simply wearing white robes, passing out flowers at airports, and chanting in unison whatever the cult leader tells them to chant. That is exactly what kept me from recognizing certain religious sects as cult-like. Plus, as obvious in this film, political ideologies can be a cult.
I saw this in high school when it was still new. It may have kept me out of trouble because there was never any danger that I would get carried away and follow some group after watching this. In modern times, when antifa was spreading and when young people were becoming more militant in general, I immediately said that this is what they all need to watch. Every middle school or high school should show this to the students.
Yeah, so many need to watch it. I saw it when it first came out and was astounded when The Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, the white supremacist Patriot Front group and other extremists started rising up in our communities. Along with the QAnon conspiracy theorists... It's so easy to manipulate those who feel like outsiders and who desperately want to "be part of something". 😔
The *first* thing you thought of was "antifa"!?!? Seriously? Nobody else came to mind at all? You may want to watch the movie again until you see some other groups that may have applied to.
@@ehrichweiss read my comment again, very slowly. Because you misunderstood it. I said that when antifa started, I immediately thought of this movie and that they need to all watch it. I watched this movie back when it was almost new, the modern antifa wasn't doing anything yet. But regarding comparing antifa to other groups: they aren't better than many. The 9/11 hijackers were worse, but there aren't many other groups that are worse than antifa.
... That because School Boards, School Superintendents, and #RightWing Politicians won't allow it... And nutty also because of Extremists like Moms of Liberty and other Radical Religions groups 🤔
I understand that it wasn't the point of the episode, but Laurie just let her ex-boyfriend hit her, then didn't correct him when he insisted that they had both been right about their teacher's plan, all along. He drank all of the kool-aid and she should have told him so.
On a smaller scale, it makes me think of cliquishness among teenages girls I once knew on a military base. Presumably, the school's Queen bee had a father whose rank was higher than that of other students' parents, and reporting her consistantly cruel behavior would have jeopardized the military careers of her victims' parents. So many students were driven to profound levels of despair due to her smear campaigns and physical mistreatment, often with the help of her toadies. The only reason it ended was because her family was transfered. She left the school crying on her last day . I didn't see what happened. But it is assumed that her schoolmates and the faculty finally let her have it. Just for the record, she had a German surname, and decades after World War II ended ,the US military still had its fair share of people like her who had that Nazi mentality.
We just have to keep questioning everyone and everything. trust your gut! don't do something just because you are scared, it feels good, or is the easiest thing to do! Think for yourself and fight for the right for everyone to have their own opinion. As soon as we are not "allowed" to say things, BE VERY WORRIED!
@@myblessedfriends No, I mean by the ignorant woke brainwashed by the corrupt leftist media and Qatar and the violent and dangerous Islamists they have allied with
the wave are the vaccinated if you're not apart of the group you will be cast out of society, you wont be rewarded with school, malls, movies, and travel.
