Sociological Movie Review: Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Sociological Movie Review The movie that I watched that has many references to our introduction to sociology course is The Boy In the Striped Pajamas. The Boy In the Striped Pajamas is about a little 8 year old boy named Bruno who must move to the country side with his family because his father who is a General in the Nazi military becomes assigned command of a Jewish concentration camp. The house that the family moves into is close to the concentration camp; Bruno can see the camp from his bedroom window in the distance. Bruno does not realize it is a concentration camp, he believes it is a farm. He sees a little boy sitting down at the camp and asks his mother if he may play with the boy in the striped pajamas. Of course his mother realizes what he is speaking about and forbids him to play out back or to go exploring in the country. Bruno finds a way out into the back and goes to the camp where he meets Schmuel (the boy in the striped pajamas). They become friends and Bruno sneaks him food each time he comes for a visit. Bruno asks his dad about the people at the farm and the dad says, “Those people aren’t really people at all.” One day Schmuel is sent to Bruno’s house to clean the crystal. Bruno is excited to see Schmuel in his house. They are caught talking and Schmuel gets in trouble. When Bruno is asked if he knows Schmuel, Bruno says no for fear of getting in trouble. A few days later Bruno goes back to the camp to apologize to Schmuel and tell him that he is moving away. Schmuel is very sad as he tells Bruno that he can’t seem to find his dad. Bruno comes up with a plan that he will disguise himself as one of the Jewish campers and dig under the fence to help Schmuel find his dad before he leaves. So the next day Schmuel meets Bruno at the fence with a pair of striped pajamas and Bruno digs a hole big enough for him to crawl into the camp. Bruno put on the striped pajamas and was amazed at his realization about what camp life was really

Cited: The Boy In the Striped Pajamas. DVD. Prod. Mark Herman. Miramax, 2008. 94 minutes. Thio, A. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 7th. Allyn & Bacon. Pearson Education, 2009.