I think “Zone of Interest” by Jonathan Glazer is a brilliant and important piece of art. We watched it a second time because I knew I had missed important details. The second time I was able to focus on details. The way the Grandmother puts her hands to her ears, the clearly problematic smell that causes people to cover their nose, the father hearing a rare bird song over the sounds of the “machine”, the dancing dead bodies in the laundry of the polish woman, the looks on the faces of those at the party and more. I would watch it again. What it says about today and our ability to block out the suffering of others while we remain comfortable, is beyond profound and since watching it I will have moments where the movie reminds me of my own complicity in the suffering of others. Most of us our guilty of this to some extent whether it be the inexpensive clothes we buy or ordering from Amazon or our turning a blind eye to the plastic we use.
With Passover just a few weeks away I often think about my attempts at family seders to connect the story to our current world system. It never went over well with my more religious family members. There is a lack of imagination that many have that I fear is why people do not want to make connections from the past to today. Those who watch Zone of Interest and just see it as a movie about the luxurious life of a Nazi family are missing the point. Or those who feel it is not really a Holocaust movie because there are no Jews physically present on the screen are failing to see why this movie matters as much as all the movies made before that are explicit about the abuse and suffering inside the camps.
The vitriol that was thrown at Glazer after his Oscar acceptance speech upset me. That people who I thought were kind and thoughtful and progressive joined in the chorus of those criticizing him was even worse. And it is crazy because the movie premiered in September before the events of October 7th.
Meanwhile I read an essay and listened to a podcast with Israeli and Tel Aviv resident Mushon Zer Aviv. The title of the opinion piece was “Israel Commits Suicide of Biblical Proportions and America is there to assist” So when another Jewish friend who has strong ties with Israel and Judaism posted a NYTimes article by the conservative Bret Stephens, which was at it’s core the simple Israel=Good and Hamas=Bad so Israel needs to keep bombing Gaza, I felt compelled to just post the alternative opinion piece by Mushon Zer Aviv in the comments and made a point of pointing out that it was written by somebody living in Tel Aviv. The friend immediately blocked me on social media. I sent an email asking to meet her for coffee so we could talk in person about this. I promised to listen to her. I know her views are partly shaped by her Israeli connections relating to her daughter. This woman is a devoted mother. But I have not heard back from her.
I sent an email to my relative asking her read Naomi Klein’s Guardian piece about the movie and the Oscars. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/14/the-zone-of-interest-auschwitz-gaza-genocide?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Perhaps I am foolish in thinking I can change anyone’s mind or help them see what is happening. Naomi Klein and Muson make a strong case for why Israel is engaged in a fool’s errand. I keep thinking how for every Hamas militant IDF kills how many more boys and girls will grow into adults filled with rage and hate due to the trauma they have suffered . And this is already happening. Israel claims to eliminate Hamas from Al Shifa Hospital and a few weeks later the place is filled with young men willing to fight the Israelis. When you have nothing to loose or have lost everything than it is easy to go to battle.
The New Yorker had an article about the child amputee’s from this war. This war has created more child amputees than any previous war. Trauma is not something that just goes away. It persists and poisons generations that come after. And yes Israelis suffered a horrible trauma as well. But if as a country they had only paused and allowed the world to grieve and support them. Maybe then those who envision a better world could have gathered and come up with a solution to the endless cycle of violence and hate that encompasses both sides.
On the positive side we watched a SKY news segment about a young Israeli woman who was choosing to spend time in Jail rather than fight. I admire her strength and the strength of her supportive parents as they stand up for LIFE. It gave me hope.