Swing Kids

“We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started” (Henry Ward Beecher). Peter Muller, the main character in the film Swing Kids, directed by Thomas Carter, is an exemplary human by this measure. Swing Kids explores how the Nazi powers in World War II Germany force teenagers to make decisions between right and easy. Three friends whose hobbies include listening to swing music and practicing American slang are torn apart over the Hitler Youth Group (HJ’s). While debating over the morality of his father, Peter changes from a gentle caring friend and son to facing internal conflict about whether or not to obey the Nazis, until he has epiphanies about the actions of

When Herr Knopp asks Peter to spy on the bookstore owner in exchange for taking his grandmother on vacation, a faustian bargain, he finds false birth certificates to aid Jews in leaving the country, but does not turn them in. This is a major turning point for Peter, it is the first time his directly disobeyed the Nazi’s orders. He recognizes that what they are doing is morally wrong and chooses not to participate, so rightly states by Arvid that even though you are not the ones doing the killing, by being part of it, you are helping them kill. Later, the Nazi’s ask him to deliver packages, which he does, but then opens out of curiosity after hearing a woman scream upon opening hers. He discovers that the boxes contain ashes and a wedding ring, symbolizing the death of a loved one. Losing control and entering Frau Linge’s crying, she reads a letter from his father and Peter realizes that after all, he was a very brave and unselfish man, for it took courage to protect others, while he could have simply saved himself. After Arvid’s outburst in the cafe and Thomas condemns his actions, Peter realizes that Thomas has fully adopted the Nazi ideology and “is really one of them now.” While Peter did join the HJ’s first, he simply did it to please his mother, while Thomas, who has nowhere else to turn, has become fully

He knows that his father was a courageous and strong man and did what was right, not what came easily. We also see how his perspective of his mother has changed, as she begins to suck up to Herr Knopp, even flirting and seating in her husband’s place at the table. Peter sits solemnly at the table, bitterly pointing out the hypocrisy of the Nazi who listens to jazz music and eats Polish sausages. His mother begs him to apologize, but Peter has firmly made up his mind. Before he leaves for the swing club for the last time, he gives Willy the letter from his father and assures him the Papa did love us, now that he truly believes those words himself. In a final fight with Thomas when the swing club is invaded by Nazi’s, Thomas’s grants him one last reprieve, the chance to run away and save himself, but he chooses to stay and be taken away to labor camp. With his remaining strength as he is dragged into a vehicle, Peter shouts the defining line of the movie “It don’t mean a thing it it ain’t got swing do wop do wop do wop.” Battered, bruised and bloodied, he salutes to Thomas, “Swing Heil” who miraculously returns the cheer. Peter is now a brave man, taking after his father, willing to die for morality and peace once