The Wave

I just watched this in my Social Psychology class and I was impressed even though the film is a bit melo-dramatic. Great if you want to see how easy it is to influence young people, those without friends and to see how easy it was for German's to grow under the influence of Nazi Germany.

This kind of thing can happen at any time, and the movie shows just how easy it is.

Doing a study for psychology, then this is a good film to watch

It's 2019, and sad to say, there are still Nazi's nowadays. So this special's concept isn't far fetched at all like it should be. Personally, I don't think I would have been so easily sucked into it. I think I would have been that one girl who realized it was bad and wrong. But 2019's society as a whole has become about following trends, social media, and being a sheep so I can see Nazi Germany happening again in full force now, and that's scary. This special really needs to be shown to students nowadays.

This movie had a great impact on me. Having personally been a victim of peer abuse, it really opened up my eyes as to what kind of effect a 'cult' can play on an individual. This concept not only explains how Hitler managed to be so successful in manipulating the whole country, but also clarifies many other historical events. I would recommend this to anyone who has not seen the movie!

"The Wave" is based on Ron Jones's experiment in a high school class that he taught. He had been teaching his students about the Third Reich, and the students refused to believe that the people of Germany couldn't have known what the Nazis were doing. So, he started a club called The Wave that called for discipline among the students, and punishment for anyone who stepped out of line. Sure enough, everyone went along with it.

Bruce Davison plays a fictionalized version of Jones, tricking the students into following a totalitarian entity. The point is that people will go along with the evilest acts without realizing that anything bad is happening. And you can't stop the descent into malevolence until it's too late. A lesson for everyone everywhere.

The Wave was the first movie I ever made. I pitched the project to ABC and plunged forward. As an After School Special it was done on a very low budget, roughly $250,000 when an average Prime Time hour in those days was done for roughly $1,000,000. All acting and writing was done for scale fees and the number of shooting days were very few to hold down costs, As I remember it shot in 8 days. When ABC saw the final show they took it out of the After School slot and aired it in prime time against 60 Minutes on Sunday night. Needless to say the ratings were very low, but even at that, back in those days about 17 million people saw it in the States. And since then millions more have seen it around the world. I'm proud of the show and the message it delivers. As the years have gone by production styles and social behaviors have shifted, that's just the way it is. So be it, the show still seems to have legs. :>>