About a week ago, I saw a movie
with my roommates. The 2012 animated
feature film The Boxtrolls tells the
story of an orphan boy who is raised by a community of, well, trolls. While the story is, at its core, about
acceptance of those who are different from the standard norm, the methods of
execution of this moral fall short. The
titular box trolls are exemplary of the medieval stereotypes and images of
Jews. They were banished from the human
community, only to live in a box-built ghetto, and the general, ignorant
public, believes them to kidnap and eat boys.
These strange, bodily, grotesque images were not uncommon in Medieval
Europe. In fact, the Jewish ghetto
depicted in the “Prioress’ Tale” adheres to those stereotypes. So what does it say that this film used
Jewish stereotypes to get its point across?
While
Anti-Semitism is still prevalent today, the caricatures of the Medieval past
seem to be just that—the antique past.
Perhaps the movie was resurrecting these negative stereotypes because it
assumed that people wouldn’t put the pieces together. However, this decision raises very
interesting choices about how caricatures and stereotypes are portrayed in the
media. This stereotype’s age somehow
made it more “OK” to be featured in a children’s film. After all, the purpose of the movie was to
bridge the gaps separating different cultures.
The movie actively sought to prove that the real antagonists of the film
were the humans who wrongfully accused the trolls of monstrous deeds. Seemingly, the derogatory stereotypes were
redeemed by the fact that these characters were not so different after
all. Does that make it ok though? Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was an abolitionist novel, yes, but it is also
credited with the creation and/or popularization of some of the most damaging
stereotypes. Stowe utilized negative
stereotypes in order to make an anti-slavery argument. So, yes, The
Boxtrolls preaches the acceptance of these anti-Semitic characters,
however, it has to blatantly and offensively distinguish them first.
But
perhaps this decision was not entirely intentional. However, that only reinforces the notion that
these anti-Semitic caricatures are ingrained in history. I recall that about a
year or so ago, Macklemore performed his hit song “Thrift Shop.” When he walked on stage, he wore, a wig, and
a fake nose, both of which seemed to create an eerily familiar image. According to an article published in Rolling Stone, he said on his website “I
personally thought I looked very ambiguous in terms of any ‘type’ of
person’”(Rolling Stone). Whether or not
the singer was telling the truth, this claim raises an interesting point. Perhaps we, in history, have reached a time
where negative stereotypes are so engrained in our minds that we do not even
think twice before further preserving them.
To go back to an earlier discussion, one of the characters in The Boxtrolls essentially tells the protagonist
that he doesn’t look like a boxtroll.
This could go back to the notion of an individual “looking Jewish.” These are characters who are distinguished
based on appearance, and one perhaps not adhering to those standards could
comment on the shock that accompanies an inability to place real life people in
categories based on caricatures and stereotypes.
 |
| credit: huffingtonpost |
There
could very well exist ignorance regarding medieval Jewish stereotypes. Perhaps more and more people are recognizing
these stereotypes while others remain ignorant.
The point is, they are still being utilized in media to illustrate a
moral, they are still being used to be a racial “other,” and both fictional
characters and singers alike need to learn of the humanity beneath the surface.
No comments:
Post a Comment