About

Jojo Rabbit is an American comedy directed by Taika Waititi. The film became the subject of online conversation after it was revealed that Waititi would be playing Adolf Hitler, who is a young boy's imaginary friend in the film.

History

On March 14th, 2018, The Wrap^[1] reported that Waititi would star as Adolf Hitler in Jojo Rabbit. Additionally, they wrote that the film's script had gone unproduced since 2012.

The following year, on July 23rd, 2019, Fox Searchlight released the first trailer for the film. Within two months, the trailer received more than 2 million views (shown below, left).

On September 3rd, Fox Searchlight released a second full-length trailer for the film. The second trailer received more than 2 million views in under 24 hours (shown below, right).

Reception

Trailer Reaction

Following the release of the trailer fans and detractors began discussing the footage online. Some announced their excitement for the film, as well as Waititi's decision to play Hitler. A fan account tweeted,^[2] ".@TaikaWaititi isn’t only giving the middle finger to hitler by having him played by a Polynesian Jew, he is giving him BLUE EYES as well!! Imagine how humiliated that asshole would be" (shown below, left).

However, some find the film's subject to matter to be in poor taste. Twitter^[3] user @BrunoBernier1 wrote, "I have said it before. Even if this is an artsy film and maybe humoristic you cannot glorify the fact that millions of people died at the hands of this lunatic and his regime" (shown below, right).

Related Memes

Hitler Downfall Meme

Following the release of the trailer, the Jojo Rabbit Twitter account shared a variation of the Hitler's Downfall Parody. The post received more than 3.5 million views, 81,000 likes and 21,000 retweets in less than two months (shown below).

pic.twitter.com/IoYadN7Ctr

— Jojo Rabbit (@jojorabbitmovie) July 26, 2019

Search Interest

External References