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Taika Waititi Just as Confused as the Rest of Us as to Why We’ve Still Got Nazis Running Around

(image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Taika Waititi is having quite the week, and honestly? GOOD. Fresh off his Academy Award win for Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit, Waititi spent his time in the press room bringing up important issues—some funny, and some incredibly poignant and serious. So … much like what you’d expect out of Waititi (and much like Jojo Rabbit itself).

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Before we get into his serious statements in the press room, Taika did have a fun message for those writers out there and what they should be asking for:

But, definitely, more importantly, Waititi talked about the rise of Nazism in the 21st century and how that, ultimately, led to him making Jojo Rabbit in the first place.

Saying,

“Us making the film was in response to a resurgence of hate and intolerance and hate speech. And here’s the thing: At the end of [World Ward II] there was a very clear rule, if you were a Nazi, you went to jail. Now the rules have changed a bit. If you’re a Nazi, feel free to have a rally down in the town square and you can invite all your mates. So something’s changed and something’s not right. And we have forgotten the rules, I guess, so I feel like this is the perfect time for a film like this. I feel like the film has become more important and more relevant today. Which is a sad thing, but also good for me.”

It’s sad but so incredibly true. The idea of “free speech” has led to, as Waititi puts it, those who subscribe to Nazi ideology feeling as if they can take to the town square to share their views without any repercussions. But Taika Waititi wants us all to know that like at the end of World War II, Nazis should be in jail.

This week also came with the knowledge that there is no rest for Waititi, as he went from winning an Oscar for his work on Jojo Rabbit and is straight back to working on Thor: Love and Thunder and this time, with writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson helping with the script.

Maybe that’s my favorite thing about Taika Waititi: He is constantly giving us new content to praise and is always interacting with fans and making social commentary that is perfect and timely. Taika Waititi deserves everything he’s been given and so much more and I can’t wait to see what comes next for my, personal, favorite director and screenwriter.

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Author
Rachel Leishman
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh.

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