While I'm not wild about depressing movies, This week's Fashion and Film Friday pick offers a very valuable message about how hatred and ignorance can effect the lives of the innocent.


The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is unlike any other movie about the Holocaust because the story is told from the viewpoint of an innocent, 8 year old German boy, Bruno. Bruno's father is a Nazi commandant. When his father takes over running a work camp, Bruno and his family are relocated to a large house just down the road from the camp. Bruno's privileged life as the son of the commandant has taught him little about the world around him.

One day, he leaves home to explore the forest and discovers the outer walls of a work camp, he becomes very curious about the terrible smells coming from the chimney, the people "playing" in pajamas all day and a Jewish boy named Shmuel.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas really portrays the fear felt by Germans who didn't agree with the policies of the Third Reich. The terror of Nazi Germany was inflicted upon them so harshly that some people ignored the reality of the situation and even sacrificed the innocence of their own children, as can be seen in Bruno's mother.

While none of us like to see the terrible sights of the Holocaust, movies like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas are very important to remind us about these events that took place not long ago and that we all have to be cautious to not let history repeat itself.


The amazing World War II era costumes for this movie were designed by Natalie Ward. However, the incredible 1940's hairstyles of this movie particularly stood out to me. Hairstylist Jaqueline Bhavnani worked on hair and makeup for this film. She also served as the hairstylist for Valkyrie, Alexander and DeLovely.