The Wave

I have so many fond memories of those great Afterschool Specials that ABC used to make. I think they did such a great service to kids becuase they dealt realistically with social issues in a tasteful manner. The Wave is the best special they ever made because it is one of those few tv shows that really required you to think about the message. I think that it is such a shame that people remember Bruce Davidson as the star of Willard because he is outstanding, not to mention chilling, here as a social studies teacher who, to put it mildly, gets carried away when he encourages his students to act like Nazis. It is even more chilling when you think about the Germans during WWII who so blindly ignored what Hitler was doing. We need to remember the Holocaust for this reason and this brilliantly written and superbly acted film should be seen by every decent person who prays that the terrors of Nazi Germany may never happen again!

"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.

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!

Based on a real incident at an American high school in 1967, this short TV movie shows the horror of mob psychology and group pressure. The high school teacher gives his students a lesson in the history of Nazi Germany, not by having them read a chapter in a book but by turning them into Nazis -- without their even being aware that it is happening.

The film should be part of every school's curriculum. The tendency toward in-groups and gangs is strong amongst teens, and the tragic consequences can be seen periodically in the news headlines. This film is a warning of the potential that lurks within us all.

I saw this on Australian TV as a teen in the early 1980s. I just watched it again in 2019 - the second time I have seen it. It was amazing just how much of it I remembered clearly: the characters and various little moments.

I'd say this was a highly effective memorable little movie. It gets the story across economically but it is believable.