Melissa Kim

It’s almost Oscar season and along with it comes—you guessed it—Holocaust films! If this conclusion strikes you as a bit of a non sequitur, don’t worry. You are not alone. Who knew genocides were making a comeback this year?

Directors everywhere have been flocking to a new muse: the Holocaust. Whether it’s action, drama, or horror, every genre seems to have a plot for this theme. Admittedly, most of the recent films have been instant classics: The Reader has easily won Kate Winslet a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination, Defiance presents a harrowing tale of survival, and Tom Cruise shines in Valkyrie. But what of others? The Holocaust is a tragedy that deserves a starring role, and when it is cast in a bit part the results can be ugly.

Take The Unborn, the frighteningly un-frightening saga of a young woman being haunted by her evil unborn twin. In a plot so vague and convoluted the only thing left in focus is ingénue Odette Yustman’s terrified face, the incorporation of a backstory set during the Holocaust is hardly a saving stroke. It’s more of a killing stroke, truth be told, pushing the film far beyond salvation. The Unborn is so ridiculous it actually diminishes the prestige of the Holocaust, reducing it to little more than the weak punch line in a wholly un-funny joke.

So what has dozens of movies setting their scenes in such a troubling time period? It’s possible that we have reached a sort of equilibrium. Maybe this is the point in time when the tragedy of the Holocaust has been left far enough in the past that wounds are no longer wounds—they’re scars. In contrast, it’s also a point when the Holocaust is still completely relevant to us, and still heart-wrenching to watch on the big screen. Perhaps, in classic American style, we’ve decided to capitalize on this point in time by making as many movies about the Holocaust as humanly possible.

No matter what the cause, the Holocaust has somehow been turned into a trend. Whether appropriate or not, this tragedy is being included in movies for no apparent reason other than an attempt to give films more “weight”—only to find that carelessly throwing the Holocaust into a film not only backfires miserably, it cheapens a historically cataclysmic event.

Directors and screenwriters everywhere should be ashamed. Yes, the Holocaust is a scar on our memories and it evokes powerful emotions in us; but no, this doesn’t mean the simple mention of a Holocaust survivor bestows instant “seriousness” on a film. Maybe make an attempt at writing an actual plot for a change.