영화 [조조 래빗]의 통과의례 연구

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyze the structure and aspects of the rite of passage in the film <Jojo Rabbit>(2019). This film, directed and adapted by Taika Waititi based upon the novel Caging Skies of Christine Leunens, is a Jojo Betzler’s growth story. He is a ten-year-old boy in Nazi Germany during the second world war. He is extremely patriotic and loves his country and loves the Führer - he talks to his imaginary friend Adolf Hitler, who, in his mind, he sees as his best friend and biggest cheerleader. The rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. According to Arnold van Gennep, the rites of passage have three phases: Separation, transition, and incorporation. In the first phase, people withdraw from the group and begin moving from one place or status to another. In the third phase, they reenter society, having completed the rite. The transition phase, liminality, is the period between states, during which people have left one place or state but have not yet entered or joined the next. During the liminal state, one's sense of identity dissolves to some extent, as it is a period of transition. According to the schematic of the rite of passage, the narrative in <Jojo Rabbit> is structured in the form of a correlation between Jojo, who enters through the front door of his house, and then opens the door again and leaves. Jojo has been thoroughly indoctrinated that Jews are horned witches and needs to be killed, falls into chaos while living with Jewish Elsa hiding in his closet. Therefore, as a time and domain of ambiguity, Jojo's house functions as a space for the transition rite equipped with the threshold quality. Taking Elsa outside, Jojo completes the rite of passage. In the rite of passing through the threshold, tying Elsa’s shoelaces symbolizes the growth of Jojo. In the incorporation phase, Jojo assumes his "new" identity, and re-enters society with his new status. Overcoming racial hatred and prejudice, he empathizes and loves Elsa, a Jewish girl. She then tells Jojo to dance with her ― Rosie believes that dancing is one of the few ways you can be free under this Nazi regime.