1. Why is Tim so enchanted by the Wave?

What is Tim looking for in

Wenger? What is the meaning of life for Tim before the Wave? and
then?

Tim : He is an uprooted young man, friendless (he offers

drugs to others to gain their friendship), lonely (his family
doesn't accept him either), timid. Intelligent (he has the
resources to make a living: he makes the website, he buys a
gun online, he does the graffiti on the façade of the town
hall). He needs a group that will welcome him and that is why
he happily joins La Ola. He is the one who best absorbs the
teacher's teachings (he immediately takes off his designer
clothes and burns them). His life has no clear meaning until
The Wave appears. He will unleash the final drama.

Of the different characters in the film, four of them stand out. Rainer Wenger, the
protagonist, teacher and leader of the movement; Karo, a student who opposes
Wenger's regime; Marco, Karo's boyfriend, with hesitant attitudes; and Tim, a
student who emerges as the prototype of a fascist militant.

Tim is the stereotypical introverted kid with problems. He adapts easily to The Wave,
submits to Wenger and appears to be an extremist in everything he does. At first,
excited, he tells his parents during dinner about the first exercises he did with the
teacher. The only response he receives from his father is: “Fine. And why do not you
do it?" From that moment on, Tim can be seen carrying out all kinds of activities, from
climbing onto a construction site to paint the La Ola logo to acting as Wenger's
bodyguard. In the second moment there is a close-up with the professor and his family
(Anke, his wife, who is pregnant), in which the identification that Gansel, the director of
the film, achieves between the fascist leader that Tim (Wenger) and his father submit.
The characteristic that unites the two is the boy's excessive obedience to them. Faced
with the betrayal of his leader, in the final scene, when Wenger decides to put an end
to the experience, Tim shoots one of his companions and then commits suicide.
Tim, a student who emerges as the prototype of a fascist militant.

On the one hand there is Tim who we can characterize as a boy with self-esteem
problems; At minute 8:54 we can see him giving drugs to some colleagues as a symbol
of friendship although they clearly do not consider him part of the group. Mauricio
Knobel will call this “negative identification” where the adolescent, faced with the need
to feel part of a community that provides support, security and esteem, is capable of
linking himself with negative figures.
The project in him, then, begins to function as an intense relationship with bonds of
dependency, which will lead him to moments of instability at the end of the film. This is
achieved because Wenger, as Tim participates in the classes, begins to praise him for his
responses, generating feelings of self-confidence; in the scene at minute 13:52: “-
Wenger: What is the essential requirement for there to be an autocratic system? -
Student: Ideology. -Student: Control. -Student: Surveillance. -Tim: Dissatisfaction .

Another reason why Tim ends up clinging to “The Wave” is the feeling of belonging
that it generates in him. In one of the scenes, Wenger asks them to use all their
creativity to add more identifying elements to the group: pages on social networks,
name, greeting, pins, logo, uniforms. Which will cause Tim to end up burning all his
clothes, listening to his leader, this happens in response to a search for identification on
his part. The character is repeatedly looking for an absolute answer to end the feelings
that invade him in some situations, which leads him to idealize his teacher in this case.
The search for satisfaction, another concept that Knobel elaborates, operates in Tim as
an affective transference; That is to say, he places his dissatisfaction with reality on his
teacher (in one of the scenes two classmates talk about Tim's life and realize that he has
lied to them about how his family is made up) and tries to alleviate his impulses. feeling
that there is someone who guides you and gives you attention.
This feeling of belonging is reflected when Tim is bullied by a group of boys outside of
The Wave who try to bother him. He is automatically helped by members of Wenger's
class.
However, what appears to be a normal stage of adolescence with a mild unconscious
condition, as the film progresses, becomes increasingly serious until its final scene.
Halfway through the film Tim will be in charge of climbing a highly dangerous
building, putting his life at risk. This feat leads him again to feel supported and admired
by his new friends. With the event, he is taken to a second stage of more intense
suffering in which he carries out acts of vandalism, risks his life and later acquires a
weapon with which he scares another group, a weapon with which he later ends up
committing suicide when The Wave dissolves. David Nasio explains that at this level it
leads the person to not feel or not realize what they are committing and that after these
outbursts they are trying to channel feelings that affect them and that they cannot
verbalize. So we can say that what Tim suffers is no longer typical of his age, but rather
it represents a serious problem to be resolved due to his stable character that is sustained
over time unlike the rest of his peers.

On the other hand, there are the characters of Marcos Y Karo . A transitory identity
ends up operating in them, that is, it is adopted for a short period of time, and both will
mark their limit with this experiment in the face of different situations. In Karo, the idea
of abandoning her appearance distances her from the group, managing to distance
herself and reflect on what is happening. He defends his uniqueness by not wanting to
wear the uniform, precisely because differences are erased and identity and self-image
are lost. This is observed in one of the class debates where Mona brings out another
perspective on the topic: “(talking about uniforms) Lisa: - eliminates social differences.
Mona:- And it also eliminates all individuality.”

However, once she returns to class, she is out of harmony with the class, which looks at
her accusingly because she does not comply with uniformity. In contrast to Tim and the
rest of his classmates, massive over-identification (which calls for erasing the
heterogeneity that makes us all unique and unrepeatable subjects) Knobel says that the
adolescent ends up “belonging more to the group of peers than to the family group (...)
That is why it is inclined to the dictates of the group, in terms of fashions, clothing,
customs, preferences of different types, etc.”

Marcos , on his own, also suffers a temporary identification that ends when he realizes
that he physically harmed his girlfriend, that is the limit for him. The experiment
unfolds in his person in a different way than Tim and Karo, since even though he is the
popular boy at school, the problems at home (it will be developed more specifically in
axis three) he develops a muteness that leads him to not express what you feel and have
impulsive behavior. The dynamic is observed during swimming hours in which Marco
unloads his problems by being violent with his teammates or opponents. Likewise, his
relationship with Karo is frayed by the lack of communicability and constant fear for the
future. This is related to the future plans that adolescents project according to Piaget.

Likewise , Lisa is another of the characters who gain confidence and security by feeling
part of The Wave. At one point Lisa is able to confront her friend Karo and claim that
she doesn't listen to her any more than Marcos listens that he doesn't want to go with her
to Barcelona. It is clearly evident that the lack of attention that each of the students
receives is one of the great reasons why the experiment will be complied with one
hundred percent.

2- THE OTHERS: you against us

The violence exercised in the film is based on the strong dichotomous oppositions
between an I and a you, where there is an ideological border that seems unbridgeable
between the groups.

First, on a smaller scale, we have the scene where Kevin is expelled from class and
invites his two friends to go with him because it would be the most natural thing to do.
However, one of the friends, Bomber, decides to contradict him and return to class, to
which Kevin responds by saying: “Traitor.”

Then, there are the confrontations between The Wave and the anarchists. The
homogeneity of the group provides them with unity and meaning in their lives, which
makes them see the other, who does not share their preferences and ideals, with a
negative connotation encouraged by their leader. At minute 28:25 the differentiation of
that other that they do not know but reject is palpable: those below (the class) are the
enemies. Likewise, they generate insults to the opposing side: “anarchist bugs,” “fascist
suckers”; thus creating stereotypes that are part of the social imagination, just as in other
scenes Lisa recommends Marcos not to answer his girlfriend's call, because then she
would become calmer by missing him and because "that's how women work", another
stereotype is how they characterized Mona, who is the one who argues and opposes The
Wave as a hippie.
Duschatzky in School as a Border tells us how the neighborhood can generate a
symbolic unity that creates sympathies and antipathies depending on the place of origin.

In the film, despite not being a territorial border, there is an ideological border that
divides the sides. The wave becomes a possibility of privilege and prestige; It is evident
when Karo is made invisible by Wenger when voting for the name of the group, thus
underestimating her contribution, also when being a member or part of the Wave ends
up being a benefit to be able to access certain places, those who do not belong to the
clan remain excluded being “the other” different from “me” who I consider my
enemy .

Another element that reflects the differentiation between groups (and even within the
Ola itself) is the use of words to transform reality, such as when Karo and Mona meet in
the school newspaper office: they appropriate the discourse, They confront him with
others and construct his subjectivity. The rest remains in a state of reproduction of what
the leader says, in some scenes you can hear the students justify the wave with Wenger's
words and not their own.

This is what Nasio talks about when he states the importance of the other to constitute
us; in The Wave the need to undermine the opposing group to claim the one we belong
to is evident. This is achieved through a level of secondary identification that is carried
out in an extra-familial sphere: friends, colleagues, teachers, etc. producing an
expansion of social ties.

It is from the link (whether close, rejection or acceptance) with the other that the
subject will build and shape his or her subjectivity, first appropriating the other's
speech, contrasting it with the one he already possesses and reworking it in a unique
way. and particular.

Thus we can observe how Mona, despite having an established position, stays to listen
to Wenger's class and debate what she defends, while it takes Karo and Marcos a while
to be able to rework their subjectivity and not be influenced by what the masses ( in this
case the members of La Ola) accept without question . We can say then that the
characters assimilate the knowledge and conceptions of life that the teacher imposes on
them (in a suggestive, even pleasant way), but until they recognize what they are doing
they cannot confront that discourse with the one they had before they had started. the
experiment.

3- Student-teacher and adolescent-family links :

“You have a family, I don't.”

Wenger can be seen from the first minutes of the film with a totally different attitude
from the rest of the teachers: he listens to rock, wears band t-shirts and you can see his
clear proximity to the students. On his part there is a fraternal alliance with the members
of the Wave, although in the development of the experiment he seems like an
authoritarian figure, in reality in terms of tastes and a feeling of shelter and proximity
they are quite similar; so much so that the students projected a father figure onto him.
Consequently, as Noemí Allidiere explains, a filial transfer occurs in each of the
students. Marcos and Karo come from a slightly unstable family, he lives with his
mother who sleeps with a boy the same age and takes out this situation in the water polo
matches, she has a more liberal family without any type of taboos or limits, which
which leads Karo to reflect on whether discipline is important to educate (just as
Wenger teaches him that it is correct) or it is better to explore the limits for themselves
(which is what his mother suggests). The emotional transfer that she carries out at first
is the rejection of the primary bond, which leads her to contradict the family discourse.

Tim, for his part, can be seen as a boy who is not paid the slightest attention at home,
while he very emphatically tells him the things he has learned in classes hoping for
praise or interest from his parents, he is ignored. completely. In him, filial transference
translates into an admiration and respect that is actually covering up a demand for love,
due to the frustrating primary bond he established with his parents.

Marco, for his part, is portrayed as a hesitant character. In the first two moments of the
film we do not see him take any concrete action on his own initiative for what he thinks
or feels, whether for his girlfriend or for the movement. At the end he reacts because
he hits his girlfriend. That is where he asks Wenger to end the exercise, a protest that
he will make public in the final scene, in the presence of all his teammates. According
to his own words, he has no family, although one scene shows what is supposedly his
mother in a love scene with a man who does not seem to be his father. Although it is
not seen so clearly in the film, the official website says that “his family life is a real
nightmare” and that “his need for a family environment is the first thing that will be
satisfied with The Wave” 3 . His relationship with Karo goes through three moments:
union with conflicts - separation - new and definitive union.
FAMILIES
Karo 's present and influential: At the time that La Ola formalizes itself and acquires a
uniform, Karo still accepts being part of it. Once again it will be the mother, by making
fun of his “military” clothing, that causes him to reject the uniform.
In his own words, Marko has no family, although one scene shows what is supposedly
his mother in a love scene with a man who does not seem to be his father. Although it
is not seen so clearly in the film, the official website says that “his family life is a real
nightmare” and that “his need for a family environment is the first thing that will be
satisfied with The Wave.
Those who have an authoritarian family structure (Tim) will be full-fledged Nazis.

2. Professor Wenger experiences a process of degradation throughout

the film that becomes evident in the discussion with his wife. What do
you think this degradation is due to? why does he react at the end?
(realizes reality and re-establishes a relationship)

within which uniformity reigns, submissive to an authority. And they will end up
defending, and obeying, that unity beyond what they would have ever thought.

The manipulability of adolescents: A key theme in the film. The students become “clay”

in the hands of the charismatic leader who molds them absolutely to his will (also alienated

at one moment by the influence of his own seduction of which he himself is a victim)
What type of personality do you think is more likely to let go and not react
to these types of systems?

A: Some people are because they have little self-confidence, others may
also have social problems. It's not that one person reflects all of that, they
are possible personalities. They can also be people who have little social
roots or who are looking for something, who are looking for an ideal, who
are not satisfied with what they have; which does not have to be negative,
you just have to look at the case of Greenpeace, who are people who do
not say yes to everything. And that is one of the things that dictatorships
take advantage of: They try to attract people from different social strata.
The Nazis were supported by garbage collectors and also by
cosmopolitan intellectuals. The same here in Spain, the dictatorship was
followed by humble workers and also by intellectuals: a dictatorship
cannot be maintained for so long and not so much of the population
supports it if it does not manage to attract all groups through an idea.

Is the group more important than the individual person? Or put

another way, can the group as such satisfy the emotional needs
for love, protection and understanding that we all have; Or
should these needs be satisfied by individual, concrete people?

GROUPS

• Group of schoolmates.

• Group of friends.

• Peer groups. Men and women of the same age.

• Group of students.

• Group of people who make up “La Ola”.

• Group of people who dress the same way (white shirt and jeans)

• Group of teachers.

• Community group.

• Family group.

• Theater group (work group).

• Group of drug addicts.

• Water polo group.

• Skate Group
• Anarchist group from the city. • Group opposed to “La Ola”.

“The Wave” is acquiring mass characteristics: there are a multitude, the objectives are
distorted and there is a discrepancy in the purposes. When the group is consolidated, they no
longer monopolize the rules, they do not think and they step out of their roles. The maximum
figure to respect is the leader. 4. The only primary group shown in the film is the family. 5. The
class is a secondary group.

…………… From the individual to the automaton: The film clearly and progressively
describes the process of passage from the individual to the automaton, in its successive

phases:

ü Obedience to a charismatic leader

ü Discipline

ü Uncritical affiliation to dogmas: They generally take the form of mottos that are

repeated as litanies (without reflecting in depth on their content or scope)

ü Automation of gestures and bodily and verbal responses

ü Incorporation of material cues to recognize oneself and differentiate oneself from

others: Selection of a group name, a logo, a uniform, a greeting, etc.

ü Conviction of belonging to a “chosen”, “superior” group

ü Euphoria from the feeling of strength coming from belonging to the group

ü Messianic vocation

ü Intolerance of objectors or opponents: They become considered “enemies” to be

neutralized (or even annihilated)

The weak or resentful as ideal prey: Robert/Tim

The Wave is a German film produced in 2008 by director Dennis Gansel. Based on real events,
the story tells how Reiner Wenger, a teacher at a secondary school, carries out an experiment
with a group of students during the so-called project week. It consists of experiencing the spirit
of autocracy to make them reflect on whether or not a Nazi government is possible today. The
dynamics of the class begin to be more intense, the students become more and more involved
in the feeling of fraternity based on discipline, and a few others will discuss the activity.