Paper Clips

[mstar1]

This movie, a documentary, if not a great, sophisticated or challenging movie is still worth seeing.

In 1999, three Middle school teachers in Whitwell, Tennessee (population 1500), concerned that their students live too isolated from the rest of the world (there are no minorities in the town-blacks, jews,or hispanics-not even catholics) come up with a project to learn about prejudice and intolerance by studying the Holocaust. The students read The Diary of Anne Frank and start internet research.

One student, unable to imagine 6 million of anything, let alone jews who died, starts the notion of gathering 6 million paperclips in one place at one time to comprehend it, and as a tribute to the victims.

The project starts slowly with a clip here and a clip there donated by holocaust survivors when the story breaks in the national news and people from all over the world start to donate paper clips, write their stories ,and come to the tiny Tennessee town. There are some heart wrenching moments in the film when actual holocaust survivors come tell their story to the 8th graders

Eventually a Childrens Holocaust Memorial is built out of an original train car that brought victims to the concentration camp that houses 11 million paperclips ( 6 million for the Jews and 5 million for homosexuals, gypsies, Jehovahs Witnesses and others murdered by the Nazis)in front of the school.

Its a very touching movie and like I said it isn't very sophisticated or challenging-nor should it be. It is a straightforward, heartfelt and genuine. It plays more like a local news report and you get a sense that the project grew directly out of the good intentions of the people involved.

In changing their perceptions about minorities the students in Whitwell also changed perceptions others may have of them.

In an America that some divide into red and blue or liberal and conservative, there is something naively refreshing about the Paper Clip Project.

For some---especially kids --or those who haven't grown too jaded ---this movie should be required....

Edited March 23, 2005 by mstar1