Britney Spears, Time Travel and the Holocaust - in One Movie?

by Martha Heinemann Bixby · 2009-06-26 13:35:00 UTC
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ABC news is reporting that Britney Spears - of Mickey Mouse Club, "Oops I Did It Again" and head-shaving fame - is reviewing a script for a new film about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, "The Yellow Star of Sophia and Eton."

There is, of course, backlash.

Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said:

"In films that deal with the Holocaust, the script should be carefully chosen and the cast picked with care" ... "It is reprehensible to combine the issue of the Holocaust with Britney Spears"

On the other hand, arguments in favor of Britney's involvement are coming from surprising corners.

Kevin Jon Heller at Opinio Juris makes the case that:

a good actor doesn’t guarantee a good Holocaust movie.  The Boy in the Stryped Pajamas starred David Thewlis and Life is Beautiful starred Roberto Benigni, and they were both awful, offensive movies.  By contrast, The Grey Zone starred David Arquette of Scream fame — and it was terrific, one of the most underrated movies of its kind.

John Aravosis at America Blog asks:

Yes, Britney is fluffy, but how does it hurt the memory of the Holocaust to have an entire generation of Britney fans educated to the fact that there was a Holocaust, and that it was a very bad thing?

However,  if Haaretz's description of the movie is anything to go by, I'm not sure if Britney's involvement will be the real problem here.

A woman who invents a time machine and succeeds in traveling to the time of the Second World War. According to the script, LaMont ends up at a concentration camp and falls in love with a Jewish prisoner named Eton. However, the budding love story is cut short when both are killed by the Nazis.

Seriously?  Time machines and time travel in a film about the Holocaust?  I can't help but think there are enough true (or plausible!) stories to base films off of... do we really need such a convoluted and far-fetched storyline?

Humor and vacuous feel-good sentiments don't often combine well with stories of the Holocaust, as Kevin notes.  I can't imagine that science fiction will fare much better.  Never mind which pop princess might play the title role (although of course this could be Britney's big shot at an Oscar).

Hat tip to Savo Heleta.

Martha Heinemann Bixby
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