Nazism
A pervasive theme in the film is that of the Nazi party and their anti-Semitic and oppressive regime. The film's protagonist, Jojo, wants badly to fit in with his fellow Nazis and to ascend the ranks of the party, becoming a soldier. In fact, his imaginary friend, the person who follows him around wherever he goes, is a manifestation of the leader of the Nazi party himself, Adolf Hitler. Jojo's main source of ideas and of motivation is one of history's most infamous villains.
In Taika Waititi's vision, Nazism is as ridiculous and clownish as it is evil. Throughout the film, Nazis are primarily comic figures, idiots fumbling through their duties as book-burners, chaos agents, and ethnic cleansers. Heil Hitlers are exchanged with the breezy good humor of a "Good morning," and they invoke their hatred of Jews almost constantly, but with the misinformed tone of a child that is playing at a game of "war." In spite of its silly treatment, Nazism is the main antagonistic threat in the film, threatening horrific violence and compromising characters' freedom.
Propaganda
The Nazis used a lot of propaganda to get people on their political team and influence Germans during World War II. One of the tasks given to Jojo as a member of the Hitler Youth is to distribute propaganda around the city. Part of what his mother, Rosie, is doing working for the resistance is distributing anti-Nazi literature. Thus, we see the ways that propaganda and political literature is an important part of the film.
Additionally, Jojo is a character who has fallen completely prey to the Nazi project and its propaganda, primarily its anti-Semitic bent. Like most German kids his age, he grows up fearing Jews, and thinking they are evil. As he gets to know Elsa, however, Jojo learns that life is often different than the propaganda distributed by the Nazis makes it seem. The film stages the ways that propaganda and prescriptive political views force people to ignore their individual perceptions and understandings of events and people.
Pleasure
This theme is embodied primarily in the character of Rosie, who wants her serious son to have some fun, even when life seems dire and bleak. She is a big proponent of enjoyment and pleasure, especially when the world is in shambles. One day on a walk, Rosie observes that Jojo is growing up too fast, and should be having fun rather than celebrating a war. She tells him, "Life is a gift. We must celebrate it. We have to dance, to show God we are grateful to be alive." When he counters that "dancing is for people who don't have a job," she suggests that "Dancing is for people who are free. It's an escape from all this." She believes in the power of pleasure and diversion to get through hard times.
At the end of the film, Jojo has internalized this lesson of his mother's. When he and Elsa finally leave the house after the war is over, they dance in the streets, experiencing pleasure for the first time in a long time. Here, we see that Jojo has carried some of his mother's spirit with him into the unknown but hopeful future.
Bravery
Jojo wants to be a good Nazi, but he is not as brave as he would like to be. At camp, he is unable to kill a rabbit to prove to his superiors and peers that he would be able to kill if required. When he runs off, humiliated, his imaginary friend Hitler tells him, "I’ll let you in on a little secret. The rabbit is no coward. The humble little bunny faces a dangerous world everyday, hunting carrots for his family, for his country. My empire will be full of all animals, lions, giraffes, zebras, rhinoceroses, octopuses, rhineoctopuses, even the mighty rabbit." With this, Jojo is motivated to return to the group and be brave.
As the film progresses, Jojo learns that bravery is not necessarily about conforming to the standards of the Nazi party, but about forming human connections. In the course of his friendship with Elsa, he observes how brave she has to be to endure the oppression the Jewish people have faced and continue to endure during the war. Finally, when his mother dies, Jojo must stay brave and face the unknown with confidence, even though he mourns her loss.
Friendship and Love
While Jojo is an exceedingly serious character, he also has several people in his life whom he loves and who he takes care of. In the course of the narrative, he learns that love, friendship, and human connection are important parts of life. Through his relationship with his mother, his friendship with the chubby and adorable Yorki, and his intimacy with Elsa, his unlikely Jewish friend, Jojo learns that relationships are what enrich life, even in uncertain times. The final image of the film—Jojo and Elsa dancing in the streets—is an image of friendship and connection after a time of great loss.
Sacrifice
Characters make sacrifices in different ways throughout the film. Jojo unintentionally sacrifices his ability to serve as a soldier after he accidentally blows himself up with a grenade. For the rest of the film, we follow his journey of sacrificing his ambitions and dreams out of necessity. His mother, Rosie, also makes sacrifices in raising a child without her husband to help her. Additionally, she is working for the resistance and hiding a Jewish girl in her home, risking her life and sacrificing comfort in order to do the right thing. Finally, Klezendorf, the Nazi officer, ends up making sacrifices in order to protect Jojo and Elsa in definitive moments when they could easily lose their freedom and their lives.
Childhood
One of the central jokes of the film is the fact that Jojo is a passionate and devoted Nazi, in spite of being only 10 years old. This juxtaposition between his innocence and the abject evil of his politics becomes a kind of punchline in the film. Even though he barely knows what he is devoting himself to, he is committed to his fascist politics. Indeed, his imaginary friend is none other than Adolf Hitler himself, the tyrannical leader of the Nazi party. In a strange way, Jojo's journey is as much about learning to lighten up and be a child as it is about being exposed to adult issues and growing up during World War II. Thus, we see that Taika Waititi gives the subject of childhood and youth a rather darkly comic twist.
