Drama
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a little like its titular character. It’s painful. It gets under your skin. And it just might leave a mark.
Diana, Jessica, Kara, Karen, Zee and Barbara are six teenage girls facing normal teenage struggles: passing their driver’s exams, dealing with bullies, making friends and turning in their homework on time.
However, they also make the lineup of Metropolis City’s superhero team, the Super Hero Girls.
Moonlighting as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Supergirl, Bumblebee, Zatanna and Batgirl, the girls hunt down criminals, beat up monsters and somehow manage to keep their secret identities hidden from their classmates and parents.
It’s not always an easy gig, but it’s one they take on selflessly, helping one another through every battle—both physical and emotional.
Based on the web series of the same name, DC Super Hero Girls has some clear goals: encouraging friendships based on love and acceptance and empowering young girls to be themselves. If those goals make it sound a little like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, that’s no accident. Both were created by Lauren Faust, use many of the same writers and even feature some of the same voices.
Faust’s newest show isn’t not all sunshine and high-flying heroism, of course. Despite being superheroes blessed with supernatural powers fighting for the greater good, the girls still sometimes act like bratty teenagers—because, well, they are. Like any other teenagers they get into petty squabbles, call each other names and struggle to overcome jealousy and embarrassment. (Not to mention the regular comic book-esque brawls with bad guys.) And while these young women seem more interested in fighting for truth and friendship than dating, you never know when that might change … or in what direction it might lead.
However, the girls also demonstrate great strength (and not just the superhero kind). They risk their lives to keep the people of Metropolis safe, make personal sacrifices to benefit their friends and even try to find common ground with their enemies (many of whom attend school with them under assumed identities as well).
So even though they’ve still got some growing up to do, the Super Hero Girls seem well on their way to being strong role models for young girls everywhere.
When Lois Lane writes an article for The Daily Planet that could expose the secret identities of the Super Hero Girls, they must choose between letting her get away with it and saving Metropolis from an invasion of moth monsters.
The giant flying insects attack the city and people of Metropolis. The Super Hero Girls use their powers to punch, kick, smash and subdue the beasts. The leader of the moths lays eggs on the side of a building, which instantly hatch into more moths. We see the burning, crumbling city in the background of a few scenes.
A girl says she doesn’t believe in violence but makes an exception to threaten a boy. The girls steal Lois Lane’s notebook. They also talk about erasing her memory with a spell. A girl jumps into a garbage bin to retrieve a paper bag. A boy flexes his pectoral muscles repeatedly.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a little like its titular character. It’s painful. It gets under your skin. And it just might leave a mark.
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