“…The Third Wave was an experiment to demonstrate the appeal of fascism^[1][2] undertaken by history teacher Ron Jones with sophomore high school students attending his Contemporary History class^[1] as part of a study of Nazi Germany.^[3] The experiment took place at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California, during the first week of April 1967.^[1] Jones, unable to explain to his students how the German populace could claim ignorance of the extermination of the Jewish people, decided to show them instead.^[3] Jones started a movement called “The Third Wave” and convinced his students that the movement is to eliminate democracy.^[1] The fact that democracy emphasizes individuality was considered as a drawback of democracy, and Jones emphasized this main point of the movement in its motto: “Strength through discipline, strength through community, strength through action, strength through pride”.^[1]

The experiment was not well documented. Of contemporary sources, the experiment is only mentioned in Cubberley High School student newspaper The Cubberley Catamount. It is only briefly mentioned in two issues^[4][5], and one more issue of the paper has articles about this experiment, but without much detail.^[1] The most detailed account of the experiment is an essay written by Jones himself some six years afterwards.^[3] Several other articles about the experiment exist, but all of them were written after a considerable amount of time had passed.^[2]

The 1981 TV special The Wave, the 1988 book The Wave, The Wave – The Musical (2000), and the 2008 German film Die Welle were based on the experiment. …”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave

“…The Wave, is a short made-for-TV movie based on Ron Jones‘ The Third Wave experiment. Though more prominently featured as an episode of the ABC Afterschool Special series, this show debuted October 4, 1981; almost two years before being featured in the Afterschool Special series. …”

“…The Wave won a 1982 Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program, and a 1981 Peabody Award. It also won a 1982 Young Artist Award for Best Television Special – Family Enjoyment.

Writer Johnny Dawkins was nominated for a 1982 Humanitas Prize in the 60 minute category, and a 1983 WGA Award for Best Children’s Show. …”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave_(TV_special)

The Wave (2008 film)

“…The Wave (original: Die Welle) is a German film based on the book The Wave which was inspired by the social experiment The Third Wave. The remake was quite successful in German cinemas, and after 10 weeks 2.3 million people had watched the film. The film was directed by Dennis Gansel and starred Jürgen Vogel, Max Riemelt, Jennifer Ulrich, Jacob Matschenz and Frederick Lau. …”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave_(2008_film)

The Wave (2009) Movie Trailer

“…The Wave (film)

The Wave is an compelling German film that premiered at Sundance earlier this year. It’s about a high school teacher who sets up an experiment to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship, but it soon spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own. This trailer looks incredible – I’m a bit sad that I missed this at Sundance. It received lukewarm reviews and I never found the time to catch a screening, although it was one I wanted to see. But now that this trailer is out I’m anxious to try and catch it. This is your typical international trailer without any dialogue so as to hide the German language, but it still looks fantastic. Be sure to let us know what you think!

Reviews from Sundance praise the film for its “intoxicating power of conformity.” James Greenberg from the Hollywood Reporter writes that “the film opens with a rush of energy and doesn’t let up.” Thoughts?

The Wave (aka Die Welle) is both co-written and directed by German filmmaker Dennis Gansel, of Girls on Top and Before the Fall previously. The film was co-written by Gansel and Peter Thorwarth and is based on a novel of the same name written by Todd Strasser. This first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year but never actually picked up a US distributor. If it does find a distributor, we can expect to see this in theaters sometime in early 2009. …”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wave_(2008_film)

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