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Film Critique: Devil’s Playground Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY

Film Critique: Devil’s Playground

Devil’s Playground is a 2002 documentary filmed in Indiana and directed by Lucy Walker. The starts off with a brief overview of the Amish community and its beliefs. It follows the experiences of several Amish youths who decide whether to remain in or leave their community and faith. Furthermore the period known as rumspringa ("running around" in Pennsylvania Dutch). In spite of the freedom to experiment, many teenagers go back to the amish ways and join the church for life. I believe this could be because family ties are more important than the freedom to experiment or it could be because at 16 they could not separate themselves from the only life they have ever known. The Amish church was founded in 1693 by a group of Europeans that protested against the baptism of babies. This group claimed that only adults can freely accept Christ and be baptized. Because of this they were violently persecuted and by 1890 all of them had migrated to the United States. The Amish live in separated, enclosed communities in which they continue to hold on to their traditions and customs. These include deliberately not having electricity, hence no TV or radio. Furthermore, they farm and ride buggies pulled by horses. In a sense they are somewhat cut off from the rest of the world, which they are encouraged to resent (Devil’s Playground, 2002). On the day they turn 16 everything changes radically. Amish teenagers are released from their Amish restrictions and allowed the freedom to explore the

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Film Critique: Devil’s Playground

“english” world. The “english” world refers to life outside of the Amish community. This allows them to go to the mall, movies, parties, get haircuts, drive cars, wear make-up, jewelry, and other such activities that are usually frowned upon. Also, getting the choice whether to indulge in behaviors such as alcohol consumption, performing drugs, and premarital sex. These are unacceptable to their religious beliefs. This is done in an effort for each child to decide whether to continue in the Amish religion for life or to leave the community altogether. This period of time is known as “rumspringa” which literally means “running around” and it can last from a few months to a few years. It all depends on how long it takes the teenager to make up his or her mind (DocumentaryStorm, 2017). As previously stated, I believe they have a strong family ties that they are not willing to leave behind. I noticed this when one of the Amish youths say, “even as a young kid I think I realized the benefits of being in a closed knit community (Devil’s Playground. ) ” This supports the ideas from our textbook, because this is an example of a cultural taxonomy concept: individualism versus collectivism. In this concept, cultures vary in their tendency to encourage individuals to be unique and independent in the case of individualism or conforming and interdependent in the case of collectivism. Thus, it is the degree to which a culture relies on and has allegiance to the self or the group. We can see that the Amish church and community honor

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Film Critique: Devil’s Playground

collectivism, as they value loyalty, which is exactly what happens among the members of the Amish church. There are various ways that we as the viewer can see that the Amish honor collectivism, this included: their clothing, hair cuts, and type of houses (Lustig  & Koester, 2013, p. 109).  In addition, the documentary seems to be showing that what kids learn during the first 16 years of their lives can influence the choices they make as adults. In the film we are introduced to Faron Yoder, the son of the Preacher. He speaks about how he had thought he would always be Amish; always thinking he would eventually want to be Amish later in his life. Faron explains the ritual of Rumspringa similar to rebirth by having to start completely over. Either a rebirth into the new world or a rebirth into joining the Amish church. Faron struggles to accept the fact that in order to join the church he would have to forget everything he has been introduced to since turning 16, his drug addiction, including clothes, friends, memories, and go back to the way things are supposed to be. Overtime Faron gets clean from drugs and gets a Amish girlfriend named Emma. Both of their families are happy that they both are in an Amish relationship, as they are allowed to date without being chaperoned. Eventually Faron and Emma end their relationship and Emma leaves Indiana and gets a job waiting tables in an Amish community in Florida. Three months later Faron sets out to find Emma in Florida. In the end he decides not to join the Amish church. He gets a parking valet job

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Film Critique: Devil’s Playground

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and begins to feel a lot better about himself in a way that he could have never imagined. He says he is unsure if he’s still in Rumspringa , “I’m not English or Amish, I’m just me”. It shows that he thought he needed to go home and join the church, but he ends up realizing that in that moment that was not what he needed. He needed to follow the love of his life. The book would refer to this as cultural identity search . It involves a process of exploring and questioning about one’s culture Furthermore, leading to a better understanding of what it means to be a member in that culture. By exploring the culture, individuals can learn about its strengths and may come to a point of acceptance both of their culture and of themselves. For some individuals, such as Faron, a turning point or crucial event happens in this stage, but for others it just begins with a growing awareness of everyday experiences (Lustig  & Koester, 2013, p. 132).  After watching the movie, it seems to me that for most teens Rumspringa means partying and doing everything they could not before for some time then going back to join the church, similar to a vacation. The purpose of this ritual is to get a small dose of the outside world, just enough so temptations later on don’t occur. It creates the illusion that if having the option to choose to be Amish it will result in a happier Amish individual. Rumspringa can only end with two different situations, either deciding to join the Amish church or not.“Currently almost 90% of Amish young people will join the Amish church. The retention rate is the highest ever since the founding of the Amish

Film Critique: Devil’s Playground

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church in 1693 (Philosophical Films, (n.d.)).” This was the most surprising thing to me, the amount of people that make the decision to go back. Yet, after having learned the lesson of this class, it makes it clear. Since, as an outsider I see this as a strange idea and social environment. To them this is not the case, to them that is their norm. Many concepts of the book can be analyzed in the Devil’s Playground  directed by Lucy Walker.

Film Critique: Devil’s Playground

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References Devil's Playground Review. (2017, January 24). Retrieved from https://www.documentarystorm.com/devils-playground/ Lustig, M. W., & Koester, J. (2013). Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal Communication across Cultures. Pearson Education. Walker, L. (Director). (2002). Devil's Playground  [Motion picture]. United States: Stick Figure Productions. Philosophical Films. Retrieved from http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/1/devils.htm Devil's Playground. (2017, January 24). Retrieved from https://www.documentarystorm.com/devils-playground/...