When I get home, I'll post the link (one of many), but here the TLDR: Holocaust survivor, his daughter and grandchildren dance to a rendition of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" at various concentration camps and Nazi outposts in Europe. At first I was like WTF. Then it sets in that, well, this is a family he wouldn't have had, had he not survived the camps. Poignant, to be sure. Some have said "life-affirming." Then there are others who aren't sure this is really in good taste, and I think I'm in that camp at least as much as I'm in the "well, yeah, this is something to celebrate" category. Hear me out. The lyrics of the song tell the story of a brokenhearted woman who knows that she'll get through the breakup and will be alright, if not a little more cautious in the future. She just has to have the will to pull herself though. Now that's a little different than being shot because you're a Jew. Or gassed in a "shower." Or forced to labor without food until you're too weak to work, and then you're shot, gassed or left for dead. Bleeding to death from multiple gunshot wounds isn't something you get through by having a positive attitude. And that's the problem I have with the choice of song. I think it's commendable that this family went to these horrible places and basically said, "we're done letting the memory of what you did to our people ruin our lives." And maybe that's why they chose the song. But the implied message seems a little insensitive to those who also survived who had loved ones killed in the camps: "Hey bub, all your dad had to do was have love in his heart the day they sent him to the gas chambers and he would have survived like I did, and like Ms Gaynor survived her breakup." What would people be saying if there was a montage of images of slaves being whipped, mutliated, killed and sold, with the same song being played? I guarantee YouTube would not allow it to be streamed. Perhaps if there was a little more context to the dance routine, there wouldn't be so much controversy/discussion about it. Maybe if they said why they chose the song (am I right about my "we're getting past the memories" guess) it would be easier for others to get into the spirit in which the video was obviously made: I survived, I have this family that I love and I won't let these places with their memorise of dark deeds take one more day away from me.
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