The Devil's Playground (US, 2001)


Figure 1.--The photographs here show Amish boys in their traditional dress, not in the "english" dress which many of them adopt during "Rumspringa." This photograph shows an Indiana boy of about 10 years wearing blue trousers with black suspenders and a white shirt. Notice his hat, which most Amish boys wear when they are outdoors. The pants are similar to blue jeans but styled somewhat differently. Such trousers are often handmade at home. Note the broad-brimmed hat and the buggies in the background with their florescent triangle (necessary to prevent accidents on modern American roads where the horse-drawn buggies have to compete with the modern automobile).

The documentary "The Devil's Playground" (2001) was directed by Lucy Walker. It dealt with the life of Amish youth in modern America. It was filmed princpally in LaGrange County, Indiana, and in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which are both centers of Amish culture. The Amish were a splinter religious group, originally founded in 1693 in central Europe because they disapproved of infant baptism and insisted that a person couldn't legitimately become a true member of their church until he or she was at least sixteen. At this point they were baptized, joined the Amish church, and swore to live the rest of their lives simply, shunning the ways of the modern world as much as possible. They were severely persecuted in Europe for their views on baptism, and by 1860 had abandoned Europe entirely for life in America. Most of the Amish are hard- working, thrifty, productive farmers, but they have other skills as well such as carpentry, sewing, horse-shoeing, etc. The Amish educate their children in separate schools through the 8th grade and from that point onward discourage further education as leading to "the pride of life". For this reason also they refuse to use electricity, automobiles, cameras, and many other modern conveniences. But they are not so much against modern technology for its own sake (they do make certain compromises with the modern world) as they are determined to avoid aspects of modern culture that would tend to break up their close-knit community with its values of self-reliance and helping each other. The most visible aspect of their essentially rural culture is the horse-drawn buggy--their major means of transportation.

Filmology

The documentary "The Devil's Playground" (2001) was directed by Lucy Walker.


Figure 2.-- This photograph shows a group of Amish boys in their typical black trousers and hats with white shirts. This is the Amish "dress uniform" for boys, usually worn to church. Note the bicycle, which is permitted in Amish life. The brick building (probably in Lancaster, Pa.) may be an Amish church.

The Subject

The film deals with the life of Amish youth in modern America.

Location

It was filmed princpally in LaGrange County, Indiana, and in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which are both centers of Amish culture.

The Amish

The Amish were a splinter religious group, originally founded in 1693 in central Europe because they disapproved of infant baptism and insisted that a person couldn't legitimately become a true member of their church until he or she was at least sixteen. At this point they were baptized, joined the Amish church, and swore to live the rest of their lives simply, shunning the ways of the modern world as much as possible. They were severely persecuted in Europe for their views on baptism, and by 1860 had abandoned Europe entirely for life in America. Most of the Amish are hard- working, thrifty, productive farmers, but they have other skills as well such as carpentry, sewing, horse-shoeing, etc. The Amish educate their children in separate schools through the 8th grade and from that point onward discourage further education as leading to "the pride of life". For this reason also they refuse to use electricity, automobiles, cameras, and many other modern conveniences. But they are not so much against modern technology for its own sake (they do make certain compromises with the modern world) as they are determined to avoid aspects of modern culture that would tend to break up their close-knit community with its values of self-reliance and helping each other. The most visible aspect of their essentially rural culture is the horse-drawn buggy--their major means of transportation.
This film is highly unusual because normally the Amish reject the idea of being photographed as promoting vanity and pride of self. (The Amish people who appear in the film are either teenagers who are undergoing a kind of identity crisis or older Amish people who believed that the documentary served a noble enough purpose to allow for an exception to their disapproval of the camera.)


Figure 3.--he third photograph is interesting because it illustrates the clash of two cultures. The boys are gathering or "hanging out" near a modern parked car which obviously interests and attracts them and which one of them may be allowed to drive during his Rumspringa. But there is also a sign near the car about the place to hitch horses, which is the transport the Amish traditionally rely on.

Clothing

For reasons of avoiding temptations to pridefulness the Amish wear very simple unadorned clothing. The boys wear mainly farm clothes--always long pants (usually with suspenders since belts are frowned upon as too fancy and impractical), plain colored or white shirts, and broad-brimmed hats (either of straw or felt). Some of the Amish trousers are styled like navy trousers with a button flap in front instead of a fly. Zippers are not generally used in Amish clothing. The children don't wear shorts even for play, and the girls always wear skirts.

The first photograph here shows an Indiana boy of about 10 years wearing blue trousers with black suspenders and a white shirt (figure 1). Notice his hat, which most Amish boys wear when they are outdoors. The pants are similar to blue jeans but styled somewhat differently. Such trousers are often handmade at home. Note the broad-brimmed hat and the buggies in the background with their florescent triangle (necessary to prevent accidents on modern American roads where the horse-drawn buggies have to compete with the modern automobile).

The second photograph shows a group of Amish boys in their typical black trousers and hats with white shirts (figure 2). This is the Amish "dress uniform" for boys, usually worn to church. Note the bicycle, which is permitted in Amish life. The brick building (probably in Lancaster, Pa.) may be an Amish church.

The third photograph is interesting because it illustrates the clash of two cultures (figure 3). The boys are gathering or "hanging out" near a modern parked car which obviously interests and attracts them and which one of them may be allowed to drive during his Rumspringa. But there is also a sign near the car about the place to hitch horses, which is the transport the Amish traditionally rely on. Note that some of the boys wear the traditional dark trousers and suspenders, while other boys seem to be in "english" dress--part of their exploration of the larger American culture.

The fourth shot shows an Amish boy trying out his new "in line" skates, apparently allowed by his parents because skating does not disrupt the basic values of Amish family life (figure 4). He wears a mint green shirt with his black trousers and suspenders. This photo also is an interesting symbol of the mixed culture (modern and old-fashioned) to which contemporary Amish boys are exposed.


Figure 4.-- This photograph shows an Amish boy trying out his new "in line" skates, apparently allowed by his parents because skating does not disrupt the basic values of Amish family life. He wears a mint green shirt with his black trousers and suspenders. This photo also is an interesting symbol of the mixed culture (modern and old-fashioned) to which contemporary Amish boys are exposed.

Rumspringa

The film treats that period in an Amish teenager's life known as "Rumspringa"--a time at about age 16 when the parents let the boy or girl go freely into the outside world to discover for himself or herself what the non-Amish culture is like. They experiment with "English" clothes (their term for modern American dress), with drinking, smoking, and sometimes even with illegal drugs. The parents feel that their children will not make good Amish people until they know the world they are renouncing. Some of course never come back home, while others do become baptized and join the Amish church only to leave it at a later point. It is a difficult transition for most teenagers. These children experience television and fast cars for the first time and often find it too difficult to give these luxuries up once they have experienced them.






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Created: May 13, 2004
Last updated: May 13, 2004