WEBVTT

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The dictionary definition of trauma is:

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Severe emotional shock and pain,

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caused by an extremely
upsetting experience.

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There is no set way to process trauma.

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But, in "Unorthodox," we see how
two different communities,

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one in Berlin, and another in
Brooklyn,

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cope with the tragedies
that have shaped them.

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And, in turn, we learn ways
to deal with our trauma.

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In Brooklyn, trauma forms
19 year old Esty's,

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and her community's,
identity.

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The action follows
the secretive Satmar community

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of Hasidic Jews.

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Established by a rabbi
who had fled Satu Mare,

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in present-day Romania,
during the Holocaust.

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The Satmar community
does not mix with others.

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In "Unorthodox,"

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at the head of the
sex-segregated table,

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for Pesach dinner,

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an annual commemoration
of the Jews who escaped slavery

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in ancient Egypt,

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Esty's grandfather
gives his reasons why.

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[Grandfather] We tell ourselves

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the story of Passover

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to remind us of
our suffering.

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[Narrator] The show celebrates

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the strong bonds
of family and tradition,

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within Esty's community,

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where religious customs 
and prayers

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can take place safely,

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while deadly attacks

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on synagogues, and 
other venues frequented by Jews,

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rise, across the world.

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This community defies
anti-Semitism, by living devoutly.

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We also see, in this scene,

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how Satmar Jews 
draw on past trauma,

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to make members scared
of the big, bad outside.

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[Grandfather] When we trusted

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our friends and neighbors,

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God punished us.

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When we forget who we are,

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we invite God's wrath.

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[Narrator] The Holocaust

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caused PTSD in its survivors.

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Its impact lives on.

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As Auschwitz survivor,
chemist, and writer,

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Primo Levi puts it:

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"Auschwitz is outside of us,

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but it is all around us,
in the air.

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The plague has died away,
but the infection still lingers,

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and it would be foolish
to deny it."

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This generational trauma
grows from the roots

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of Esty's family tree,
and shapes Esty's personal identity.

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She is discouraged from
exploring passions

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that contradict
the community's values.

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Her piano lessons
are so frowned upon,

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she must take them 
in secret.

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Her teacher,
Vivian Dropkin,

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is derided as 'a shiksa,'
or non-Jew.

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But interestingly,
though the show never mentions it,

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Dropkin is a secular Jew.

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Despite her faith, her choices
are not Jewish enough

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for Esty's devout community.

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Many Orthodox Jews
believe that the way

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to undo the trauma
of the Holocaust,

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is to repopulate.

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2013 research for
the Pew Center

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shows that Orthodox Jews
have a birth rate of 4.1,

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as opposed to the U. S.
national average of 1.8.

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Esty totally believes
what she's been taught to believe,

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later insisting,

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"We are rebuilding
the six million lost."

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Jews killed in the Holocaust.

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[Grandmother] So many lost.

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But, soon, you'll have
children of your own.

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[Narrator] Six million
is no small sum.

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So, alongside the housework
needed to keep her home tidy,

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and her husband, Yanky Shapiro,

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well fed and in perfectly
ironed suits,

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Esty's job is to have
as many children as possible.

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[Woman] You will have no leverage
in this marriage,

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until there is a baby.
Understand me?

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[Narrator] She is told that sex
will give her husband pleasure,

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which, in turn, will give her
exactly what she wants:

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what she has been told she wants...
a baby.

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The problem with this way
of dealing with trauma,

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as we see it through Esty's eyes,

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is, it creates 
a domino effect.

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There is a field of academic study

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called epigenetics,

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which deals with the concept

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of trans-generational trauma,

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or, the idea that trauma
can be inherited.

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Some study suggests that DNA

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changes in response
to horrifying experiences,

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and that, then, passes
down generations.

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Whether through epigenetics 
or not,

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in "Unorthodox," traumatized parents

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unintentionally traumatize
their children.

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Esty's grandparents are still,
understandably,

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bereft by the Holocaust.

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Their son, Mordecai,
is mentally unwell.

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As for Leah, her trauma 
comes, mainly,

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from not quite fitting the mold
that's been set for her.

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Esty is tarred by her parents' pain.

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Now that she is a bride herself,
she finds the rules troublesome.

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[Mrs. Shapiro] We shouldn't have agreed
to this marriage.

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[Yanky Shapiro] Mommy, please!

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[Mrs. Shapiro] The apple doesn't fall
far from the tree.

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[Narrator] When Esty tries
to argue the case

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for her to be pleasured,
rather than traumatized in bed,

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using scripture as evidence
of God's will for it,

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she is shut down.

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[Yanky Shapiro] Women are not 
allowed to read the Talmud!

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[Narrator] This text is for men only,
not for women's eyes,

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due to something known as

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"Kavod Hatzibur," or the dignity
of the community.

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Esty's story shows how
socially restrictive responses to trauma

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often unfairly muzzle women.

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Esty can't get away with half
of what her cousin, Moishe, can.

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Moishe is a thief, a liar, 
an aggressive lout,

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with no consideration
for others.

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Yet, his behavior seems rooted
In self-loathing.

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His moral decay,
his own trauma,

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is catching up with him,

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as he realizes, he has neither

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the commitment of one community,

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nor the tools of another.

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[Moishe cackles laughing.]

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[Narrator] Meanwhile, Yanky,

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a saint next to Moishe,

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ends up meting out trauma,

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through his childishly ignorant
commitment

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to maintaining his community,

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by any means available.

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In Brooklyn, we see how trauma,

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sadly, sometimes begets
more trauma.

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As Esty's mom puts it:

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[Leah] So much damage 
done in Brooklyn,

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in the name of God.

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All the rules, all the gossip.

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No wonder Esty can't stand it.

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[Narrator] Berlin, meanwhile,

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has a very different way
of dealing with trauma.

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[Classical music.]

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"Unorthodox" presents

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Adolf Hitler's former stronghold

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as a liberal, diverse idyll,

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where people, especially the young,
can do

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what they want, when they want,
with whom they want.

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Once the epicenter of suffering,

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Berlin counters its past trauma

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by celebrating joy,

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and reclaiming some of its character

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that the Nazis tried to extinguish.

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This is the city

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that once saw the Golden 1920s
of the Weimar Republic,

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when Marlene Dietrich
rose to fame,

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cabaret was popular entertainment,

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and the Bauhaus art movement
was founded.

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This social liberalism
comes across in public displays

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of affection, that the naive
and modest Esty is struck by.

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She is used to a traumatic sex life,

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that only ever happened in private,

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yet was discussed so publicly.

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In Berlin, the opposite is true.

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This is because pleasure,
rather than procreation,

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is the goal.

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Esty begins to realize

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that the world is not
as black and white

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as she has been taught.

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[Man] You could try to rescue
Robert's attempt at a salad.

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[Narrator] The city's physical spaces

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are examples of how traumatic sites
can be reclaimed.

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On Esty's first excursion
with her new friends,

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she ventures upon what is,

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to her community back in Brooklyn,

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hell.

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[Man] When the Berlin Wall was up,

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East German guards shot anyone

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who tried to swim across this lake
to freedom.

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[Esty] And now?

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[Man] Now, you can swim
as far as you like.

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[Narrator] It might be
the location of trauma,

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but it's not the source
of trauma.

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Unlike the Mikvah that 
blessed Esty,

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a secular body of water
cannot bless, or condemn.

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Only people can.

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Of course, some people
will never be able to find joy

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in the same waters Hitler 
gazed across,

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as he decided to end
millions of Jews' lives.

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But in this scene,

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Esty has 
an opportunity to help

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begin her new life,
within its waters.

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Esty removes her wig
in this lake,

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in a more extreme version
of the breakup haircut.

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While the shorn hair
beneath it

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is the imposition of a sect

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that sees women's hair
as so tempting to men

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it must be shaved off,

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it is also an uncanny
and unintended reminder

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of the ways in which
Esty's ancestors

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were dehumanized
by the Nazis,

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their heads shaved
in the concentration camps.

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[Esty panting.]

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[Narrator] Without this wig,
she can float in the water,

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free to forget her trauma,

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and all the rules and regulations
that led to it.

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The lake scene proves how

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expression of individual freedoms

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can pay tribute to past generations
who were once restricted.

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By swimming in the waters,

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Esty and her friends

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do what many from 
previous generations could not.

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Joy is, for them, a far more useful

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tool of remembrance,
than guilt.

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[Man] A lake is just a lake.

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[Narrator] Esty's new friends

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prove that trauma comes
in many forms.

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Each carries with them
their own difficult histories.

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Some come from war-torn countries,

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have lost loved ones,

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or grew up gay
in homophobic countries.

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The friction between
Esty and Yael hinges

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on how their shared trauma
is dealt with so differently.

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[Esty] My grandparents
lost their whole families

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in the camps.

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[Yael] So did half of Israel.

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But, we are too busy
defending our present,

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to be sentimental 
about our past.

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[Narrator] Both Jewish,

00:08:36.362 --> 00:08:38.649
Esty and Yael's ancestors
may have very well died

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alongside each other 
in the death camps,

00:08:40.930 --> 00:08:42.584
but their responses
to this trauma

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couldn't be more different.

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Yael used music
as an escape from military duty,

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and its inevitable traumas.

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With her violin in hand,
she expresses herself as she chooses.

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Esty quickly learns that,
in Berlin,

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men and women,

00:08:57.081 --> 00:08:58.145
secular Jews,

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Muslims, Christians,
and others

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play music together.

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The only rules 
are that they turn up,

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stay focused, and 
collaborate.

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Esty no longer
muffles her own screams,

00:09:07.861 --> 00:09:09.812
but unleashes her pain
and trauma,

00:09:09.812 --> 00:09:11.894
using the creativity
she has always longed

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to be able to wield.

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Using Yael's unfiltered freedom
as a template,

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Esty finally expresses 
her personal identity.

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[Singing]

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[Narrator] The Berliners
of "Unorthodox"

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haven't forgotten their trauma,

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or that of the city
they live in,

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but have found ways
to deal with it,

00:09:32.795 --> 00:09:35.883
reclaiming Hitler's land
for their own, joyful purposes.

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Wanting personal freedoms
for everyone,

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especially women.

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Using creativity as a conduit
to exorcise their trauma.

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That is not to say
Brooklyn is totally opposite.

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Like everything else in the show,

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from the costumes to the sets,

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"Unorthodox" handles trauma
sensitively and beautifully.

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No one is outright good,
or outright evil.

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Some people struggle in Berlin,

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in the same way others thrive
in Brooklyn.

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Human trauma
is complex and individual,

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not black and white.

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In "Unorthodox," we see

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the classic tale of a Jew
escaping European trauma

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and captivity, in reverse.

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In Berlin, Esty discovers

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that undoing trauma
can be as simple

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as going for a swim,

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communicating with outsiders,

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and singing her heart out.

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All on her own terms,

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and in her own time.

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[Soft music.]