Babel

The other night I was at the Drive-In, when a couple of kids in the snack bar line asked me what was playing on Screen 2. I told them that it was Inglourious Basterds. They asked "What's that about?" Poor things didn't know who they were talking to. I have spent quite a bit of time this summer thinking about what Inglourious Basterds is about, so the question made me pause. After several seconds it occurred to me that they weren't looking for a 90 minute lecture on postmodernism, German film history, cinephilia, historical representations of the Golem, and female subjectivity in film, so I tried to simplify:

Me: It's a Quentin Tarantino movie about Jewish American soldiers in WWII who go to Europe to kill Nazis.

Kid 1: So, it's in Spanish?

Me: .... (Silence with confused expression)

Kid 2: (To Kid 1) No, stupid, Nazis speak German!

Me: (Regaining composure) There are several languages in the film, but Spanish is not one of them.

Kid 2: So is it good?

Me: Yes...it's wonderful, but shocking.

Kid 1: Um, ok.

I know that kids these days don't know anything, but, SPANISH?