A Long Way from Schindler

I was reading an article and in the comments someone posted some interesting comments regarding The Reader. This comes up as both the movie and Kate Winslet have been nominated for Oscars, with Winslet being favored to win Best Actress.

The plot involves the main character having to deal with his feelings upon finding out that a woman (Winslet) who cared for him as a teenager (and with whom he had a sexual relationship) did a lot of terrible things while working for the Nazis. That in itself isn't bad and makes for good drama. However, the commenter pointed out that Winslet's character is portrayed in a very sympathetic light and he felt that the director was working hard to make you feel sorry for her in the fact that she can't read, which drives a portion of the story.

What irritated him though was the fact that this character was treated in this light and the fact that she is technically a pedophile and that while working for the Nazi's she sent hundreds of people to be gassed is rather glossed over. To give it a contrast, in Schindler's List Amon Göth is never given a sympathetic moment. He is given a moment to repent of his crimes (though he declines it), but even with that we are never put in to a position where we it is suggested that we feel sorry that he is an alcoholic psychopath.

I would like to believe that Hollywood would never get to the point where they put out a movie suggesting that the Jews deserved what happened to them. However, as the survivors and perpetrators of the Holocaust die off, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a lot more of this nuanced storytelling where characters previously portrayed as evil are given a more sympathetic light.