History Film / TheWave

* WhamLine: The scene where Mr. Ross reveals that Creator/AdolfHitler was the "leader" of the Wave -- if not for the readers and viewers (who should know what's coming), then for the students.

* BasedOnATrueStory: As detailed above. Notably, David and Laurie resisting the Wave was made up for the adaptations--in real life, '' no one'' resisted it.

* OnlySaneMan: David and Laurie are the only ones willing to stand up to The Wave. Notably, this did ''not'' happen in real life, as no one resisted The Wave.

* BasedOnATrueStory: As detailed above.

%%* OnlySaneMan: The school newspaper writers.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer

* DayOfTheJackboot

* HistoryRepeats

* OnlySaneMan: The school newspaper writers.
** This ''was not'' the case in the real life version; Laurie and David's resistance to the movement was made up for the fictional versions.

* SchoolNewspaperNewshound: Laurie.

* DayOfTheJackboot: [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace In High School!]]]]

----

* DayOfTheJackboot: [[AC:[[RecycledInSpace In high school!]]]]

* DayOfTheJackboot: [-[[RecycledInSpace In high school!]]-]

* DayOfTheJackboot: A high school version.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: David has one of these after he hits Laurie for opposing the Wave.

* PuttingOnTheReich: The Wave salute is fairly obviously (and [[EnforcedTrope deliberately]]) modeled after the Nazi one, and armbands are used as a sign of membership.
** [[CaptainObvious The Third Wave A.K.A. The Third Reich]]

The Third Wave experiment has since been fictionalized three times. The first was ''The Wave'', a MadeForTVMovie that aired on Creator/{{ABC}} in 1981, and later became part of their ''ABC Series/AfterschoolSpecial'' series. The same year, a YoungAdult {{novelization}} of the movie was written by Todd Strasser under the PenName Morton Rhue. Finally, in 2008, the German movie ''Film/DieWelle'' took the already-uncomfortable premise and brought it into the very country that birthed Nazism, to show that even a place that had experienced the horror of fascism could [[HistoryRepeats see it happen again]].

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: David has one of these after he hits Karo for opposing the Wave.

Jones, realizing that he was losing control of the Third Wave, decided to end it. On day four, he announced that the Third Wave was actually part of a nationwide youth movement, and that tomorrow at noon, an assembly would be held in which the movement's national leader and presidential candidate would be revealed on television. At the assembly, the students were met only with an empty channel. Jones revealed a few minutes later that the entire Third Wave was an experiment in how fascism can so easily claim the hearts and minds of the masses (even those who had sworn "it can't happen here"), and played a film about NaziGermany.

* WhamLine: The scene where Mr. Ross reveals that AdolfHitler was the "leader" of the Wave -- if not for the readers and viewers (who should know what's coming), then for the students.

** Mr. Ross also has this when he realizes that the experiment is beginning to spiral out of control.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mr. Ross delivers one to all the members of the Wave once he reveals that the Wave was nothing more than an experiment. It transitions into a [[HeelRealization]] speech for everyone. Needless to say, [[RageQuit the students didn't take it too well]]...

The Third Wave experiment has since been fictionalized three times. The first was ''The Wave'', a MadeForTVMovie that aired on Creator/{{ABC}} in 1981, and later became part of their ''ABC Series/AfterschoolSpecial'' series. The same year, a YoungAdult {{novelization}} of the movie was written by Todd Strasser under the PenName Morton Rhue. Finally, in 2008, the German movie ''Film/DieWelle'' took the already-uncomfortable premise and brought it into the very country that birthed Nazism, to show that even a place that had experienced the horror of fascism could [[HistoryRepeats see it happen again]]. Most tropes listed here deal with the first two versions.

In April 1967, Ron Jones, a history teacher at Cubberley HighSchool in Palo Alto, {{California}}, found himself struggling to explain to his class how the German people could have fallen behind [[ThoseWackyNazis the Nazis]] so easily. So he decided to show them personally, creating a student movement called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Wave the Third Wave]] (after the common belief that the third in a series of waves is the last and largest). The movement emphasized conformity and the greater good, treating democracy and individualism as [[DemocracyIsBad the downfall]] [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill of civilization]]. Jones started with things like drilling his class in proper seating and posture, before moving on to discipline, salutes (which conspicuously resembled [[PuttingOnTheReich the Nazi salute]]), and the transformation of himself into an authoritative figure. In just two days, Jones had turned his class into a model of efficiency, discipline and community, with a marked improvement in academic achievement and motivation, and the Third Wave began to spread beyond his history class. By the end of day three, over two hundred students had been recruited, membership cards were being given out, banners were flying, and Third Wave members were telling Jones when others were violating the rules -- all completely unexpected developments.

The Third Wave experiment has since been fictionalized three times. The first was ''The Wave'', a MadeForTVMovie that aired on Creator/{{ABC}} in 1981, and later became part of their ''ABC Series/AfterschoolSpecial'' series. The same year, a YoungAdult {{novelization}} of the movie was written by Todd Strasser under the PenName Morton Rhue. Finally, in 2008, the German movie ''{{Die Welle}}'' took the already-uncomfortable premise and brought it into the very country that birthed Nazism, to show that even a place that had experienced the horror of fascism could [[HistoryRepeats see it happen again]]. Most tropes listed here deal with the first two versions.

!! Tropes in the TV movie, the book, or the film ''The Wave'':

* DarkerAndEdgier: The German remake, ''especially'' the ending: In both the original film and the book, the conflict is resolved when Mr. Ross reveals the true nature of the experiment to his students, and no violence takes place. In the remake, however, [[spoiler:the revelation causes one of the students to ''snap'', and he pulls out a gun and threatens the other students with it and actually ''shoots'' one of them, then threatens the teacher before killing ''himself'' instead]].

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Tim, Robert's counterpart in the German version, is DrivenToSuicide at the end.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The Remake]]

* ForeignRemake: ''Die Welle'', by the Germans.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: David/Marco has one of these after he hits Laurie/Karo for opposing the Wave.

* WhamLine: The scene where Mr. Ross reveals that AdolfHitler was the "leader" of the Wave -- if not for the readers and viewers (who should know what's coming), then for the students. In the remake, when Rainer asks the students whether they would kill Marco if he asked them to.

The Third Wave experiment has since been fictionalized three times. The first was ''The Wave'', a MadeForTVMovie that aired on Creator/{{ABC}} in 1981, and later became part of their ''ABC Series/AfterschoolSpecial'' series. The same year, a YoungAdult {{novelization}} of the movie was written by Todd Strasser under the PenName Morton Rhue. Finally, in 2008, the German movie ''Die Welle'' took the already-uncomfortable premise and brought it into the very country that birthed Nazism, to show that even a place that had experienced the horror of fascism could [[HistoryRepeats see it happen again]]. Most tropes listed here deal with the first two versions.

The Third Wave experiment has since been fictionalized three times. The first was ''The Wave'', a MadeForTVMovie that aired on {{ABC}} in 1981, and later became part of their ''ABC Series/AfterschoolSpecial'' series. The same year, a {{young adult}} {{novelization}} of the movie was written by Todd Strasser under the {{pen name}} Morton Rhue. Finally, in 2008, the German movie ''Die Welle'' took the already-uncomfortable premise and brought it into the very country that birthed Nazism, to show that even a place that had experienced the horror of fascism could [[HistoryRepeats see it happen again]]. Most tropes listed here deal with the first two versions.

* WhamLine: The scene where Mr. Ross reveals that AdolfHitler was the "leader" of the Wave -- if not for the readers and viewers (who should know what's coming), then for the students. In the remake, when Rainer asks the students whether they would kill Marco if he asked them to.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: David has one of these after he hits Laurie for opposing the Wave.

* WhamLine: The scene where Mr. Ross reveals that AdolfHitler was the "leader" of the Wave -- if not for the readers and viewers (who should know what's coming), then for the students.

The Third Wave experiment has since been fictionalized three times. The first was ''The Wave'', a MadeForTVMovie that aired on {{ABC}} in 1981, and later became part of their ''ABC Afterschool Special'' series. The same year, a {{young adult}} {{novelization}} of the movie was written by Todd Strasser under the {{pen name}} Morton Rhue. Finally, in 2008, the German movie ''Die Welle'' took the already-uncomfortable premise and brought it into the very country that birthed Nazism, to show that even a place that had experienced the horror of fascism could [[HistoryRepeats see it happen again]]. Most tropes listed here deal with the first two versions.

* ANazuiByAnyOtherName: The Wave, of course.