The on-going war doesn’t change who she is as a person, and that was material Scarlett Johansson could dig into beyond what’s featured in the pages of the Jojo Rabbit script.
Of course, it’s also clear that Rosie is a good person on beyond her loving behavior as a mother.
In fact, it is an act of goodness performed by her that motivates the central plot of the film: while her young son is training in a Hitler Youth camp, and has Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi) as an imaginary friend, she is secretly operating as a part of a resistance against the Nazis in Germany, and has provided shelter to a young Jewish girl named Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie) in her home.
Watching the movie, you understand that part of Rosie’s energy comes from her desire to protect her child from the horrors of the world – show him that there’s more shades to life than desolation and hate – but even beyond seeing her through Jojo’s eyes it’s intriguing to consider what it says about her as a person.