Casablanca is considered one of the great film-noir movies. It has multiple layers of meaning to the viewer. While it is a love story at one layer, it becomes far more than merely two lovers at the beginning of WWII in Paris.

Ilsa and Rick in Paris

Many moviegoers miss an essential aspect of the film. Casablanca is a visual teaching moment. George Santayana wrote, “A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.” Santayana wanted people to travel beyond a school building for an education. He is corrected. I have traveled all over the world. I’ve gone to school overseas and taught overseas. I’ve been on tour, ran tours, and traveled alone. Travel has changed my Weltanschauung.

I have been to Morocco several times during the journey down my yellow brick road of life. On one occasion, I wanted to visit Casablanca even though the film was shot in California. Therefore, I couldn’t visit Rick’s gin joint.

Rick’s place

Nevertheless, I enjoyed Casablanca, the city and the movie. When I left Casablanca airport, it was a late foggy night. In fact, I had to walk to the plane on the tarmac. As I walked, my mind returned to the final scene in Casablanca. It was a feeling that I will never forget. Rick, Ilsa, Victor, Captain Renault, and Major Strasser weren’t present...only in my mind.

Another level often missed by viewers of Casablanca is the issue of refugees and asylum seekers. With the rise of the Nazis, millions of displaced people were attempting to escape the German onslaught. Rick, Ilsa, and Victor are merely individual refugees in the movie. Additionally, most extras in the movie were displaced people fortunate to get to America. Many were from Hungary, including Peter Lorre, who played Signor Ugarte.

Casablanca is a story very much like our time. All people living in America were, at one time, refugees or descendants of refugees from elsewhere.

During Trump’s time in the White House, he had Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) separate many of the 12,800 children from their parents while in detention centers.

The only violation these children committed was having parents who wanted to escape killings, rapes, and civil unrest in Central America. Therefore, like in Casablanca, they have attempted to journey to a better and safer place to live.

In addition, asylum seekers from Central America have another problem facing them. Their skin color is a bit darker than Trump and white supremacists. Another way of stating this reality is racism.

Asylum seekers

America is in the throes of a government shutdown. Members of Congress will still get their paychecks along with staff members investigating the impeachment of Biden.

I have an idea. We could allow all the asylum seekers a place to live and deport the MAGA faction of the Republicans like Jim Jordon, Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Ken Buck, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Andre Clyde, and Andy Biggs.

This is an excellent explanation of Casablanca. Roger Ebert explains nearly every scene of the movie. It is also a superb teaching moment related to all aspects of Casablanca.