The Lighter Side
Laughing at Hitler
Published September 15, 2009 @ 06:02PM PT
When is Holocaust humor acceptable, and when does it cross the line?
An occasional injection of a sense of humor can be a welcome relief from an otherwise dark and depressing subject, but the line between a tactful laugh and shameless disrespect is thin and elusive, lending itself to "I know it when I see it" rather than a cut-and-dry definition. And people seem to get it wrong more often than they get it right.
So what's the difference? The acceptability of genocide humor seems to hinge on two key elements: The subject of the joke, and the purpose (or lack thereof).
For instance, I love Eddie Izzard's bit on genocide, which makes an excellent point about mass murderers coming from rather ordinary backgrounds -- Hitler was a vegetarian painter, and Pol Pot was a history teacher -- and about how our inability to deal with large scale killing turns into an odd sort of tolerance. ("Somebody's killed 100,000 people, we're almost going, ‘Well done!'")
Evil dictators are, indeed, easy targets -- their eccentricities and delusions make them easy to cut down to size, but we never forget the horrific human suffering inflicted at their whim. Perhaps it's a way to create distance between us and the all-too-common human capacity for cruelty, or perhaps it makes this capacity easier to comprehend. Or perhaps neither. When asked about his caricature of Hitler in the movie/musical The Producers, Mel Brooks commented that by laughing at Hitler, "we can try to rob [him] of his posthumous power and myths." Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator also comes to mind.
An Open Letter to the President
Published September 12, 2009 @ 09:29AM PT
Dear President Obama:
Recently you have been accused of being a Nazi, a socialist, and/or a Nazi werewolf. While some of your critics are clearly insane they do have a point -- it's time to give up on health care reform. If the complete absence of any logical, rational, or coherent thought among these people has proven anything it's that someone, somewhere has failed them. This is why I urge you to begin an immediate and swift reform of the public school system. Because people need to know that Kristallnacht does not mean "Night of the Single-Payer System."
Regards,
Karl
Much Ado About 'Basterds'
Published August 25, 2009 @ 05:08PM PT
I am not going to see Inglourious Basterds.
I've never been a Tarantino fan to begin with, and, as I recently told a Change.org member in a comment thread, I rarely chose to spend my free time watching Holocaust or genocide-themed movies. I used to, once upon a time, but these days am more likely to opt for something along the lines of Zoolander.
Given that Basterds is described as a "blood-soaked" revenge-fantasy with "cartoonish savagery," I don't feel that I'm missing out on much. But I'll still chime in on the controversy.
You can react to Tarantino's excessively violent portrayal of Jewish rebels exacting revenge on their Nazi abusers in one of two ways:
1.) Fantastic --- it sure is satisfying to see a bunch of Nazis get their comeuppance, and it's nice the traditional Jews-as-helpless-victims role turned on its head.
2.) Shame --- such a portrayal appeals to brute instincts and glorifies the very violence and brutality that destroyed so many innocent lives during the Holocaust.
German critics are apparently "dazzled" but what they consider to be a "historic" and "important" film. Surely, as is apparent even from written reviews, the film is starkly different from others on the Holocaust. But is it really a noteworthy standout in the Holocaust genre, or merely a typical action movie with a Holocaust theme?
Perhaps there is a third way to react, then:
3.) It's just a movie. Get over it.
Run for Cover -- Genocide Conspiracies Abound
Published August 19, 2009 @ 09:30AM PT
People throw the term "genocide" around with utter abandon. The internet in particular gives free reign to those who denigrate the term by slapping it on any number of alarmist rantings.
Simply put, genocide is the systematic attempt to destroy an entire group of people. The intent of the perpetrator is crucial --- genocides are not accidental, they are deliberate. Many approaches are available to one considering this nasty deed, but the purpose is clear: Genocidal intent means pointing to a particular group of people and saying, "You don't have the right to exist."
So if you take this definition and misplace your faith in others to do the same, a quick tour through the internets will show that we have much more to worry about than a few hundred thousand dead in Darfur. Indeed, genocide is all around:
- As previously noted, Obamacare is really a secret plot to kill us all. (Love the conveniently truncated definition of genocide at the top of that post.)
- This, of course, will just add to the secret government plots to use vaccines and mutated viruses to kill us. (Gives a whole new twist to Swine Flu, doesn't it?)
- Evil left-wing doctors are out to kill all of our babies.
- The Japanese are apparently out to rid the world of dolphins. (In all seriousness: The true story behind this claim is egregiously awful.)
- And last but certainly not least, all of human civilization is engaged in a protracted genocide against itself.
Anyone else suddenly afraid to go outside?
Find My Happy Place (Or, Music for a Bad Day)
Published August 04, 2009 @ 03:23PM PT
We all have bad days. For those working in the social justice and human rights fields, where change usually happens at a such a glacial pace that it can be difficult to recognize, the temptation to succumb to irreconcilable pessimism is at times overwhelming. Or sometimes life just sucks.
We all have our coping mechanisms. I tend to turn to some combination of the gym (the rowing machine in particular), playing with my dog, and drowning out bad thoughts with loud music. (Possibly occasionally accompanied by dancing around my apartment. Otherwise, walking through the streets of DC with a zoned out look on my face.)
So taking a cue from Leigh's "Activist's Playlist" post on Change.org's Poverty in America blog, and from Michael's "Traveling Music" post at Humanitarian Relief, and sharing a selection from my "Find My Happy Place" i-Pod playlist (a product of my very broad taste in music):
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cindy Lauper
Disco Ball World by David (pronounced Da-veed) Garza
Don't Stop Believin' by Journey (sing it with me now...)
Give Me A Break: The True Story of the Save Darfur Thong
Published August 03, 2009 @ 07:00AM PT
I'm a little annoyed. It's just been one of those days, and here's reason number #142:
A recent sensation in the blogosphere has drawn attention to a rather unfortunate Darfur-related piece of intimate apparel being peddled by an open-source-type website: The infamous Save Darfur thong.
It's gross, and cause for outrage in its own right. What is irresponsible of some of the bloggers, though, is writing about the item as if it is actually connected to the organizations they often criticize or is in anyway emblematic of the majority of activists' taste in promotional clothing. (FP at least points out that it is not an official item.) Guy Gabriel, on the well-respected SSRC blog of all places, writes about it as if it somehow characterizes or is widely known or promoted by the movement --- as if we all go around proudly wearing the ridiculous piece of almost-clothing.
The thong is made by "Designs by Joe" and featured on the CaféPress website alongside thongs that promote causes such as Free Tibet, Free Burma, Impeach Bush, Demand Fair Trade, and general world peace. And a very tasteful piece that warns, "Stop: No Admittance Without Significant Foreplay." (I'm sure a frat boy is laughing somewhere.)
Most people know, at this point, what CafePress is --- anyone and everyone can make t-shirt and clothing designs to their hearts desire, escaping the fashion police with almost absolute impunity. My moles within Save Darfur tell me that the organization sought a cease and desist order against Mr. Joe ThongDesigner some years back (it's been around for a while), but the logo used is not close enough to copyright infringement. As far as SDC knows, they have not received funds from the sale of the thong --- though that could very well be because no one was misguided enough to buy the stupid thing. There's also no way to verify that proceeds would be used for charitable purposes.
It smells more like a scam than a "little fundraising gimmick" to me.
Or at least, Save Darfur activists have better sense than to latch on to it. So take your potshots elsewhere, please.
Roseanne Takes "Wildly Inappropriate" to a Whole New Level
Published August 02, 2009 @ 01:41PM PT
This one wins the Favorite Title of the Week Award: Sorry Roseanne, the Holocaust Still Isn't Funny.
Ariela Pelaia, the author of the post, fails to see the humor in a recent photo shoot with Roseanne Barr posing as a Domestic Hitler Goddess" displaying "burnt Jew cookies" fresh out of the oven. To top if off, the article, in Heeb magazine, is titled "That Oven Feelin."
According to the article, Roseanne believes that "she may in fact be the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, whom she has requested to be dressed as for her Heeb photo shoot." The appropriate response, rather than humoring her, would've been to say, "No." Or better yet, "Hell no."
So don't try to lay the blame on the photo shoot all on her --- it takes more than one washed up comic to take the photos, write the captions, and place them in a magazine.
Eddie Izzard can pull off jokes about Hitler, but I agree that this stunt takes a flying leap over the line. (And not for the first time, for Roseanne.)
