Anti-Nazi Comedy

[Craig T Gustafson]

One of the objections leveled at "The Producers" is that it trivializes Hitler by making fun of him. Those of us who think Hitler would have enjoyed being ridiculed and trivialized please raise your hands. Mel Brooks has stated that dictators rely on subservient fear for their power. Take away the subservience and fear and you degrade them. Some articles discussing this point:

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/15/ar...5ba3c8&ei=5070

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,107131,00.html

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...406268,00.html (an interview with Mel Brooks by a German magazine.)

Making fun of Hitler is far from new thing -- The Three Stooges and Charlie Chaplin did it BEFORE America entered the war. It's a long and cherished tradition. Several examples from 1940s cartoons & movies have been posted here:

My MySpace Page

Scroll down the right hand side of the page to see the video links.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 10, 2008 11:41 AM: Message edited by: Sgt. Bilko ]</font>

[crhickman]

Well, since i agree with what you're saying and doubt most will disagree, I will play devil's advocate...

Ahem:

When one makes silly parody of Hitler, his rise to power and the Holocaust/horrors that followed, one takes the risk of desensitizing people to that nightmarish reality and may set the stage for a more easy acceptance of further atrocities in our world.

Or we may feel that it is ludicrous that such could ever happen in our lifetime. A foolishly arrogant attitude which has been disproved again and again in each generation, yet so many generations believe they have finally reached the heights of civilization - and age in which such horrors would simply not be tolerated. People with this mindset might laugh at a Hitler parody and be further disarmed as a new totalitarian fascist regime rises to power in their midst.

And, of course, there is always the fear that Hitler, burning in hell, will hear, become enraged and rise from the dead to re-assault the world with an army of undead nazis! AH!!!

Scared myself with that last one.