Is it okay to laugh at Hitler?

[rich]

in a word, yes. not easy to find the right spot, the sweet spot
incorporating the bufoonish nature of Hitler without losing the substantial
danger and menace of the man. george steiner's depiction of AH in his novel
was all preternatural menace. so many examples on the opposite side of the
spectrum, the easy Tarantino-esque laugh away of the clown. hence that
sweet spot. of course your question Kai really more important for Germans
as opposed to the rest of us--I in my limited knowledge would say that
Germany has moved on, the same question was posed when The Producers played
in Berlin and it seemed to be well-received. Austria, thats another story I
think

on a related note: highly recommend the recent film called Lore. end of the
war time trek from the black forest to hamburg by a group of children
abandoned by their parents who were staunch party members (father in the
SS). the zone is not a pretty place but the film is expertly made and
beautifully shot. the beauty of the country shot from the skies and the
reality on the ground. the gradual disillusionment of Lore as she fights
against what she knows and what she's learning is compelling. and it's done
in a way that feels very organic to me. my point being how important these
stories will resonate for German audiences. Lore is also notable for
shining a light on Nazi believers, many of whom depicted in the film are
women.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lore_%28film%29

Rich


On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 7:46 AM, Kai Frederik Lorentzen <
lorentzen at hotmail.de> wrote:

>
> Just read Timur Vermes satirical novel "Er ist wieder da". I rarely read
> stuff from the bestseller list but this one sounded interesting. And its
> huge success is a phenomenon that calls for sociological observation. Well,
> it's not exactly good clean fun, but it contains passages that made me
> laugh really hard. Some of you will have heard about it, and I could
> imagine that the debate - an English translation of the novel is in the
> making - is of interest to many on this list. So here are some links:
>
> http://www.new-books-in-**german.com/english/1176/354/**
> 354/129002/design1.html<http://www.new-books-in-german.com/english/1176/354/354/129002/design1.html>
> http://www.bbc.com/culture/**story/20130417-is-it-okay-to-**
> laugh-at-hitler<http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130417-is-it-okay-to-laugh-at-hitler>
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/**news/article-2258178/Hitler-**
> novel-tops-German-chart-Comic-**novel-follows-Nazi-leader-**
> falls-asleep-1945-wakes-2011.**html<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2258178/Hitler-novel-tops-German-chart-Comic-novel-follows-Nazi-leader-falls-asleep-1945-wakes-2011.html>
> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/**2013-02-04/hitler-awakes-in-**
> 2011-berlin-becomes-youtube-**hero.html<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-04/hitler-awakes-in-2011-berlin-becomes-youtube-hero.html>
> http://www.independent.co.uk/**arts-entertainment/books/news/**
> hitlers-return-timely-satire-**or-a-joke-too-far-8508268.html<http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/hitlers-return-timely-satire-or-a-joke-too-far-8508268.html>
>
> Anybody else already read this?
>
> Here comes the book's first good joke (pp. 14-15):
>
> "Vermutlich wirkte ich den Hitlerjungen nicht hilfsbedürftig genug, sie
> machten den Eindruck, als wollten sie ihr Fußballspiel wieder aufnehmen,
> jedenfalls wandte sich der größte nun zu seinen Kameraden um, wodurch ich
> seinen Namen lesen konnte, den ihm seine Mutter auf das geradezu grellbunte
> Sportleibchen gewirkt hatte.
> 'Hitlerjunge Ronaldo! Wo geht es zur Straße?'"
>
>
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