Nazism

We are faced with totally two different films, and below I will give my point of view of the two
films.

The first film it's call Triumph de Willens, a film basically based on how Hitler wanted the entire
country to believe in him and in everything he was promising to them. I was amazed to see how
people were treating him, like a god, just wanting to hear him speak, dying to shake his hand.
People were cheering for him, women wanted to touch his hand, man wanted to follow his orders,
and everyone seem happy about everything that he was saying and promising.
Hitler wanted to another side of him, a humble side of him that not everyone knew he had, he
didn't wanted to waste any opportunity he had and shake people's hand to show them he wanted
to protect them in a way.
He wanted to show his country that he wanted unity and peace, and that everyone is there to protect
Germany, and if they die, they die protecting their country. For example, he said "Work will no
longer be a divided concept, but one that unites all", meaning man and women will work equally.
He also said "We want to see no more class divisions", meaning everyone is going to be united
no matter what, and that's what he wanted for his country.
I didn't know this side of Hitler, the side that wanted peace and love for his country, no I always knew
the bad guy. The guy that everyone hated, but I guess at the beginning he needed to convince
everyone to believe in him, and then when he accomplished that, then he changed.

The second film it's call Night and Fog, a total opposite film of Triumph de Willens. In this film we
see a more dark, violent side, a film that shows the liberation of the Nazi Concentration camps.
It's very disturbing to see in what conditions they were having captivated this innocent people,
with no water, being torture, barely no food, and in horrible sanitized conditions. People were taken
to these camps for no reasons at all, and they were treated like animals, nonstop working in climate
temperatures were they couldn't resist and die.
I knew about the concentration camps, but this film has opened my eyes in the way that we are
very lucky to be in the place that we are today. This people suffered so much especially during
the Holocaust, and we have no idea what is like to live in those conditions.

Max Weber: Politics as a Vocation

The passage that I'm choosing is:

The administrative staff, which externally represents the organization of political domination, is, of course, like any other organization, bound by obedience to the power-holder and not alone by the concept of legitimacy, of which we have just spoken. There are two other means, both of which appeal to personal interests: material reward and social honor. The fiefs of vassals, the prebends of patrimonial officials, the

salaries of modern civil servants, the honor of knights, the privileges of estates, and the honor of the civil servant comprise their respective wages. The fear of losing them is the final and decisive basis for solidarity between the executive staff and the power-holder. . There is honor and booty for the followers in war; for the demagogue's following, there are 'spoils'--that is, exploitation of the dominated through the

monopolization of office--and there are politically determined profits and premiums of vanity. All of these rewards are also derived from the domination exercised by a charismatic leader.

I think what this quote is trying to say is that the company itself its hold off by its staff

members, they are the ones that maintains the company on float. Obviously, people 

are working not just to be part of that organization but for other reasons, such as, to 

earn money in a decent way, to better themselves, and to learn from others. Organizations

sometimes take people for granted, but when they see themselves in a situation that

they are not replaceable they don't like it because it makes them too dependable on

one person. 

I chose this quote because it makes a lot of sense, especially in today's economy where

employees are not being treated the way they are suppose to be treated. People just want

to better themselves, and organizations sometimes do not let them move forward. I

sometimes feel like at my work place, like I'm not going anywhere and the best thing

for me to do is to leave, but jobs are very hard nowadays to find and they don't want me

to go. 

The Weimar Republic

The two articles that I'm going to interpret are:

Article 42 The Reich President, when taking his office, swears the following oath : I swear to devote my energy to the welfare of the German people, to increase its prosperity, to prevent damage, to hold up the Reich constitution and its laws, to consciously honour my duties and to exercise justice to every individual. The addition of a religious formula is acceptable. To me this article is very important, because every country needs to feel that somebody is going to protect them. By saying that the Reich President swears to increase prosperity, prevent damage, and honor its duties, it all sounds very good, but it's also really good to see it happening. These type of devotions are important to humanity because without them we wouldn't trust the president. This one is not 100% protected in the present. Presidents are always promising a lot, but they don't always meet what they promised, and it's very sad. Article 113 Reich communities speaking a foreign language may not be deprived by legislation of their national identity, especially in the use of their mother language in education, in local administration and jurisdiction.

This article is interesting, because it's basically saying that there should be no discrimination to those that comes from a foreign country. What is 

trying to say is that Reich communities are not going to discriminate

those are not from the community. This is very important to humanity

because it shows that everybody is equal, and they have the same

rights and no privileges are given. They are somewhat protected in 

the present, but there are still people that discriminate against others,

and it's sad because we are all humans and we all come from the sample 

place, even if you speak a different language, or you are a different

color.   

The German Revolution of 1918 and Spartacus 1919

The passage that I choose is the following:

"One thing is certain. The world war is a turning point. It is foolish and mad to imagine that we need only survive the war, like a rabbit waiting out the storm under a bush, in order to fall happily back into the old routine once it is over. The world war has altered the conditions of our struggle and, most of all, it has changed us. Not that the basic law of capitalist development, the life-and-death war between capital and labor, will experience any amelioration. But now, in the midst of the war, the masks are falling and the old familiar visages smirk at us. The tempo of development has received a mighty jolt from the eruption of the volcano of imperialism. The violence of the conflicts in the bosom of society, the enormousness of the tasks that tower up before the socialist proletariat – these make everything that has transpired in the history of the workers’ movement seem a pleasant idyll."

Luxemburg emphasizes the radical break with the past this crisis has created. This is an important nihilistic theme while also suggesting the necessity to adapt and to change tactics, in part to prepare for even greater disasters that might come after.

I think this passage is explaining how the world is changing and how the war has make

our lives so different. Luxemburg is trying to make a point that the conflict between society and socialists it's what is making things so difficult. To think that in order to survive a war, basically must hide in order to avoid being killed. After the war everything goes back to what it was, and I don't think life should be like that. Life is about to express what you feel, but not in that way of killing people. The time of war was a time of deciding between life or death. Those were hard times. 

M

In his thesis, Kracauer believed that German films produced up to the period of 1933 contained a desired for an authoritarian leader. Films such as “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, “The Blue Angel”, and “M” serve as some of the prime examples where Kracauer’s thesis can be argued. The killer, who in this case is Beckert, in a way represents the terror and chaos spreading through  Germany at this time. Germany had barely recovered from the hyper-inflation of the early 1920s, before going back into another severe economic crisis in the early 1930s. 

The three films that we watched "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Blue Angel, and M"  are all a reflection of Kracauer point of view. 
In my point of view, I do think Beckert deserved to death penalty because he took away so many lives of young children that can never be forgiven. Just by thinking about it makes me so sad to think that someone can be capable of doing something so malicious. If he had that problem and he knew that it was hard for him to contained himself to killing, he should have asked for help. Something very strong and malicious must have been going through his head.  

Essay on the three films

By reviewing the three films that we have watched for the past few days, I can agree with Kracauer's thesis statement that says that "films produced in the pre-nazi period up to 1933 reveal a desire for an authoritarian leader". Let's start by pointing out that all three films The Blue Angel, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and M are all based on the darkness, fear, chaos, and mystery that used to surround the cities of Germany. The Blue Angel is a film that was dealing more with violence and romance, when in the film M it was more suspense, murder, and horror. When it comes to Dr. Caligari, in the film Cesare is being forced basically to kill because he has no will of his own; Beckert kills because he cannot control himself, it's something inside of him that makes him do those things, which afterwards he does not remembers anything. Rath is also consumed, but with love for Lola, a women that after him giving up on everything betrayed him by kissing another man in front of him. In contrast, Beckert's sexual perversion makes him a danger to any young child. We can see that all three films deals with mental issues, Caligari and Rath are both placed in strait jackets during a part of each film, and Beckert has a history of mental instability. In all three movies we can see that the director was trying to give the audience a sense of suspense by entering into some hidden world or window, which makes the film more interesting. The films have a darkness and horrors that became popular and brought a large demand for similar stories. Up to this day films like these three are still very popular, audiences like those kind of movies based on serial killers and horror, I personally like those type of movies. 

Weimar Republic

For the Weimar Republic assignment for the first song I chose:

          

"Chuck Out the Men" (Raus mit den Männern), by Friedrich Hollaender

The part of the song that  I would like to interpret is

English:

"The men get their pick of professions they're policemen or scholars or clerks

They get rich and acquire possessions like we wives who keep house for these jerks

They're ruining the country while we mop up the floor

They're flushing this whole nation down the drain

Sisters stand together, let's show these men the door

before they drive us totally insane"

German:

Die Männer bekommen ihre Wahl von Berufen, sie sind Polizisten oder Wissenschaftler oder Angestellte

Sie reich und Besitztümer zu erwerben, wie wir Frauen, die Haus zu halten für diese Idioten

Sie ruinieren das Land während wir den Boden wischen

Sie sind Spülen dieses ganze Nation den Bach runter

Sisters zusammen stehen, zeigen wir diesen Männern die Tür

bevor sie treiben uns total verrückt

Obviously, the song is about how man are powerful than women, and how they get more and more while women are just consider housewife's. The artist Friedrich Hollaender, is trying to make a point actually, man are always going to be consider better than women. I believe we are up to a point where now a days more women are taken more into consideration in the job market.

I chose this song because as a women I do believe that women can do the job equally or even better than a man. I've done some research about this topic before in another class, and we discovered that the numbers between man and women are not so far from each other. I feel great about doing the research because we need to be treated the same or better than a man. 

The second song that I chose is:

It's All a Swindle" (Alles Schwindel), by Mischa Spoliansky and Marcellus Schiffer

The part of the song that I would like to interpret is:

English:

Papa swindles

Mama swindles

Grandmama's a lying thief

We're perfectly shameless

but we're blameless

after all it's our belief

Nowadays the world is rotten

honesty has been forgotten

fall in love but after kissing --

check your purse to see what's missing

Everyone swindles some

my son's a mooch and so's the pooch

German:

Papa Schwindeleien

Mama Schwindeleien

Großmama ist ein Dieb liegen

Wir sind vollkommen schamlos

aber wir sind schuldlos

schließlich ist es unsere Überzeugung,

Heute ist die Welt ist faul

Ehrlichkeit ist in Vergessenheit geraten

verlieben sich aber nach küssen -

überprüfen Sie Ihre Handtasche, um zu sehen, was fehlt

Jeder betrügt einige

mein Sohn ist ein mooch und so ist das Hündchen

This part of the song is a little bit interesting in the way that is talking about how people that are very close to you are people that you should not believe in. Is talking about how the world is full of devils basically. That when you are kissing someone check your purse to see what's missing, I mean this is very insensitive but in a way it's true. You don't know who to believe anymore, not even your family, because I've seen and heard so many stories that makes you feel like you are all alone in this world. I chose this quote because it relates what our world is going through, and how now a days it's so hard to trust someone. 

The Blue Angel

The Blue Angel is a 1930 film directed by Josef Von Sternberg. The Blue Angel presents the tragic transformation of a man from a respectable professor to a cabaret clown, and his descent into madness. The film is considered to be the first major German sound film. The film is based on Immanuel Rath, a professor 
from a local college, who wanted to caught some of his students in the act of being in a cabaret and circulating photographs of a famous Lola-Lola.  Hoping to catch the boys at the club, Rath goes there later that evening and meets Lola herself. Consumed with desire for Lola, Rath returns to the night club the following evening, to return a pair of panties that were smuggled into his coat by one of his students, and stays the night with her. The next morning, reeling from his night of passion, Rath arrives late to school to find his classroom in chaos and the principal furious with his behavior.

Rath subsequently resigns from his position at the academy to marry Lola, but their happiness is short-lived, as they soon fritter away the teacher's meager savings and Rath is forced to take a position as a clown in Lola's cabaret troupe to pay the bills. His growing insecurities about Lola's profession as a "shared woman" eventually consume him with lust and jealousy. The troupe returns to his hometown and The Blue Angel, where he is ridiculed and berated by the patrons, the very people he himself used to deride. 

I felted so bad for Prof. Rath in the scene where he was forced to return back to Blue Angel to perform as a clown against his wishes, but agrees because of his wife Lola. While he was on stage she was being seduced by another man in front of him and she did not oblique. And he was forced to go on stage as if nobody notices what was going on around them. He was ridicule on the stage as a clown, all these makes him go temporary insane. He was restraint and put in a straight jacket. Then the director said to him "Don't worry

everything is going to be okay", which was not. He then was released from the straight jacket, and took the opportunity where Lola was performing to leave. After being humiliated, rejected, and destitute he dies in remorse clenching the desk at which he once taught. He did all of this for the love of a woman that didn't deserved him. 

I can interpret the overall meaning of the film as a struggle between love and betrayal, authority and disobedient. The love Professor Raft gave to Lola and the betrayal she gave back to him in returned. And between the authority and power of Professor Raft and disobedient of his student. And in return Professor Raft disobedient to the school authority.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the first German silent horror film, directed by Robert Wiene.. It is one of the most influential movies of German Expressionist films and it was considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era in film. The film used stylized sets, with abstract, jagged buildings painted on canvas backdrops and flats. To add to this strange style, the actors used an unrealistic technique that exhibited "jerky" and dance-like movements. 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is based on a mystic by the name of Dr. Caligari, who walked around with a 

somnambulist called Cesare They used to frequent the fairgrounds of different towns and for months 

Dr. Caligari kept town after town in a state of panic by a series of murders. All of them perpetrated in similar circumstances for he caused a somnambulist, whom he had entirely subjected to his will, to carry out 

his fantastic plans. By means of a puppet figure, modeled in the exact likeness of Cesare, which he laid in the chest when Cesare was away, Dr. Caligari was able to allay any suspicion which might fall on the somnambulist. 

This is the first time I've ever watched a silent movie, and to be honest it was not as bad as I thought 

it was going to be. Sometimes, it's educational to see how film have changed over the years and see that

people were also having fun without audio in a movie. The movie is supposed to be a horror film, but to me

it was a little bit comic and I'm glad it was because it's not easy to watch a silent movie when you are not

used to. The director of the film was trying to incorporate exaggerated characters making expressions with
their faces and many many hand movements, disturbing scenarios, shadows and dark makeup, horror and 
insanity. 

This a quote from Dr. Caligari when he found out that a patient was being admitted to the clinic where 

he was working as a director. "Now I shall be able to prove whether a somnambulist can be compelled 
to do things of which he knows nothing, things he would never do himself and would abhor doing-- 
whether it  is true that one in a trance can be driven to murder."

The scene where one of the characters was killed and the police was trying to find who did it and also
his friend was desperate looking for the killer. While the police was looking for a suspect, Dr. Caligari was
in his house "sleeping" with Cesare, so no one can blame him or Cesare. The friend was looking through
the window to see if they were actually sleeping, but he didn't realized that Cesare was actually a puppet
that looked like Cesare. This part of the movie was really like wao! he really fooled them for days, they didn't even realized that Cesare was not in his cabinet. Everything came down to the truth when Cesare kidnapped a lady to kill her, but he couldn't do it because he was going to get caught. When she woke up after fainting, she was really scared and told everyone that it was Cesare who was trying to kill her, but Alan did not believed her because he was in Dr. Caligari's house watching them sleeping. Then he went to the police and told them to go to Caligari's house to really make sure that Cesare was asleep, when they got there and they took the cabinet out, Cesare was actually a puppet, that's how they knew that Cesare was the master behind all the mysterious crimes. 

Siddhartha

                                             Passage

Listen well, my dear, listen well! The sinner, which I am and which you are, is a sinner, but in times to come he will be Brahma again, he will reach the Nirvana, will be Buddha—and now see: these 'times to come' are a deception, are only a parable! The sinner is not on his way to become a Buddha, he is not in the process of developing, though our capacity for thinking does not know how else to picture these things. No, within the sinner is now and today already the future Buddha, his future is already all there, you have to worship in him, in you, in everyone the Buddha which is coming into being, the possible, the hidden Buddha. The world, my friend Govinda, is not imperfect, or on a slow path towards perfection: no, it is perfect in every moment, all sin already carries the divine forgiveness in itself, all small children already have the old person in themselves, all infants already have death, all dying people the eternal life. It is not possible for any person to see how far another one has already progressed on his path; in the robber and dice-gambler, the Buddha is waiting; in the Brahman, the robber is waiting. In deep meditation, there is the possibility to put time out of existence, to see all life which was, is, and will be as if it was simultaneous, and there everything is good, everything is perfect, everything is Brahman. Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as it is, everything only requires my consent, only my willingness, my loving agreement, to be good for me, to do nothing but work for my benefit, to be unable to ever harm me. I have experienced on my body and on my soul that I needed sin very much, I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity, and needed the most shameful despair, in order to learn how to give up all resistance, in order to learn how to love the world, in order to stop comparing it to some world I wished, I imagined, some kind of perfection I had made up, but to leave it as it is and to love it and to enjoy being a part of it.—These, oh Govinda, are some of the thoughts which have come into my mind.

Meaning of the passage:

The passage to me, has a very deep meaning in it. From this passage I get that we all live in a world
that is beautiful as it is and that it's perfect. We are all sinners and we have to do what is right, and what is wrong will be forgiven as stated above "all sin already carries the divine forgiveness in itself, all small children already have the old person in themselves, all infants already have death, all dying people the eternal life". The world is divine, and we as humans have the obligation to take care of it. We have our lives already set for the future, we live and then we die.  

Why I chose this passage:

I chose this passage because the way he expressed himself about the world it's just fascinating to me. I love the world myself, but the way he describes what he feels it was just touching to me. Especially when I read this part of the passage "I have experienced on my body and on my soul that I needed sin very much, I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity, and needed the most shameful despair, in order to learn how to give up all resistance, in order to learn how to love the world, in order to stop comparing it to some world I wished, I imagined, some kind of perfection I had made up, but to leave it as it is and to love it and to enjoy being a part of it". I mean he wanted to experience everything that person has to experience in some part of their lives in order to love world as what it is. I just feel like it was very touching.

Picture Assignment: Raoul Hausmann

            Raoul Hausmann (July 12, 1886 – February 1, 1971) was an Austrian artist and writer. One of the key figures in Berlin Dada, his experimental photographic collages, sound poetry and institutional critiques would have a profound influence on the European Avant-Garde in the aftermath of World War I.
            After seeing Expressionist paintings in Herwarth Walden's gallery Der Sturm in 1912, Hausmann started to produce Expressionist prints in Erich Heckel's studio, and became a staff writer for Walden's magazine, also called Der Sturm, which provided a platform for his earliest polemical writings against the art establishment. In keeping with his Expressionist colleagues, he initially welcomed the war, believing it to be a necessary cleansing of a calcified society, although being an Austrian citizen living in Germany he was spared the draft.
            The following quotation had a great meaning to his life "It was like a thunderbolt: one could – I saw it instantaneously – make pictures, assembled entirely from cut-up photographs. Back in Berlin that september, I began to realize this new vision, and I made use of photographs from the press and the cinema." Hausmann, 1958^[7]

            The photomontage became the technique most associated with Berlin Dada, used extensively by Hausmann, Höch, Heartfield, Baader and Grosz, and would prove a crucial influence on Kurt Schwitters, El Lissitsky and Russian Constructivism. It should also be pointed out that Grosz, Heartfield and Baader all laid claim to having invented the technique in later memoirs, although no works have surfaced to justify these claims.

"The Eclipse of the Sun," George Grosz, 1926

This picture has a lot meaning into it. All the colors makes it seem so classic and illuminating. The picture incorporates a lot in it, for example the sun, that is basically a symbol of life and the daylight of our lives, it is eclipsed by a dollar sign, a symbol of greed. The donkey has blinders on shows the mass ignorantly. A small child is kept underneath them signifying the ignoring future generations. The guy in the suit saying something to the general, it looks like gossiping. 

"Dada Conquerors," Raoul Hausmann,  1920

This paing by Raoul Hausmann reflects the social conditions in which it is produced. The isolation in expressionist art suggests a sense of isolation felt by individuals in modern society. This picture reflects how man are portrait as regular man not this type of arrogant rich man. The word "dada" is supposed to be a nonsense word, a word with no meaning. Dadaism as an artistic movement is supposed to play up the meaninglessness and absurdity of life–key nihilist themes. I think the definition of dada contradicts the meaning that this picture has. The colors makes it more interesting and all the items reflects what every man like and are passionate about. Man are being played as regular individuals part of society.

"Trench Warfare," Otto Dix, 1932

When I looked at this picture, the first thing that came into my mind was "this is very sad and disgusting". The only thing that this picture reflects is sadness. There are people in the middle of the picture, surrounded by blood and destruction. At the same time, the colors especially the darkness of this picture makes it more interesting and fascinating. 

Dada Manifesto

Quote: "Dada is a new tendency in art. One can tell this from the fact that until now nobody knew anything about it, and tomorrow everyone in Zurich will be talking about it. Dada comes from the dictionary. It is terribly simple. In French it means "hobby horse". In German it means "good-bye", "Get off my back", "Be seeing you sometime". In Romanian: "Yes, indeed, you are right, that's it. But of course, yes, definitely, right". And so forth."
                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                –Hugo Ball; Dada Manifesto 1916


Meaning of Quote:

What do I think about this quote? To me it means that at first people were uncertain about the meaning of "Dada" and Hugo Ball was trying to incorporated it into our daily lives. Hugo explains that nobody knew anything about it,  but he was sure that by tomorrow everyone in Zurich was going to be talking about it. He knew it was not going to be easy but it was going to change the meaning of art radically. Hugo explains that Dada is a simple word with a simple meaning. It might have different meanings all over the world, but it was sure that the meaning of art that he wanted to implement it was taking place. 
Why I chose this quote:

I chose this quote because a word so small had such a big meaning all over the world, its just amazing. Hugo made a great impact on art. Now a days we still see words with many many definitions, but that's what makes it great and beautiful and make an impact on humans.

Nietzsche's "Not Enough!"

"Not enough!-- It is not enough to prove something, one also has to seduce or elevate people to it. That is why the man of knowledge should learns how to speak his wisdom: and often in such a way that it sounds like folly!"

                                                             from Nietzsche's Daybreak, s. 330, R.J. Hollingdale transl

As I was reading this quote, I started to think about the way people act and how this quote really relates to what happens in our every day life.

People, specially man are very manipulative when it comes to convincing others, I have nothing against man but is the way they approach people and how good they are when telling a story. They really want to convince others to believe it the way they want, but people in general are very seductive when it comes to proving a point. 

Sometimes people go all the way to prove a point and like the quote says " often in such a way that it sounds like folly!", people might exaggerate to make a statement. I sometimes do that because as a person, you want people to really pay attention to what you are saying, but also believe it. It is not enough just saying something as it is, you also have to prove it because you don't want people to misinterpret or mislead you.