Downfall

written by: John Robie

I haven’t seen this movie. Honestly I don’t particularly want to see it. I’m writing in reaction to some of the commentaries I’ve seen about the movie. The line of discussion I’ve seen goes thusly: “portraying Nazis in a way that shows their humanity is dangerous because we must never forget what monsters they were.”

Of course they were monsters. OBVIOUSLY they were monsters. Everyone knows they were monsters. To really learn the lesson of the atrocity, to make phrases like “Never Again” more than empty sloganeering, we must remember that they were also men. Because to remember them only as monsters is both to impart upon them an unearned dignity, and to consign them and their crimes to the world of stories. Just as reasonable people would not expect to find a frost giant or a sphinx walking down the street, reasonable people would not expect to find a group of delusional loons running one of the most powerful countries in the world. The lesson of history is that it happened once, and could happen again.

We must not allow this to occur.

Consider homophobic hate-monger Fred Phelps. Real Nazi leaders had more in common with this sad little bigot than with Darth Vader or Lucifer. Real evil doesn't necesarily wear black cape or have horns.

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