The Role of the Nazi Film in Kiss of the Spider Woman
In Kiss of the Spider Woman Molina uses his memories of classic movies
as a means of escape. He is particularly drawn to melodramatic movies
with a strong romantic theme, which is the central focus of his
retelling of the movies. On one level, Molina wishes to escape the
oppression and boredom of his prison cell. He retells the movies to
Valentin as a means to entertain them both during their long hours of
imprisonment. For Molina, the movies function as a form of escapism
from the social oppression he suffers as a homosexual. In the "Nazi
Film" Molina identifies with the female character, showing that the
movie also represent for him an escape from his designated sex as a
man, for he prefers to think of himself as a woman, an idyllic woman
at that.
The "Nazi Film" also serves as a parallel story line through the film
to help us understand the characters of Molina and Valentin. In the
film the heroine Leni Lanison is a French singer passionately in love
with a German general. Each of these characters is mirrored by the
"real" characters. Molina imagines himself to be the heroine and
Valentin the dashing German general. In the film Leni is part of the
resistance underground until she falls for the general. It is at this
point that she becomes a reluctant warrior in the cause and turns
sides to help the German. Leni's betrayal of her own country for the
man she loves foreshadows the plight of Molina and Valentin.
In our reality, Molina is a reluctant pawn of the prison warden and a
police agent to gather information about Valentin and his cause. Once
Molina decides he is in love with Valentin, his allegiances change as
well and he ends up putting his life at risk and sacrificing it for
the cause, just as Leni had done on screen.
Like Leni in the film, Molina was not a "revolutionary" he simply was
in love.
German cinema was greatly affected during the Nazi movement between 1933 and 1945. Once appointed Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933 Hitler wasted no time and almost immediately began working on his propaganda strategy. Typically “propaganda targets a mass audience and relies on mass media to persuade. Propaganda is aimed at large numbers of people and, as such, relies on mass communication to reach its audience” (Gass, 14). The Nazi party used film propaganda to brainwash the German people, distract them from the harsh reality of the Nazi party, and attempt to intimidate the enemy. Hitler knew propaganda entailed mass persuasion and he knew just how to get his message out there; film. It was through the use of propaganda, largely film that made the Nazi party so powerful as they redefined propaganda.
the account of what it was produced for. Also the fact that one of the
Anti-Semitism is dated as far back as 310, when Roman Emperor Constantine I (272-337) converted to Christianity. By the sixth century, most of the Roman Empire had fully converted to Christianity and abided by the New Testament in which Jews were called hypocrites and were blamed for the cruxification of Jesus. At this point in time, is the beginning of when Jews were perceived as different because there were differences between the beliefs of Judaism and Christianity, even though Christianity derived from Judaism. By the 15th century, Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press enabled the of spread anti-Semitism throughout Europe because of the mass production of anti-Semitic books like Hartmann Schedel’s Weltchronik (1493) and Martin Luther’s On the Jews and Their Lies (1543); however, even with the release of these books, anti-Semitism still had not elevated to a point of radicalism. Anti-Semitism was clearly present in print; nonetheless, it did not reach its copiously radical capacity until its incorporation into film.
The Schutzstaffel (SS) started off as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguards. They later became one of the most feared and powerful organizations in all of Germany. Founded in 1925, the SS started off as a small group of eight members who were lead initially by Julius Schreck, a dedicated Hitler loyalist. The SS crew grew to more than 250,000 by the start of World War II. The SS did more than just guard Hitler; they guarded the concentration camps, and the Waffen-SS specialized in brutalizing and murdering people in territories occupied by the Nazi’s. The SS guards had an important role for Germany in World War II because they did most of Hitler’s work. The SS-VT were the SS guards that actually fought in the war, they were later named the Waffen-SS, who also caused terrorism. The regular SS’s guarding of Hitler, and of concentration camps affected the war in a major way.
Nazi Entertainment Films Kracauer correctly conceives of Nazi entertainment films as a component of a larger program of Nazi propaganda; however, a successful propaganda program need not achieve its mission unequivocally as Kracauer claims. Instead, Nazi films may achieve their ideological goals by channeling the desires and shaping the identities of moviegoers. Nazi feature films created an illusion of a romanticized private life that allowed German citizens to briefly indulge their desires in escapist fantasies while keeping them firmly committed to Nazi ideology. The idea that film inhabited a private sphere beyond the reach of the Nazi political machine is another Ufa illusion; the ProMi used film to further its political program. Kracauer’s hypothesis that “all Nazi films were more or less propaganda” is aligned with the central theses of Witte, Rentschler, and Schulte-Sasse.
and was seen as the perfect role model to all German women many of the
Propaganda is the dissemination of information to influence or control large groups of people. In totalitarian regime like Nazi Germany, propaganda plays a significant role in consolidate power in the hands of the controlling party (Nazi propaganda).The propaganda used by the Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany (1933–1945) was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of Nazi policies. The pervasive use of propaganda by the Nazis is largely responsible for the word "propaganda" itself acquiring its present negative connotations (definition).
During Hitler’s reign in Germany, propaganda was his main method of control. He and the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazis, believed that to remain in control, it is necessary to prevent any and all internal unrest through strictly regulated popular opinion. The mission was to keep public opinion in favor of the Nazi party’s ideology. One of the primary aspects of their ideology was extreme anti-Semitism and racial inequality. Within years they were able to introduce this belief to nearly all of the German people through heavy influence by propaganda. Hitler was able to stabilize and dictate his Germany for years through propaganda aimed to control the lives of the youth, the opinions of the general public, and beliefs about the war effort and well-being of the country.
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, a memoir that shows the holocaust was in 1940s. The story develops by Elie’s own experiences that he had in 1940, where the holocaust was at its highest point. Schindler’s List is a film directed by Steven Spielberg, where he develops a main character, a German businessman who wants to save Jewish people. Both Night and Schindler’s List shows the consequences of the holocaust. In the section one of Night, Jews were expelled from Sighet. People had to leave all of their things and houses. In the ghetto, people who were prisoners couldn’t have their things. They would have to wear the same clothes every day and were also given numbers that were used instead of their given names at birth. On page 10 “...the Hungarian
n January of 1933 the Nazi regime took control of Germany with the belief that Germans were “racially superior.” Throughout this time period called the Holocaust, which is a Greek word meaning “sacrifice by fire,” the Jewish people were deemed inferior, and were the main threat to the German racial community. Though the Holocaust was a systematic and bureaucratic war, racism is what fueled the persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime. Racism is defined as “a belief or doctrine that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” This framework of racism was what Hitler believed would “carve out a vast European empire.” (Perry,
Molina is a man who uses emotions as a weapon of choice. Molina’s constant use of emotion hides the real web of deception that hides underneath. Molina manipulates his emotions, and others, to get what he wants; like when Valentin, the political anarchist, falls ill. Molina creates a bond with Valentin through the telling of his favorite movies. These movies would entail romance, seduction, and fast paced action.... ...
The Holocaust was a terrible time. This terrible time was all a plan, led by Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was sent to prison for treason. Even after he got out, he worked with the government of Germany. He even rose to be the Dictator of Germany, with the luck of the last leader's passing. He blamed others for his "struggle." He passed laws, to make it legal to descriminate and to single out groups of people, races, and religions.
“Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up a little friendly feeling?” (Russel). September 1st 1939 the brutal World War II was just beginning. (When did WWII start). This war was the start of many racial slurs that carried decades into the future. The Nazis knew propaganda was a very strong and reliable way to persuade people to understand and support their views, and soon enough it would help them change the course of history.
systematic injustice denies us that right? What happens when the rules of the state impede on the lives of the individual? How does this trickle down and affect our innate desire for love?
In the 1970s, Argentina was struck with political and social distress. With the death of President Peron and his wife, Isabel, coming into power – only to be overthrown by a military junta led by Jorge Videla – Argentina and its people were traumatized with terrorist violence “leaving hundreds dead” and thousands having “disappeared” (“Timeline: Argentina”). This era of violence became known as the ‘Dirty War’ and several of the people that went against the current socio-political system were left devastated or killed. Several of those killed were ones who were identified as either homosexuals or Marxists. Manuel Puig’s novel the Kiss of the Spider Woman portrays the story of two imprisoned men from different spectrums of the unacceptable standards that goes against the Argentinean society of the 1970s: one a Marxist (Valentin) political threat and the other a homosexual (Molina). At the onset of the novel, the two characters are presented as polar opposites who cannot seem to get along; which later on, their relationship evolves to one that requires them to have a real desire to become close to one another despite the prejudices instilled in them by the Argentine society. Through the movies described by Molina, we, the reader, are shown the progression of the two characters as they realize that they both are no different from the other and create a special bond. Puig’s uses of the movie the Cat People, the footnotes, and Molina’s death as symbols highlights the idea of magical realism. Through the use of magical realism, Puig allows the reader to become more open-minded towards different societal ideals, specifically homosexuality.