(/private/spl01_ahdr.htm)
[ Home | Contents | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Robert Schmelter
T1: the60dollar_man@hotmail.com
Date: 4/23/01
Time: 11:32:51 PM
Remote Name: 63.21.130.79
After reading chapter 8, I couldn't help but be reminded of the propaganda films of World War II, which would begin not too long after the events of chapter 8. The hatred people had for "foriegners" was so great that pop culture of the time was prone to "animalize" them; to imagine them as something less than human. The Germans, of course, would grow to be the greatest antagonizers of this kind, with their posters and cartoon strips depicting Jews as rats.
America, however, was just as guilty, setting up Sacco and Vanzetti as scapegoats for the burning hatred of Italians, stemming from the ignorant belief that all Italians are Mafioso. Sound familiar? WWII also brought out an intense hatred for the Germans and the Japanese, which is clearly evident in a Bugs Bunny cartoon titled "Bugs Nips the Nips". "Nips" was, and is, a derogatory term for the Japanese and Bugs proceeds to call them every other ethinc slang known to man. Not exactly our finest hour. But war and hatred do bring out the worst in people; some would say it brings out the Fascist in people.