A huge nasty mende (cockroach) crawled in my suitcase (because I haven’t been zipping it shut – because there hasn’t been a single bloody creepy crawler in my room) so I dragged it out of the closet and removed every piece of clothing, turned it over and banged on it and no mende. So where is it? Now I’m supposed to fall asleep.
The truth is I’m not that phased by it but they’re just so gross and pointless. As a result, however, I had the most hilarious phone conversation with my friend Charles, which ended in his conspiracy theory about people listening in on mobile conversations... until my minutes ran out. Now I’m exhausted but I had all these brilliant things I wanted to write. Maybe I can hash some of them out.
So I went to see Inglorious Bastards tonight. Of course it was brilliant in its assaulting, brutish Tarantino style. Actually I think it forces you to confront yourself in a startling way. I will pause here to tell anyone who has yet to see the film to stop reading because I will not hesitate to reveal the plot.
It seems nearly instinctive to hate the Nazi regime, which is not that distinguishable from hating Nazis. Given the horrific genocide enacted by the Nazis I would venture to say popular opinion allows such hatred. Tarantino, however, confronts us with our desires for revenge, violence and murder. Somehow a Nazi being brutally killed is justified and even satisfying in our minds because we identify them as villainous. Okay, but by the end of the film Tarintino effectively transforms us into Nazis through the parallel of watching violence and brutality on film. The Nazis watch a film about hundreds being killed and derive pleasure from it. It’s disgusting; revolting. But our revenge on them is to do same thing. We sit and watch a film about brutally killing as many Nazis as possible and want to cheer when the cinema burns down with them all inside. Is there a difference just because they did evil things? Can we say they deserved it? You might say violence begets violence but who decides how and when?
I find this particularly interesting in light of having just read The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. Perhaps some of you have read it or seen the recent movie. I felt an odd and inappropriate sympathy for Hanna even though she was a Nazi guard and I knew her crimes. Certainly there is much to be said for presentation and where The Reader is meant to startle you with sympathetic feelings for a Nazi; Inglorious Bastards is meant to startle you with the violence of your hatred for Nazis. At least this is my initial interpretation the film and novel...feel free to agree, disagree or elaborate further!
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Wow. That sounds like a real provocative film. But without having seen it - and being invited to comment - I would say this. There has to be a difference between our response to evil and justice. Murdering people to fulfil your own agenda is evil and we respond with disgust. See those murders brought to justice, being executed or whatever - brings satisfaction and relief because we believe that somehow that element of evil has been eliminated and our fears of more crime from that person are eliminated. So I don't think the two are the same.
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