From: garym@mcgath.com   
      
   On 2/9/25 9:44 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:   
      
   > It discusses, for example, how the use of various optical tricks   
   > and techniques promoted the idea pf illusions, of a permeable   
   > border between reality and unreality, of the unsureness of one's   
   > own perceptions.   
      
   There was a lot of that in pre-Nazi German cinema as well. _The Cabinet   
   of Dr. Caligari_ is the most obvious example.   
   >   
   > There were no horror films or fantasy, the film says, because   
   > there was enough horor, and because the Third Reich was built on   
   > fantasy.  (But then later it discusses MUNCHHAUSEN (THE ADVENTURES   
   > OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN) (1943), clearly a fantasy. MUNCHHAUSEN is   
   > available on Hoopla and Kanopy.)   
      
   The script for Münchhausen was written by Erich Kaestner under a   
   pseudonym. Kaestner's writing was banned under the Nazis. I don't know   
   why exactly, but in the kids' novel _Emil and the Detectives_, one of   
   the sympathetic characters says, "Bist du meschuggah?" suggesting the   
   character is Jewish.   
   >   
   > Of these films, and of the Third Reich in general, Hannah Arendt   
   > said, "What convinces masses are not facts, not even invented   
   > facts, but only the consistency of the illusion."   
      
   Yes, and it's not just "masses" but even smart people who are   
   susceptible to repetition of claims.   
      
      
   --   
   Gary McGath    http://www.mcgath.com   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)