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When you really don’t want to see something, such as Margaret Thatcher as a Bond girl, you sort of block that out of your mind. An unpleasant thought is about as welcome as the umpteenth helping of turkey, and for Germans, a certain aspect of their past reminds them of a holiday they do not even celebrate — that’s the level of intensity. Chew on that while I progress to a new paragraph.
“Goebbels and Geduldig” is a new German flick that pokes some satirical fun at the Third Reich. It’s the first of its kind in Germany, and you might notice, it has been some time since Hitler was running around. The film recounts a historic event — the first signs that Germany might finally be recovering from the worst turkey day hangover the world has ever experienced.
Problem is the Germans have not embraced it, as we Americans did with “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer.” Okay, bad example. The film, which follows the interchanging lives of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and his fictitious Jewish double Harry Geduldig, was hailed by critics as not quite funny and embraced by audiences in the way that Pauly Shore regularly enjoys here in the states. To be fair, it premiered on television and was up against a really ripping soccer match.
The star of the film, Ulrich Muehe, attributes such lack of success to a continued uneasiness in Germany in dealing with its Nazi past. This is understandable. It just wasn’t extreme enough, not daring enough, or so everyone there seems to be saying.
Mel Brooks, however, has another idea, one I’m taking out of context and have enough courtesy to say so. He believes Germans just aren’t ready to laugh at their past. His beloved ribbing of Hitler in “The Producers” has come out on DVD finally, and I mean the original film, not the theater variation that a few people have seen and a few more would like to. To celebrate the release, he’s commented that a tour in Germany probably wouldn’t be feasible for at least a few more years.
The problem isn’t just in booking a flight. Muehe, the name of the actor from “Goebbels and Geduldig,” which you have probably already forgotten so henceforth I will refer to him as German Mel, suspects the same time table for when Germans will lose such inhibitions and be able to laugh at what they hesitate, with good reason, to call themselves.
When you have a past you are not terribly proud of, such as President Bush’s father having had Dan Quale as his vice president, you tend to shy away from it. You can pretend all you want, but sooner or later you’re going to have to look yourself in the mirror straight on.
The picture might be a bit blurry at first, but at least you won’t be seeing Pauly Shore.
Anthony Laplume is a senior English major.
