Author Topic: Just how many Hitler videos does the world need? (Read 14107 times)

zridling · « **on:** February 02, 2010, 05:49 AM »

[via The Guardian]:
Every time there is a reason for ranting, you can be sure that Hitler will be talking about it on YouTube. Recently, he has responded to the iPad; before that, he got mad because Chicago didn't get the Olympics, because of Facebook, because of the US bailout, and simply because he wanted to go to Burger King. These parodies use a scene from Downfall, the 2004 movie by Oliver Hirschbiegel – in the original, it's the moment that Hitler is told the war is truly lost – and are frequently taken down for copyright infringement on behalf of the movie's owner, Constantin Film. As of now, there are about 68 still up.

Hitler, of course, has been at this for quite a while now. But as the iPad video showed, millions of millions of users still think he is worth a click. So why does this Hitler meme seem to be so enduringly popular?

___________________________________
Der Untergang (2004) is a great movie with an incredible performance of Hitler by Bruno Ganz. And I still hit the floor laughing when a good parody is inserted.

mediaguycouk · « **Reply #1 on:** February 02, 2010, 05:56 AM »

I've got this film on my streaming server and I found it interesting to read what he was actually saying.

Got to admit that I really love them. Especially the ones that actually use the word 'Stalin' in the translations.

wr975 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 02, 2010, 08:36 AM »

"Hitler finally declares war on Hitler Parodies" is really funny.

"I'd post it again!" ... *lol*

Darwin · « **Reply #3 on:** February 02, 2010, 08:45 AM »

I love these parodies. Some are better than others - for example, this one, Watchmen - Hitler finds out about new Watchmen ending was excellent while I thought that Hitler responds to the iPad fell flat in places...

Thanks for re-linking to the "Hitler finally declares war on Hitler Parodies", wr975. I've ignored it before but watched it this time - very funny, and nice to see a different scene from the original movie.

mouser · « **Reply #4 on:** February 02, 2010, 09:02 AM »

Not only do i love these and find them hilarious, but i think they are fascinating from a "theory-of-humor" standpoint..

We still don't understand the nature of humor but prevailing theories seem to share the idea that some expectation or tension is built and then relieved. These hitler parody videos are fascinating to the extent that they provide a very rigid template and set of expectations, that writers are now working within -- a kind of vocabularly that provides a tight structure, and yet only seems to enhance the humor.

mouser · « **Reply #5 on:** February 02, 2010, 09:16 AM »

For those interested in the dubbing-as-humor genre, Woody Allen was ahead of his time in 1966 when he made an entire comedy movie called "What's Up Tiger Lilly" by dubbing a japanese movie. I saw it as a kid and found it profoundly unfunny -- so i can't vouch for it.

mouser · « **Reply #6 on:** February 02, 2010, 09:19 AM »

Maybe someone can make one of these hitler videos about DonationCoder? Told from the standpoint of someone angry about having to donate? or else told from the opposite standpoint, of a coder upset that people aren't donating enough? Or ranting about Cody the mascot? Or ranting about the posts of one of the long-time members of the forum?

Some tips on how to do them here: http://s1.zetaboards...ies/topic/2710145/1/

Darwin · « **Reply #7 on:** February 02, 2010, 12:43 PM »

For those interested in the dubbing-as-humor genre, Woody Allen was ahead of his time in 1966 when he made an entire comedy movie called "What's Up Tiger Lilly" by dubbing a japanese movie. I saw it as a kid and found it profoundly unfunny -- so i can't vouch for it.
-mouser (February 02, 2010, 09:16 AM)

I had the same experience as a kid! Mostly, I sat in front to the TV going "WTF"?! I think I found it unfunny because I simply didn't understand what he was doing. What I *did* find hilarious was SCTV in the early '80s doing this with a western, the only line I can rembember being "It's only a flesh wound!".

Tuxman · « **Reply #8 on:** February 02, 2010, 05:18 PM »

Hmmm, Hitler. 65 years after.
Oh well.

Stoic Joker · « **Reply #9 on:** February 02, 2010, 05:26 PM »

Maybe someone can make one of these hitler videos about DonationCoder? Told from the standpoint of someone angry about having to donate? or else told from the opposite standpoint, of a coder upset that people aren't donating enough? Or ranting about Cody the mascot? Or ranting about the posts of one of the long-time members of the forum?
-mouser (February 02, 2010, 09:19 AM)

Why not do Hitler having a melt down because DC is providing custom programming free, instead of charging a kings ransom for it like a "proper" (blood sucking) corporate machine.

f0dder · « **Reply #10 on:** February 02, 2010, 08:18 PM »

Maybe someone can make one of these hitler videos about DonationCoder? Told from the standpoint of someone angry about having to donate? or else told from the opposite standpoint, of a coder upset that people aren't donating enough? Or ranting about Cody the mascot? Or ranting about the posts of one of the long-time members of the forum?
-mouser (February 02, 2010, 09:19 AM)

Why not do Hitler having a melt down because DC is providing custom programming free, instead of charging a kings ransom for it like a "proper" (blood sucking) corporate machine.
-Stoic Joker (February 02, 2010, 05:26 PM)

Pardon my ignorance, but I thought nazism meant Nationalsozialismus - i.e., socialism. Thus, would Hitler be a ide-hard capitalist against the ideas of DonationCoder?

I could of course be wrong, I haven't read Mein Kampf and didn't pay that close attention to WWII history lessons

Tuxman · « **Reply #11 on:** February 02, 2010, 08:30 PM »

Hehe, f0dder, that is one big mistake people make when talking about Left and Right. National socialism is, basically, patriotic socialism, yes. (So the antifascists should love it with all their "Capitalism sucks!!111" bs.)

zridling · « **Reply #12 on:** February 02, 2010, 11:43 PM »

@wr975: Brilliant. Thanks for the link.

These are funnier than anything Saturday Night Live has done in more than a decade!

mouser · « **Reply #13 on:** February 03, 2010, 12:07 AM »

i've reflected on how upsetting this could be to those whose families were affected by this man and this regime.. i'm sure there are a variety of views -- some might enjoy the mockery of the man, but i can also see some people being deeply hurt at the idea of people having fun watching this mass murderer...

anyway, maybe it's just not the best subject for making a donationcoder video..

Tuxman · « **Reply #14 on:** February 03, 2010, 12:11 AM »

Well, he is dead. He has been for more than 60 years now. Don't you think it is about time to stop thinking about "affected families" first? Since the end of the Reich, there were many more terror regimes all over the world. (Bush, cough.)
Tabooizing and satanizing Hitler makes him stay popular. I don't think there is any reasonable reason to do so for 60 more years. Do you?

KynloStephen66515 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 03, 2010, 12:22 AM »

i've reflected on how upsetting this could be to those whose families were affected by this man and this regime.. i'm sure there are a variety of views -- some might enjoy the mockery of the man, but i can also see some people being deeply hurt at the idea of people having fun watching this mass murderer...

anyway, maybe it's just not the best subject for making a donationcoder video..
-mouser (February 03, 2010, 12:07 AM)

Couldn't agree more, I am sure there are much more appropriate topics to base a DC video on. Perhaps something that wouldn't possibly create major controversy?

Some ideas might be:

Dubbed Short Chinese Movie
Dubbed News Interview
Dubbed TV Advertisement (Perhaps one based around computing {IE: Windows vs Apple Ads})

Maybe those would be more a appropriate basis for it. $:-\$

Deozaan · « **Reply #16 on:** February 03, 2010, 01:23 AM »

For those interested in the dubbing-as-humor genre, Woody Allen was ahead of his time in 1966 when he made an entire comedy movie called "What's Up Tiger Lilly" by dubbing a japanese movie. I saw it as a kid and found it profoundly unfunny -- so i can't vouch for it.
-mouser (February 02, 2010, 09:16 AM)

My friends and I did a little "Mystery Science Theater 3000" of our own a couple years back. One of my friends, who was my room-mate at the time, was really into older foreign martial arts films. I remember him renting one movie that none of us had ever seen before, which only had subtitles (it wasn't dubbed). We didn't pay much attention to the subtitles, and just made stuff up as the movie went along.

I always figured that the guys at MST3000 would watch a movie repeatedly to come up with their jokes, so I was really surprised at how well it all worked, making fun of it spontaneously, ad-libbing the dialog when their mouths moved.

I don't even remember what the movie was about, but I do remember several of the things we joked that it was about.

zridling · « **Reply #17 on:** February 05, 2010, 09:14 PM »

Also, you have to consider that Germany has been a model of democracy for the past 60 years. Most Germans are two generations removed from Hitler and don't really talk about the guy, much less want to identify with him. Imagine if the world identified Americans as a people who like George Bush. That would be horrific! But by Jove, it's our right to make fun of the basterd!

Tuxman · « **Reply #18 on:** February 05, 2010, 09:20 PM »

Imagine if the world identified Americans as a people who like George Bush.
-zridling (February 05, 2010, 09:14 PM)

Hm, let me guess... uneducated, fat teenagers... the least of them would even find Austria on a world map... racism and force of arms are normal there... everyone's got a gun, but don't even DARE to say "fuck" in public...

No, US Americans are even worse than Bush. Get educated and try again.

(Disclaimer: My posting is, probably, full of prejudices. Feel free to prove me wrong.)

Edvard · « **Reply #19 on:** February 06, 2010, 01:05 PM »

OK, I'm not uneducated, fat, or a teenager...
AND I equally detest smug anti-Americanism just as much as crass American self-aggrandizement.
I'm not going to apologize for living here, and believe it or not, I kinda like the place.
I also like my DonationCoder with a minimum of politics and religion so can we cut it?...

Can we all also agree that Hitler was a bad guy and then take a few backbone pills and stop getting all nervous about it?
Let it be said that I'd be the first to hold the whithered hand of a former Dachau or Auschwitz prisoner and listen compassionately and intently to the horrors that befell them in the human-created hell that it was...
But jeez-louise, the man is dead and these are freaking youtube videos.

I think it's a fitting end for memories of such a monstrous personality to be turned into entertainment, to have portrayals of his weakest moment creatively redirected into mundane social commentary, to know that such ridicule is often most bitingly reserved for the most baleful.
Besides, I think the vids are damn funny.