German and Libya

German’s political system was established in 1871 with the Kaiser and the Emperor of German Empire. At the end of the World War 1, from every sector there was protest towards the government starting with the soldiers and sailors refused to take the order from their commanders and stopped fighting. Independent councils were formed of soldiers and workers who took direct control of army bases, naval depots or factories. Also there was a mass strikes throughout the industrial cities and capital Berlin. The government used its full strength to suppress the uprisings but failed and The Kaiser and The Emperor stepped down and fled the country. Before the war, there were 3 parties, right- National Liberals, Center- Catholics center party and left- SPD. In 1919, there was a formation of the Weimer Republic while there was massive uprising around the country and the government used its soldiers and militia to suppress the uprisings in which many people were killed and dumped. After the war, there was a swift of the political parties; the right was SPD, center- USPD and left- Spartacus.

 In Libya, there was a civil war which started in February 2011 against the oppressive Muammar Gaddafi regime. Gaddafi used his full strength to suppress the rebels and the protestors killing and injuring many people. But in October 2011, he was captured and killed and his 34 years Jamahiriya state collapsed. So Libya is currently undergoing political reconstruction and governed under interim constitution drawn by NTC. Election was held on July 2012 and NTC handed the power to newly elected assembly.

 In both countries, German and Libya there was a massive revolution act which shook the whole world. In the strikes the government used its full power to suppress the protests as a result many people were killed, injured and properties being damaged creating a violent environment in the nation. The revolution in both countries created change in the government.

 References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7heWIuEJcS4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya

Luxemburg's Essay Passage

"From dead machines assigned their place in production by capital, the proletarian masses must learn to transform themselves into the free and independent directors of this process. They have to acquire the feeling of responsibility proper to active members of the collectively which alone possesses ownership of all social wealth. They have to develop industriousness without the capitalist whip, the highest productivity without slave drivers, discipline without the yoke, and order without authority. The highest idealism in the interest of the collectivity, the strictest self-discipline the truest public spirit, just as stupidity, egotism and eruption are the moral foundation of capitalist society." Rosa Luxemburg, "What does the Spartacus League want?"

 

I think in this passage, Luxemburg stresses the proletarian masses to transform in a new order or into free and independent directors to achieve socialist society which would be favorable for German people. She mentions that capitalist main purpose is to get profit as much as possible making the workers as slaves and even making them skill less and jobless by replacing workers with machines for mass production. So she reminds the main goal of revolution to change the capitalist society and create a socialist society where every people get equal opportunity and freedom to live a good life and also tells the proletarian masses to follow the new order which would be beneficial for German people.

 

I agree with Rosa Luxemburg and the negativity of the capitalist society which we are also facing today in our life. The capitalism has forced people to work in a very low wages, cuts in benefits, and many being jobless as the work have been shifted to foreign countries to make more profit. So the rich people are getting richer and poor people in our country are getting poorer day by day and many people are being homeless because they loss their jobs, they could not afford to pay the rent and so on. So there must be done something to make the change which would relieve the burden from working class who have been in pressure throughout their whole life and uplift them from the poverty.

 

References:

Luxemburg, Rosa. Rosa Luxemburg: What Does the Spartacus League Want?. Ed. Martin Nicolaus. Marxists Internet Archive , 14 Dec. 1918. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. < http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1918/12/14.htm>.

Kracauer’s Central Thesis

I do agree with Kracauer’s central thesis about the film produced in the pre-Nazi period up to 1933 reveal a desire for an authoritarian leader which the three films, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, “The Blue Angel” and “M” portrays it.

In the film, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, Dr. Caligari is shown as the authoritarian figure that uses his power or hypnotizes Cesare and orders him to kill people. The fairground represents chaos and anarchy. Also the carnival portrays the desire to be free. So, it shows the choice between chaos and Nazis and at the end as Dr. Caligari was shown as a hero figure which interprets that the desire of Nazis.

In the film, “The Blue Angel” the extreme repression shows aggressive students which reflects the Hitler youth and professor Rath who seems a very weak character who could not control his wife and his surrounding shows the requirement of a strong man or a authoritarian leader, otherwise their life would be a failure like professor Rath.

In the film, “M” it shows the society was in kind of mob rule and due to democracy people did not care of searching or helping the mothers whose children were abducted.

So, this film shows that the democracy or freedom created the terror of children killings and all kinds of instability and that needed to be stop or controlled by an authoritarian leader. Also in the end people wanted to kill the killer because they think that if he was given to government he could be free which shows people’s not trusting the government and law.

In conclusion, due to the worse economy, poverty, increased crimes people were looking for an authoritarian leader which could solve those problems and bring into control. So the movies that were made at that period reflect the society’s demand and their nature.

Short Essay on Murder Themes

The Arthur of the “Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep: A Brief History of Child Murder In Cinema” believes that the movie’s success is related to the subject, types of characters and the presentation of torture and abuse scenes. He believes that the film that has subject of child murder and pedophilia is very hard to get success in the box office because it covers very sensitive issue and even the movie is handled sensitively results of box office is failure. However, some movie gets success in box office which does not include controversy and only mentions the child murder (not including dramatizing scenes and pedophilia).

 The film “In a Glass Cage” is a 1987 Spanish art house horror film directed by Augusti Villaronga in which an abused adolescent boy reveals his own darkest urge by taking place of his abuser. It contains torture, pedophilia and homosexuality.  In this film, the murder is shown in such a torturous way so that the movie was highly controversial and was even banned in Australia. This film relates to “M” film in terms of the similar subject serial killer and pedophiles and both film somehow includes Nazism; in M it shows some of the characters as Nazis and people preferring authoritarian leader as this film was released before the Nazis seizure of power, and “In a Glass Cage” it shows the ex-Nazi German doctor as the child abuser.

The film” Tenderness of the Wolves” is a 1973 German film directed by Ulli Lommel which is based on the crimes of German serial killer. In the movie a gay German informant for the local police who murders 70 adolescent boys. Also this movie does not show much violence but the frank depiction of pedophilia and eating and selling the victims body in the name of pork meat makes it a queasy movie. It is related to “M” movie as it is based on the real serial killer and pedophiles. Also both movie is filmed in German and shows the German social environment and does not present the torture or abusive scenes.

Interpretation of Paragraph 175

Paragraph 175 is about a national prohibition that was added to the Reich Penal code in 1871 stating that any unnatural sex act between male or by humans with animals would be punished by imprisonment and will loose their civil rights . In 1935, after the death of Ernst Roem the Nazi’s reform this law in three parts. Paragraph 175 stated that sex between men would be punishable but might refrain from punishment if the male is below 21 years old. Paragraph 175a included that persons who involved in sex between men would be imprisoned for 10 years and even he was a victim had to serve for 3 months.Paragraph 175b included that if human performed sex with animals would be imprisoned and also loose their civil rights.

 I think this Paragraph 175 is related with the lecture. First of all, it can be related to the movie “Blue Angel” in which a professor Rath’s personal choice to have affair with the cabaret performer Lola leads to loose his job. From this it is shown that there was a social structure that would punish people that did not conform to society’s standards and this law also tells about the punishment if someone is acting out of natural sex or going against the society’s standards. In addition, professor Rath choosing Lola in his life leads him to self destruction that might be indicating the Germans to be aware of that if someone would go against the society’s rules then they will be destroyed like the character Rath. Also the actress who played the role of Lola, Marlene Dietrich herself was a bi-sexual so this might be the reason that she fled to USA to live a free life.

The Lavender Song” (Das Lila Lied), music by Mischa Spoliansky, lyrics by Kurt Schwabach (1920)

Translated Lyrics:

What makes them think they have the right to say what God considers vice
What makes them think they have the right to keep us out of Paradise
They make our lives hell here on Earth
poisoning us with guilt and shame
If we resist, prison awaits so our love dares not speak its name
The crime is when love must hide
From now on we'll love with pride

 Was will man nur? Ist das Kultur,
da jeder Mensch verpönt ist,
der klug und gut, jedoch mit Blut
von eigner Art durchströmt ist,
da grade die Kategorie
vor dem Gesetz verbannt ist,
die im Gefühl bei Lust und Spiel
und in der Art verwandt ist?
Und dennoch sind die meisten stolz,
da sie von anderm Holz!
Wir sind nun einmal anders, als die andern,
die nur im Gleichschritt der Moral geliebt,
neugerig erst durch tausend Wunder wandern,
und für die ’s doch nur das Banale gibt.
Wir aber wissen nicht, wie das Gefühl ist,
denn wir sind alle andrer Welten Kind;
wir lieben nur die lila Nacht, die schwül ist,
weil wir ja anders als die andern sind.

 This song was written when the government had established basic democratic rights in which gay, lesbian, and transgender community were covered and has abolished censorship. This song lyrics tells us the injustice that gay men and lesbians had to face for whom they were and their struggle to live with pride in German society. It includes that the gay men and lesbians were seen as they were curse of God and were treated brutally, for example- were beaten, jailed, forced to leave the town, or even killed. So they were living a life of guilt and shame of who they were and were forced to hide their identity due to fear of punishment that the society and government would give to them. They could not express their love to the same sex individuals or had to hide from the society which they think was crime and were raising their voice that they will not hide who they were and their love.

 I chose this lyrics because it talks about the struggle of gay men and lesbians which still persists today. This song was written in 1920 and tells us about the establishment of democratic rights and censorship abolishment for the short period of time. We can see today, 2012 that we have laws that talks about the rights of gays, lesbians and transgender and also approval of same sex marriage in some states but still we can see many hate crime in our society; for example, people are beaten, students are bullied, and even killed because of who they are. People should have to change the concept that those people are also human being and they should have full rights to live their life freely and choose their partner as they wish.

 

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Lila_Lied

“Throw out the Men” (Rausmit den Mannern) by Friedrich Hollaender(1926)

The battle for emancipation's been raging since history began
Yes, feminists of every nation want to chuck off the chains made by man
Hula girls and housemaids and wives in Maribou
hear all our voices thunder in protest
Anything that men do women can do too
and more that that we women do it best

 Raus mit den Männern!
(für Claire Waldoff)
Es geht durch die ganze Historie
ein Ruf nach Emanzipation
vom Menschen bis zur Infusorie
überall will das Weib auf den Thron.
Vin Hawai-Neger bis zur Berliner Range
braust ein Ruf wie Donnerhall daher:
Was die Männer können, können wir schon lange
und vielleicht ’ne ganze Ecke mehr.

 The lyrics of the song tells us that women raising their voice to be free and focused to get equal rights in men dominating society as they claim that they can do anything that men can do and can do better than men. This lyric was written in 1926 and it shows us that women were suppressed by men and women were struggling to get their freedom. It also tells us that there women had struggle for emancipation from the beginning and is encouraging every woman who have minor jobs or housewives in the town of “Maribou” to raise their voice in achieving their freedom.

 I chose this lyrics because it talks about women’s struggle to achieve their freedom in male dominating society. Women are struggling today too for their rights in many developing countries and are suppressed by men. In many developing countries, women are not allowed to get education, have no voting rights, abused physically and mentally by men, and women who work have only minor jobs, for example- housekeeping, housemaids, cleaner, care taker and so on. Also, in a country like USA, there is discrimination among men and women in daily life even though we have equal rights and freedom laws. Women are considered weak and inferiors. In many top positions there are few women compared to men and none in the leading position of the country, for example-president, commander in chief.

The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception

 “It is claimed that standards were based in the first place on consumers’ needs and for that reason were accepted with so little resistance. The result is the circle of manipulation and retroactive need in which the unity of the system grows ever stronger. No mention is made of the fact that the basis on which technology acquires power over society is the power of those economic hold over society is great.” Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1944).

Adorno Theodor was born in 1903 in Frankfurt and was a German Jewish sociologist, philosopher and musicologist and is known for his critical theory of society. He obtained his degree in philosophy from University in Frankfurt in 1924. He taught two years in Frankfurt and immigrated to England in 1934 to escape from Nazi persecution of Jews. He has taught in University of Oxford, went to USA and worked at Princeton; was co-director of the Research Project on Social Discrimination at the University of California. Later, in 1949 he and his colleague, Max Horkheimer returned to the University of Frankfurt were they rebuilt the Institute of Social Research and revived the Frankfurt school of critical theory, which contributed to the German intellectual revival after Word War 2. He was married to Greter. Adorno died in August 6, 1969 because of heart attack.

 Adorno Theodor’s early writings emphasize aesthetic development evolution and “one of his theme was civilization tendency to self destruction which indicated Fascism”

(Encyclopedia of Marxism). He believed that social control is maintained by the cultural industry. His famous books are Dialectic of Enlightenment (written by Adorno and Horkheimer) where “Adorno and Horkheimer located this impulse in the concept of reason itself, which the Enlightenment and modern scientific thought had transformed into an irrational force that had come to dominate not only nature but humanity itself. The rationalization of human society had ultimately led to Fascism and other totalitarian regimes that represented a complete negation of human freedom. Adorno concluded that rationalism offers little hope for human emancipation, which might come instead from art and the prospects it offers for preserving individual autonomy and happiness”(Encyclopedia Marxism).

 The cultural values and ideas are set in a society with the help of communications and electronic media. In today’s context, people are blinded by the mass media which from outside claims that they are in favor of the public, but truth always remains hidden. The mass media is owned by very rich and conservative people who only think about their profit and according to that strategy the news and other programs are delivered towards the public. Everyday watching the same news and advertisement public believes on them and adapts it in their daily life. The news is manipulated, biased and one- sided favoring the richest and powerful people of the society which has made the public blind.

 I do agree with this quotation because it tells the truth of our society and how the mass culture is being developed by the mass media which is making the public dull and giving only one sided aspects of the truth and making profit out of it.

References:

 Theodor, Adorno and Horkheimer, Max. The Culture Industry: Enligtenment as Mass       

     Deception. “The Frankfurt School.” Marxists. Org. 1944. Web. 7 Oct.2012

     http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/adorno/1944/culture-industry.htm.

 

Theodore, Adorno(1903-1965). “Glossary of People.” Ho. Marxists.org,n.d. Web.

     7 Oct. 2012

     http://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/a/d.htm#theodore-adorno

 

Questions and Answers of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”.

 1. How does Dr. Caligari symbolize authority?

 Dr. Caligari symbolizes authority as in the movie it shows that he is the master of the sleepwalker “Cesare” who is hypnotized by Dr. Caligari and he commits murder according to his master’s order. So, he is portrayed as the world of insane murderous authorities and universal conscription. Also, at the end being the head of the institute, a Psychiatrist shows him as a symbol of authority.

 2. How does the profit motive affect cultural production in the modern age?

The profit motive thinks what is profitable and less controversy or does not want to criticize the traditional authority and changes the ending of the story of a film which completely transforms the message of the film. Also the creative tension is resolved due to profit motives. It reinforces traditional authority to assume that the audience receives the message in the intended way.

 3. Why does Kracauer interpret the film as a choice between tyranny and chaos?

Kracauer interprets the film as a choice between tyranny and chaos because he believes that the film reveals the nihilistic core of German life in the 1920s and 1930s. He refers the circular movements of hte merry-go-round, and the organ grinder's arm as he plays his music box  symbolizes chaos and Caligari refers to Hitler.

 4. How does the film foreshadow the Nazi regime according to Kracauer ?

 According to Kracauer, the character of Dr. Caligari as a combination of con-man and psychiatrist and can be interpreted as “Hitler” which indicates the Nazi regime.

 5. What is praxis and how does it relate to cultural criticism?

Praxis is the fusion of theory and practice. The predominant tendency of all intellectuals is to study intellectual matters in isolation from the world and praxis is meant to shake them up into practical engagement in the world. It relates to cultural criticism as it is said that the new product develops the mass culture which destroys the dynamic interaction between culture and society.

Siddhartha Quotation

“ Most of all, he learned from it to listen, to pay close attention with a quiet heart, with a waiting, opened soul, without passion, without a wish, without a judgment, without an opinion.”

       This passage describes the key factors for being a good listener. To be a good listener, one should have patience and have to be a very good observer. As well as a listener should listen without any kind of judgment, opinion or biasness. In the story, Siddhartha, eventually with the guidance of Vasudeva, is able to listen to the river that has been telling many things by through his heart clear.

        I chose this passage because it shows us how to be a good listener that I think we all need in this century where people do not listen to each other and are in a rush all the time. People are so impatient that they do not think or try to listen patiently and they just make judgment or come to the conclusion without getting into the depth. So, applying this technique in each individual’s life, one will be able to connect with other people and will develop patience which would create very good understanding among individuals. Also it is very important in our job too, especially as a psychiatrist, nurse, doctors and other profession.