Assignment due 11/1:
Interpret meaning and explain your choice
First Part Choice
"Article 51 (9)
In case the Reich President is unavailable, he is briefly substituted by the Reich Chancellor. Is it a presumably longer lasting situation, his substitution has to be regulated by a Reich law. The same applies in case a presidency ends prematurely, until the next election is held."
Response:
This article from the first part of the Weimar Republic's Constitution explains what would happen if the Reich President is unable to fulfill his duties and has to temporarily or indefinitely step down from his office. According to this article the Reich President is to be replaced by the Reich Chancellor. Anything the Reich Chancellor plans on doing while the Reich President is unable to be in office is monitored by the Reich Law. This is also the same case if the former Reich President is officially out of office and a new Reich President is to be elected up until that moment. The reason I chose this particular article is because I wanted to understand better what were the powers the Reich President and the Reich Chancellor had. I also wanted to know what would happen if the Reich President were to completely step out of his position. As discussed in todays lesson we do not have a Chancellor in our governmental system, we have a President and Vice President. If the President cannot fulfill his duties the Vice President steps in to take his place as the new president. In the Weimar Republic the Reich Chancellor seems to have authority almost equal to that of the Reich President with its own limitations of what he can and cannot do. It is not mentioned here that the Reich Chancellor is to definitely replace the Reich President if something were to happen, although he does become a step in until a new election is held and a new Reich President is chosen. This made me think of Adolf Hitler and the way he took over when the former Reich President Hidenburg died. As discussed in the lecture Hitler then proceeded to eliminate the Reich President position completely by fusing the two offices to create his own new title as Fürhrer. He changed the meaning of what his position was by calling himself a "Leader" rather than a "Reich President". Usually Leader is a word I would associate with someone that is benevolent, someone that doesn't chosen to necessarily become a leader but is appointed by his followers. Hitler did not encompass any of this. We all know about the Holocaust. He calls himself a leader the same way Napoleon crowned himself King post the French Revolution. He gave himself a good title that people are familiar with. Nobody automatically thinks that a leader will be a bad leader. Leaders, to me, are usually pretty empathetic, they think of themselves as one of the struggling "regular people" of society. A person who doesn't choose to have all the awesome power that they have. Hitler...no. None of this. He gave himself this image of this caring authoritative figure by eliminating the intimidation behind the title and simplifying it. A Leader sounds less threatening and intimidating that Reich President or Reich Chancellor. This article reveals to me the weakness of the Weimar Republic and its inevitable downfall. It shows me the huge crack that Hitler managed to slip through and crown himself Die Fürhrer. The crack Hitler slipped through was the fact that they did not specify that the Reich Chancellor or any other authoritative figure in absence of the Reich President is allowed to make changes that affect the position being held. I believe Hitler saw that as his opportunity. They did not say he couldn't change the title of Reich President to Fürhrer, much less say he couldn't fuse offices to his benefit which allowed him to change his position making the Reich Presidential and Chancellor position null and void. I am sure we will cover more of the Nazi Era later on in the semester, I don't know enough about it to go too deep.
Second Part Choice
"Article 136
Civil and civic rights and obligations are neither conditioned nor limited by the exercise of freedom of religion. The exercise of civil or civic rights, the admittance to public offices are independent of religious confession.
Nobody is obliged to profess his religious confession publicly. Public authority may only ask for religious affiliation as far as rights and obligations derive or an officially decreed census requires. Nobody may be forced to participate in a religious act or festivity, to join in religious practices or to swear a religious oath formula."
Response:
This article from the second part of the Weimar Republic Constitution discusses a separation of Church and State with its own limitation. According to this article, religious freedom is granted to people and it does not influence if they want to hold public office. It goes a step further by explaining that people are not to be profiled by their religious beliefs and that information is kept private unless required by the census. It also states that nobody can force you against your will do participate in any religious acts, celebrations or other practices. Nobody can force you to say any kind of prayer that has some religious affiliation either. The reason I chose to look into the religious aspects covered in the Weimar Republic's Constitution is because it was discussed too much in the lecture. As discussed in the lecture this part of the Constitution is modeled by our American Bill of Rights which declares what rights as American citizens we have. Our Bill of Rights is vaguely simple by simply stating we have a right to freedom of religion covered in the First Amendment. The Weimar Republic's Constitution, however, seemed to find the necessity to specifically disassociate civil and civic rights from freedom of religion. It states what authoritative figures could do and what people are not obligated to do and how this might affect someone wanting to take a public office. I found this to be a very thorough way of telling people that they have religious freedom and that the government can't do anything against you because of that personal choice. This also brought me back to thinking about the future Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazi. Hitler made great strides to engrave the idea that Jews were to blame for the misfortunes of Germany and their people. During what I like to consider his "Reign of Terror" Hitler and his officials allowed the profiling of their own people, "weeding out" the Jews to set them up in fortified ghettos and monitoring them like cattle before sending them to slaughter once the concentration camps were up and running. The jews that were identified were give different forms of identification which singled them out (you should be familiar with the star the had to wear). Hitler thoroughly violates this article when he becomes Die Fürhrer. It seems to me that he was hell bent on doing whatever he wanted. His title as Fürhrer was simply a title, to me, Hitler deceived everyone and actually became this tyrannical König (King). He not only stepped in and changed the government (as I mentioned in the above article response) but he also redefined what it mean to be German, to be a "worthy" human being. Eventually (and I only know very little of this from going to the Holocaust Museum in DC this summer) there was a set standard on what to look for. Not only was it blonde hair and blue eyes, but it was right down to the structure of your face that made you a true German. You needed to be a healthy (non-disabled, physically or mentally) on top of all that, other wise, even if you fit all the other criteria you were to be eliminated to prevent the "soiling" the gene pool for future German generations. Tying this back to my article choice, the Weimar Republic was weak. It was weak in the way they tried to make democratic nation out of Germany. Not to mention Germany wasn't really Germany for a while but a bunch of city-states. As briefly discussed in the lecture this would make Germany only well aware of how independent government systems work which they incorporated into the Reichsrat. To me it doesn't seem like there was ever any unity in Germany. Eventually post World War II, Germany became East and West Germany (Berlin Wall) followed by one unified country in the 90s. They tried hard to copy this democratic government we live in but tried to make their own twists on it that did not benefit them at all, it's like bad plagiarism. They tried to give people freedom of religion only to have Hitler completely tear into that by persecuting the jews and anyone else that wasn't considered to be part of the supreme Ayran race. This article demonstrates the wishes (of a democratic republic) that the Weimar Republic was not able to uphold with the death of Hidenburg and rise of Hitler. In a way it also foreshadows, by specifically describing the limitations and abilities of the authoritative figures, what reformations Hitler was going to make by starting a genocide.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Sunday, October 12, 2014
10/11 M
Assignment due 10/18
The scene that I chose from M is towards the end of the film after Mr. Beckert has been captured by the gang of Beggars and is being given a pseudo trial to determine his fate after killing all those children. In this scene Mr. Beckert is trying to explain himself and what feels. He expressively explains that the murders he commits are events he does not even remember. He claims that voices of torment speak to him and that a "shadow" follows him around, this shadow is himself, but a different side of himself that is essentially evil. This side of him torrents him as well as the voices of the parents of his unsuspecting victims and the victims themselves. It is only when he finally kills that the voices spot and he reawakens unaware of his actions. He is then shocked when he sees posters talking about the crimes he has committed. His claim stands as these murders not being his fault because he was unaware of his actions. The reason I chose this particular scene is because of the way that Mr. Beckert explains his take on the situation. You can see the distress in his eyes and body language when he describes his torment and you can see the sick pleasure of an almost euphoric state when he explains that it all ends when he finally gets a kill. His eyes roll into his head and he almost savors the feeling of the moment in his mind. After that moment passes his body language demonstrates defeat and almost sadness because its over and now he is brought back to the reality of the situation. This ties into our lecture and how Mr. Beckert follows this Freudian idea of death drive, or this beyond instinctual feeling of doing something but unconsciously in order to cease the suffering he feels. He unconsciously commits these murders by explaining that he has no recollection of them just the feeling of when it happens, and it ends his torrent and suffering when the voices finally stop after he commits those murders. Mr. Beckert, from his expression describing the feeling of the murder is almost euphoric as if he as reached some kind of Nirvana. The Nihilism then lies within the actions of Mr. Beckert, his day to day life holds no satisfaction, it holds no purpose and he commits heinous crimes that make the parents of the victims truly question if there is any divine justice. This is supported by the way the film ends when the parents, although being told that the criminal was apprehended and will be punished for his crimes find no peace of mind. The are still suffering from the fact that although the murderer will be dealt with their children still won't return home. Nothing can replace the emptiness and horrible feeling of losing their children. Mr. Beckert also represents nihilism by the way he "comes down" from his moments of High after the murderers are committed or he gets sucked into reality. The first instance of this was not in the scene I chose but from an earlier scene where Mr. Beckert spots a child's reflection in a mirror in a store. The look of sick pleasure crosses his face at the thought of murdering the child and then he is immediately brought back to what would be considered from his perspective, a sad reality. People like Mr. Beckert are trying to find outlets from their mundane lives and although he is portrayed as a mentally unstable person, he was stable and tactical enough to know how to lure his victims and stalk his prey in an almost primal way. He is reverting back to this Freudian idea of the death drive, where this action is beyond just instinct and it is tied to his nature of being. I might be completely wrong but I feel the need to tie this into A Clockwork Orange (the film) by Stanley Kubrick based off the novel by Anthony Burgess. In a Clockwork Orange the protagonist seeks pleasure outside of his mundane life by committing crimes with his gang of thug friends. SPOILER ALERT (In case you want to see it) In one scene in particular the main character and his gang manage to lie their way a couple home where they take the man of the house hostage and beat him. They take the mans wife and rape her in front of him all while he sings to the happy tune of "singin in the rain". In this moment I see a parallel between Mr. Beckert and the main character of A Clockwork Orange. Mr. Beckert was also singing a happy tune (or at least in a happy way) when he lured his victims. Much like A Clockwork Orange this happy tune turns out to be the downfall of the criminal. Both of these individuals are seeking something beyond themselves to create a sense of pleasure and to end their own suffering. As the death drive is described it is ironically a self destructive act, in both these cases it is self destructive because they are caught (however the end is quiet different in a clockwork orange).
If you are interested, and don't mind spoilers, here is the scene from A Clockwork Orange
The scene that I chose from M is towards the end of the film after Mr. Beckert has been captured by the gang of Beggars and is being given a pseudo trial to determine his fate after killing all those children. In this scene Mr. Beckert is trying to explain himself and what feels. He expressively explains that the murders he commits are events he does not even remember. He claims that voices of torment speak to him and that a "shadow" follows him around, this shadow is himself, but a different side of himself that is essentially evil. This side of him torrents him as well as the voices of the parents of his unsuspecting victims and the victims themselves. It is only when he finally kills that the voices spot and he reawakens unaware of his actions. He is then shocked when he sees posters talking about the crimes he has committed. His claim stands as these murders not being his fault because he was unaware of his actions. The reason I chose this particular scene is because of the way that Mr. Beckert explains his take on the situation. You can see the distress in his eyes and body language when he describes his torment and you can see the sick pleasure of an almost euphoric state when he explains that it all ends when he finally gets a kill. His eyes roll into his head and he almost savors the feeling of the moment in his mind. After that moment passes his body language demonstrates defeat and almost sadness because its over and now he is brought back to the reality of the situation. This ties into our lecture and how Mr. Beckert follows this Freudian idea of death drive, or this beyond instinctual feeling of doing something but unconsciously in order to cease the suffering he feels. He unconsciously commits these murders by explaining that he has no recollection of them just the feeling of when it happens, and it ends his torrent and suffering when the voices finally stop after he commits those murders. Mr. Beckert, from his expression describing the feeling of the murder is almost euphoric as if he as reached some kind of Nirvana. The Nihilism then lies within the actions of Mr. Beckert, his day to day life holds no satisfaction, it holds no purpose and he commits heinous crimes that make the parents of the victims truly question if there is any divine justice. This is supported by the way the film ends when the parents, although being told that the criminal was apprehended and will be punished for his crimes find no peace of mind. The are still suffering from the fact that although the murderer will be dealt with their children still won't return home. Nothing can replace the emptiness and horrible feeling of losing their children. Mr. Beckert also represents nihilism by the way he "comes down" from his moments of High after the murderers are committed or he gets sucked into reality. The first instance of this was not in the scene I chose but from an earlier scene where Mr. Beckert spots a child's reflection in a mirror in a store. The look of sick pleasure crosses his face at the thought of murdering the child and then he is immediately brought back to what would be considered from his perspective, a sad reality. People like Mr. Beckert are trying to find outlets from their mundane lives and although he is portrayed as a mentally unstable person, he was stable and tactical enough to know how to lure his victims and stalk his prey in an almost primal way. He is reverting back to this Freudian idea of the death drive, where this action is beyond just instinct and it is tied to his nature of being. I might be completely wrong but I feel the need to tie this into A Clockwork Orange (the film) by Stanley Kubrick based off the novel by Anthony Burgess. In a Clockwork Orange the protagonist seeks pleasure outside of his mundane life by committing crimes with his gang of thug friends. SPOILER ALERT (In case you want to see it) In one scene in particular the main character and his gang manage to lie their way a couple home where they take the man of the house hostage and beat him. They take the mans wife and rape her in front of him all while he sings to the happy tune of "singin in the rain". In this moment I see a parallel between Mr. Beckert and the main character of A Clockwork Orange. Mr. Beckert was also singing a happy tune (or at least in a happy way) when he lured his victims. Much like A Clockwork Orange this happy tune turns out to be the downfall of the criminal. Both of these individuals are seeking something beyond themselves to create a sense of pleasure and to end their own suffering. As the death drive is described it is ironically a self destructive act, in both these cases it is self destructive because they are caught (however the end is quiet different in a clockwork orange).
If you are interested, and don't mind spoilers, here is the scene from A Clockwork Orange
Saturday, October 11, 2014
9/27 The Blue Angel
Assignment due 10/11
Part 1:
Night Ghost - by Rudolf Nelson, lyrics by Friedrich Hollaender
I’m the night ghost, your sweet night ghost,
I wake you up each time you call me your darling.
Don’t be so scared, It's only me waking you.
Ich bin das Nachtgespenst, dein suesses Nachtgespenst.
Ich weck dich, wenn du pennst, sooft wie’s du mich Liebling nennst.
Sei bloss nicht so erschreckt, du wirst nur aufgeweckt.
For this first song I chose these particular lines because they remind me of the Freud's interpretation of dreams as discussed in the lecture. The "night ghost" to me is the thoughts that we repress which then take form in dreams that keep us up at night. When we repress something we don't want to deal with it comes to life in our unconscious thought, just as Freud describes. I had a bad dream recently where I dreamed I was in a car accident. Earlier that day my friend had actually gotten into a car accident and I repressed my feelings of fear of getting into an accident myself while I drive. That same night I dreamed that terrible dream that was recalling those feelings of fear and repression. Just as the song says, we call out to these strange dreams due to these external events that occur within our daily lives. We repress them and for the most part dream of them and depending on the intensity of having a repression break free is this idea of waking up because of it.
Lavender - by Mischa Spoliansky, lyrics by Kurt Schwabach
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
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
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!
These lyrics that I chose from this second song titled Lavender ties into the paragraph 175 we had to also read. These lyrics explain the hate towards the homophobic treatment of people at the time since 1871 (when it was enforced and unchanged into the Nazi Era)(All of this info is coming from the website where the paragraph is). These lyrics directly links to the punishment of imprisonment for any sexual act between two people (the actual law specifies males only) and how they are not going to take the repression anymore. Societies view on how individuals should live their lives is leaking into the most personal of places, their sexual orientation. Homophobia is not something new and it was clearly taboo during this time period. I don't completely know whether or not the lyrics translate directly, but I don't think they do. There is a lot lost in translation (I am studying german on my own time).
Part 2:
Paragraph 175 Summary and Interpretation:
Paragraph 175 discusses the laws that are based on homophobia. The laws state that any man that does anything sexual with another man (willingly or forced through abuse) will be punished through imprisonment. The laws limits the age to being over 21 to take these legal actions towards the individuals that would be in question. The law also states that any relation between humans and animals are to also be punished by imprisonment. These laws violate the rights of an individual to live as they wish. Like it was discussed in the lecture there were strict regulations when it came to what individuals could and could not do. It places into question what is truly considered to be free will. Free will, in the most simplest of terms means you are free to do as you wish. You would assume that this also incorporates one's personal life as long as harm is brought upon others. Yet the true definition of free will is stained with these contradictory theories of people like Kant. Other's would say that free will is the will to follow along with what is good with the collective, you have the right to have free will as long as that free will is to obey. I might be getting ahead of myself because that is all Rousseau I am speaking of. However, I believe that this paragraph shows the way that the free will of people has never truly been free, the same way that there is no such thing as TRUE democracy. This all gives a rise to Nihilism (as was also discussed in the lecture) where people don't see a true meaning to anything when even their freedoms are limited by laws that violate their natural rights to pursue happiness as they wish.
9/27 Expressionism: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (LATE)
Assignment Due 9/27: Choose a scene from the film and describe the scene. Then write your interpretation of the scene and the meaning of it. After that write why you chose this scene and how it relates to the class.
The scene the at I choose from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari film is the moment after Dr. Caligari wakes up the somnambulist Cesare for the first time and Alan asks him how long does he have to live. In this scene, you can see the horror in the eyes of the Cesare who although being under the control of Dr. Caligari expresses his own emotions. This moment is followed by Alan who immediately asks Cesare how long does he have to live to which Cesare replies he only has until dawn.
I chose this scene because it contains both the element of expressionist art as well as the Nihilism that was sweeping Germany during this time period post World War I. This scene (much like the rest of the film) is very dark both in lighting and atmosphere. One would think that a carnival is a happy place where people go to unwind and have a fun afternoon looking at both oddities and enjoying rides like the Merry-Go-Round that appears earlier in the film. However, when Dr. Caligari attracts people to see Cesare there is a feeling of overwhelming uncertainty of what to expect. This feeling is enhanced by the overall darkness of the film as well the weirdly shaped stage and other background making it look much more distorted. The look on Cesare's face when he opens his eyes is a look of horror as if he, himself was staring death in the face. This makes me believe that the audience to him is horrifying, although he is in a sleepwalking state, where he is unconsciously following Dr. Caligari's commands he seems to have some autonomy when it comes to his feelings although there might be nothing he can do. Cesare to me symbolizes the reaction of the rest of the world after seeing the horrors of war thanks to World War I. He sees man as a destructive monstrosity and his state of somnambulism represents the state in which the actual populous live post WWI where the purpose of living was lost amongst the tragedy of the millions of deaths resulting from the war. This then intertwines with the Nihilism that was sweeping Germany. The idea that life is meaningless and this is further seen (although it is not my chosen scene) when Cesare is getting fed by Dr. Caligari, we live in a state of submission and emptiness. Alan asking how long he has to live also expresses the fact that people believe their life was meaningless and that nothing could really save you. This is supported by the way after Alan learns of his impending death and is shocked he immediately forgets until his death becomes a reality. This scene embodies both the new form of expressionist art people were using and the Nihilism ideas that were taking over Germany.
The scene the at I choose from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari film is the moment after Dr. Caligari wakes up the somnambulist Cesare for the first time and Alan asks him how long does he have to live. In this scene, you can see the horror in the eyes of the Cesare who although being under the control of Dr. Caligari expresses his own emotions. This moment is followed by Alan who immediately asks Cesare how long does he have to live to which Cesare replies he only has until dawn.
I chose this scene because it contains both the element of expressionist art as well as the Nihilism that was sweeping Germany during this time period post World War I. This scene (much like the rest of the film) is very dark both in lighting and atmosphere. One would think that a carnival is a happy place where people go to unwind and have a fun afternoon looking at both oddities and enjoying rides like the Merry-Go-Round that appears earlier in the film. However, when Dr. Caligari attracts people to see Cesare there is a feeling of overwhelming uncertainty of what to expect. This feeling is enhanced by the overall darkness of the film as well the weirdly shaped stage and other background making it look much more distorted. The look on Cesare's face when he opens his eyes is a look of horror as if he, himself was staring death in the face. This makes me believe that the audience to him is horrifying, although he is in a sleepwalking state, where he is unconsciously following Dr. Caligari's commands he seems to have some autonomy when it comes to his feelings although there might be nothing he can do. Cesare to me symbolizes the reaction of the rest of the world after seeing the horrors of war thanks to World War I. He sees man as a destructive monstrosity and his state of somnambulism represents the state in which the actual populous live post WWI where the purpose of living was lost amongst the tragedy of the millions of deaths resulting from the war. This then intertwines with the Nihilism that was sweeping Germany. The idea that life is meaningless and this is further seen (although it is not my chosen scene) when Cesare is getting fed by Dr. Caligari, we live in a state of submission and emptiness. Alan asking how long he has to live also expresses the fact that people believe their life was meaningless and that nothing could really save you. This is supported by the way after Alan learns of his impending death and is shocked he immediately forgets until his death becomes a reality. This scene embodies both the new form of expressionist art people were using and the Nihilism ideas that were taking over Germany.
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