Those Nutzy Nazis

Tue story; when I was around 11 years old, my mother and I went to see 'The Producers' at the local cinema in Queens Village on Long Island. It was common for the two of us to go see a movie together; my love of film comes directly from her. We loved it, and I was telling somebody about it around Christmas that year. Right after, my mother received a visit from an irate parent, appalled that she had allowed me to see such a horrible film that made light of the Nazis. Mom told her to get bent and closed the door in her face.

Today, Mel Brooks' comedy is rightly considered a masterpiece of bad taste, for once done on purpose, pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable. It didn't seem edgy to me. 'Hogan's Heroes' was already on television for many season; even at the age of eight I knew that was very questionable. Funny is funny, as they like to say, and 'The Producers' was much funnier than Bob Crane and fellow POWs. Nazis had been funny as far back as the Marx Brothers' 'Duck Soup', Hilter directly parodied in Chaplin's 'The Great Dictator'. Everyone from Moe Howard of the Stooges to Bugs Bunny had a shtick about the Third Reich.

There was also a parody science fiction novel from 1972, perhaps a little obscure, called 'The Iron Dream' by Norman Spinrad. It is supposed to have actually been written by Adolf Hitler, yet it reads quite comfortably as something between Jack London and Edgar Rice Burroughs. The joke was how accurately it demonstrated the Aryan Race tendencies pervasive in all American pulp fiction before World War II. It was controversial when it came out, but I read it and enjoyed it. Certain sections of the science fiction establishment tried to prevent it's publication. Spinrad was young, almost a hippie, and the novel took aim at all the 'Grand Masters' in the genre. Uncomfortable but funny stuff at the time.

This all came to mind recently somewhat accidentally by a chain of coincidences. The wife and I watched 'The Last Laugh', not the silent 1924 German masterpiece by F.W. Murnau but the new 'old man buddy comedy' with Chevy Chase and Richard Dreyfuss. It was pretty good, aimed directly at our demographic. I also noticed another 'The Last Laugh', a documentary about whether the Holocaust can be funny. Mel Brooks was one of the big names interviewed, who noticeably didn't joke about that subject in 1968 and still found it too offensive today. Other comedians, such as Sarah Silverman, had other ideas.

While not a bad documentary, I thought it was lukewarm. First, the idea of needing permission to laugh at something seemed slightly ludicrous. Second, unfortunately not having a Jewish grandmother, there was a disconnect between the filmmaker and myself. The documentary was steeped in Jewish culture in a way that I am not. It was okay, but it didn't resonate with my demographic. Anyway, the idea of questionable taste in comedy had been done much better in 'The Aristocrats' back in 2005.

By sheer chance - the second stage of coincidences in this string - I saw in the Netflix que 'Look Who's Back', which I vaguely remembered as an object of controversy a few years ago. There was a graphic impression of Hitler, so I turned it on and sat back. For the next two hours, I was convulsed with laughter and embarrassment while being delivered a very profound message about the modern world. This got my mind contemplating not only my childhood experience with 'The Producers', but another film from Europe that I love, 'Iron Sky'.

Thinking back to 'The Producers', which has been remade (will never see it, not matter how good) and even put on Broadway (ditto), it was at the time sold as the comeback for Zero Mostel. Zero had been blacklisted during the 1950s, his career in the shitter for the entire decade. He had just managed to make a splash in 'A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Forum' just a few years earlier. Gene Wilder was almost completely unknown, having only appeared briefly in 'Bonnie and Clyde' the year before.

It was supposedly a flop at the time, but there were a lot of movies going in and out of the theaters quickly back then. It did become one of those films that, had you seen it, you'd certainly remember. Telling others about 'Springtime For Hitler' usually left them both doubtful and speechless. For me, the highlight has always been Dick Shawn, a brilliant but underused actor, too broad to usually be contained on a movie screen, whose Jim Morrison impersonation, from his opening song to his Hilter impression in the musical, leaves me wetting my pants with laughter every time.

Mel Brooks didn't become a legend until two movies later, with 'Blazing Saddles', supposedly the highest grossing Western of all time (!!!). In between, he did 'The 12 Chairs', which I also saw with my mother. It is a very good and enjoyable film about a chair full of Jewels in 1920's Soviet Russia, with various peasants and a priest scheming to possess it. If you watch it expecting a typical Mel Brooks film, you will be disappointed. If you go in there cold with an open mind, it is a very enjoyable comedy.

'Iron Sky' from 2012, a Finnish film mostly in English and German, takes the bad taste notions of 'The Producers' and blasts off into space - literally. When, five minutes into the movie, you are dealing with Moon Nazis and President Sarah Palin (remember, this was in the middle of the Obama era), suspension of belief better be front and center. Done for pennies but aiming at Hollywood blockbuster style - and mocking it perfectly - I don't remember how I found out about this movie, but it is a gem. It also gives you a very good idea of how Europe views America in this century, whether there was a black man in the White House or not.

The movie pulls off the neat trick of being both a 'mockbuster' while also paying homage to exploitation movies at the same time. It is also very politically, even goes into racial politics as well, which I wonder if it is an oblique reference to the whitening of Obama. 'Iron Sky' is not subtle, but it is both funny and thought provoking. The nexus of politics and public relations really forms the backbone of the plot. Sooner or later, you know the media specialist is going to be taking Nazi propaganda and retooling it for the Republican Party.

There are also borrowing from 'Dr. Strangelove', although it takes a while for those elements to emerge. There is a big statement going on in between all the absurdity on screen, and the image of America portrayed in 2012 actually came true under the Trump administration. In fact, I first saw it before the last presidential election and found myself scoffing at some of the plot points. Watching it recently, it seemed like sheer prophecy.

What is most impressive about 'Iron Sky' are the production values, done on the cheap but quite impressive. In fact, the production values are often the joke. Over-the-top special effects and action sequences subvert the message, showing how bloated and vacuous most Hollywood movies really are. There is also a human story in there as well, and the ending is both apocalyptic and hopeful at the same time, a neat trick.

If you would like the European view of current European politics, 'Look Who's Back' deliver that in spades. Based on a best-selling book, 'Er Ist Wieder Da', this movie comes down on contemporary Germany like a two ton swastika. It's a very basic plot; Hitler returns in 2014, mysteriously showing up at the location of the Fuhrer bunker. Wandering around like a stranger-in-a-strange-land, through a series of humorous events he winds up a social media star. Seems everyone wants a selfie with Der Fuhrer. This gives him a platform on mainstream television, and hilarity ensues.

Actually, not really; there are many serious moments here, places where drama emerges. But the humor keeps popping up, sometimes in the strangest places. There are obvious similarities to the works of Sacha Baron Cohen, with what seems like unaware German citizens interacting with Hitler and saying some very inappropriate things. I don't know enough about current politics in Deutschland to understand every reference, but a lot of the focus of the movie is about the emerging right wing tendencies as well as anti-immigration feelings. It is not pretty.

It is an uncomfortable watch, but it also goes into flat-out slapstick on a regular basis, easing the tension. While Euro-centric, there are some similarities to 'Iron Sky'. In particular, the corporate world and the media both emerge as the new Nazis. There is even a hilarious scene at the end where a corporate flunky recreates the famous Hilter meltdown scene from 'Downfall'. 'Look Who's Back' puts you on edge the entire time, bouncing between profundity and absurdity so often that by the end, where things get really trippy and reality starts to break down, you don't know what to feel.

There are also a few scenes that verge on genius in the movie. For instance, watching Hitler learn to use the internet was hilarious and slightly frightening at the same time. There was also an important message when Hitler, now a huge media personality, showing up in all the morning show cycles, gets caught casually shooting a dog on film. Watching him learn how to navigate the media for his comeback is chilling, showing the absolute ruthlessness of modern politics and the manipulation of our emotions to achieve their goals.

Both 'Iron Sky' and 'Look Who's Back' are well worth your while, like 'The Producers', even if both are very different. All three are more than willing to insult your sensibilities for a laugh. Mel Brooks avoids politics, but the two newer one are using the nutzy Nazis specifically to reflect a distorted mirror on current events. Both were big hits considering their budgets. 'Iron Sky' used gaming CGI to create the very impressive special effects, releasing a video game at the same time. Now there is a sequel ready for release, 'Iron Sky The Coming Race', which looks like an even bigger budgeted special effects mockbuster. This time it looks like they are going after the 'hollow earth' theory and the Vrils. Look it up on the internet; it's the lunatic fringe of conspiracy theories.

In the end, what to think about nutzy Nazis? Does any of this really matter, or is it just more entertainment grist for our personal enjoyment? Funny is funny, but being offended can also be a serious thing. Problem is, being offended can also be humorous to somebody else at the same time, so this vortex of uncomfortableness perpetually feeds itself. There are taboo subjects, and there will always be jokes about those very subjects simply because they are forbidden fruit. That's what makes them funny, if you share that sense of humor.

My father fought against the Nazis in the Second World War, landing at Normandy, gravely wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. Ironically, he was also casually anti-sematic at the same time. Nothing radical, just asides tossed off, never against Blacks or Puerto Ricans, only Jews. Even after he participated in the liberation of a concentration camp in late 1944, he could make throwaway remarks that would leave my sister, my brother and myself speechless. I'm sure it was listening to Father Coughlin on the radio when he was a kid. While my mother ignored it, his kids did not.

When dear old dad died, his remains were put in a mausoleum. By sheer accident, they put a Star of David carved in marble on it. My wife was appalled and wanted it changed. My mother had ten years to do it but refused. She thought it was too funny. It became the family joke, the karmic revenge on George William Nestor. True story, and it's still there. So is my mother.