Fun
Despicable Double Feature
Dear Kay,
I’ll just put this out there. I completely understand if you would rather watch grass grow than stuff like this.
In the past weeks I’ve watched a) The Godfather: Part II and b) Hitler’s Circle of Evil. (Both on Netflix.)
I don’t typically watch violent movies. For these shows, I just turned my head when ghoulish things happened, which meant I spent about 60 percent of the evening staring at the carpet.
Why were these so compelling to me? I guess I’m just looking for insight. Or something. I don’t know, actually.
If you’ve never watched Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy, now would be a good time to see how a crime family emerges, rises to power, and destroys pretty much everything in its path. Including itself.
Hitler’s Circle of Evil is a combination of documentary and docudrama. It’s not the greatest production, but the scholars do a good job of laying out the details. We see the world’s most despicable men do the most despicable things—while stadiums full of jacked-up fans cheer them on. The focus here is on the goons closest to Hitler—Goebbels, Himmler, Goering, Speer, Heydrich, Bormann, Hess—and their intricate relationships and motivations.
Hitler had the ability to attract the most awful people. I’ve heard these names all my life, but now I see what exactly they brought to Team Doom.
They all suck. They are all monsters.
There is much in here to glean about the psychology of liars, sadists, sycophants, brown-nosers, narcissists, and megalomaniacs. It bears watching even if it’s unbearable to watch.
What’s that saying from George Santayana? Oh, right: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It helped me to watch these, believe it or not.
Love,
Ann
Very good advice.
Although I have not seen Hitler’s Circle of Evil, I could tell you that I’ve seen The Godfather Part II many times. It seems that in my area there has been a channel that plays Godfather l and Godfather ll on Thanksgiving Day. So for several years I would come home from an early Thanksgiving gathering to watch these two movies back-to-back. Only, the last two Thanksgivings I don’t know because my schedule, happily, has changed to later time frame. Even though I have not readily been able to see the connection between the Godfather and Thanksgiving, I will say that I always love the chance to see Al Pacino. For that, I am always thankful.
Definitely agree.
And unfortunately it always takes the next generation to confront the facts and make amends: https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/01/world/confronting-the-past-germans-now-don-t-flinch.html
But that only points to how important it is to be one of those who speaks up NOW!
Or alternatively, today Syfy network is showing a Sharknado marathon culminating in tonight’s premiere of “The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time.” It’s really the only type of “violence” I can handle. 🙂
Perhaps we are doomed to repeat history, perhaps history is repeating itself right before our eyes.
I have.friends who.smudge.their work when it is finished and blocked to remove any negative energy that it could have acquired.during construction. I may invest in a lot of sage to spread around farther. Thanks for the suggestions.
I had never heard of smudging before…….had to google it. I think that is a great idea for most everything that I’m weaving, knitting and sewing these days. Thanks for educating me!
Godfather II is a great film!
We do the Godfather -all three- every Christmas. My Italian grandfather started the tradition as a way to scare off my mom’s and aunt’s non Italian boyfriends\possible future husbands.
He would always tell the fellas ” Now you know what will happen to you ,f you ever mistreat my daughter. One phone call to Uncle Guido and you just disappear.”
He thought if they stuck around after that, they might be worthy of his little girl.
He would be proud to know that we are carrying on tradition with the third generation. We have twelve nieces.
By the way, his plan worked, all five of his daughters have been happily married for over forty years.
The funny thing is that we have never had an Uncle Guido.
But the boyfriends\husbands don’t know that.
So much of what is happening today bears a chilling resemblance to the past. (even if I never really watched all of “The Godfather’ movies.) How many of us are questioning how we would act and what would be the breaking/leaving point?
It’s the very question I ask myself at least once a day, Gail. Meanwhile, I work with others to educate and empower ourselves to stand strong and speak truth to power. I play a lot of Aretha Franklin and Pete Seeger, by the way. Thank you for this letter, Ann!
I saw a random Twitter comment (of all things) that went viral, that stated something like, “If you ever wondered what you would have done during slavery or the Holocaust or the Civil Rights movement—you’re doing it now.” And I am. And my kids will be able to say that their middle-class, suburban mom got off her butt and resisted—and brought them with me.
Good for you, Anya–because that IS what’s happening now, and the more people who recognize that the better.
I hope it’s okay to recommend what I think is a relevant twitter account? I’ve been following @RealTimeWWII on twitter – an “on this day in 1940” account by Alwyn Collinson, livetweeting the Second World War as it happened, using news reports, footage, still photography and the like. Such a perspective-widening approach. I have learned a LOT. A lot of it is as unpleasant as one would expect, but it has made me very aware of the need to more fully understand what happened and where. And, especially critical these days: how. Several times I’ve first read one of the 1940 news tweets without realizing that it wasn’t current news – because it could be.
I’m on Season 2 (impeachment of Bill Clinton) of the podcast Slow Burn, which I learned about here— less relevant to what’s going on today, but Season 1 (Richard Nixon) felt like today’s news, so I know what you mean.
I watched Circle of Evil recently. I never really thought about how Hitler gathered that group or what their backgrounds were. As you said- unbearable to watch, but necessary. Also in the same vein is The Dark Charisma of Hitler (been on a WWII binge lately). That one is spooky. A lot of lessons on how we think, how we’re manipulated, and so on.
Thanks for recommending Versailles! Semi-binged watched that show and finished yesterday. Can’t wait for season 3! It also shows a different (?) flavor of power and manipulation. And it makes me want to read the non-fiction version of that time period.
I hear the message loud and clear. It is so difficult to understand those who strive for destruction.
Those in power have two choices – love your country/people and rise above, or love yourself and destroy everything around you. For some, power/greed corrupts absolutely because it feeds their ego. It’s about motive and intent. Some come to power without the capacity or mental ability to see beyond their personal demons.
Reggie Jackson once described himself as “the straw that stirs the drink.” Ann, you are the straw that stirred MY drink today and I’m very grateful you did. Knitting doesn’t have to be mindless and neither do I.
Nicely put.
Well said.
Well said.
I did not watch the Godfather movies until just a few years ago, when I saw them on TCM. (I really have learned a lot about classic movies and movie history from that channel, and I love it.) They are so compelling, especially Godfather 2, so I finally got what all the fuss was about. Wow! And I love reading about and watching history, so I will also look for the Hitler series. Thanks for the recommendation!
Thanks for the recs. I’m finding all sorts of horror stories relevant these days…
Ann,
Not sure I can watch the Godfather trilogy one more time. It is masterful and absolutely unsettling for me. I’ll check out Hitler’s Circle of Evil.
Thanks for writing.
Thank you, Ann, for the recommendations. I think that, from reading the comments below, it is clear that many of us are very concerned about the direction of those in charge right now. Some historical perspective is always beneficial…some of us might not have been paying strict attention in high school history class. 🙂 I have another recommendation for those into a very readable history. It is Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright, former Sec’y of State and Ambassador to the UN for the USA. She has a most interesting personal history and is lucky to be among the living. Her book only mentions her personal history in passing, but it is a great overview of Fascists in our recent past….and present.
To cleanse your palate a bit from Hitler’s Circle, I recommend Hitler’s Children. It’s able his henchmen ‘s children as adults and how they dealt with what their father’s have done.
IMDb: Hitler’s Children
Hitler’s Children
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2359085/
Gee, I wonder what prompted you to watch these particular movies at this particular time?
Perhaps we are repeating it right now in our country. It bears watching!