Goodbye Lenin!

My film class always give me so much to talk about, and I think its because its full of all sorts of people who can speak on profound topics whenever they feel. The topics are profound because each film has its significance and the autere has a certain motive or message. This week's foray was Goodbye Lenin!, a 2003 film about a son living in East Germany trying to keep his weak hearted, recently awakened from an 8 month coma, mother in a world that is exactly the same before she had a heart attack and went into a coma. That means no consumerism, no West Berlin, and no reality. Its a touching piece, but its also over produced and clean cut like western cinema. Good stuff. Great actually. So of course, we get on the topic of human rights, and people all have their own ways of thinking. During the discussion the instructor, who couldn't be older than 25, makes an off the cuff joke about Europa Europa having to use penis jokes to get people to watch a movie about the holocaust. Now I thought it was a little wild, but I understood the humor, and I also understood the point of people denying the past and not wanting to see a bleak depressing holocaust movie, so the autere uses comedy to relate. And if the P.C. police didn't bust down the fucking door, with every snoody, self-righteous, prick, attacking our instructor with every tired bit about sensitivity. The part that is terrible is 1. From the way they were talking, their argument had no substance, and it lead on that they had no idea why they were arguing the point of sensitivity, or why the instructor even said the joke, but rather were programmed to do so by societal taboos. Taboos that don't allow an alternative viewpoint on the joke. The Holocaust was terrible, the worst atrocity the world has seen in the past 200 years. But still people don't want to hear about it, so they mask it, hide themselves from it. The autere of the film used comedy to relate a topic to the audience, without scaring them away with all the truth. The joke was harmless, and quite funny at the point. And point 2. Shortly before the joke, people in the class were having a talk about how a recent white supremacy rally had "no effect on their lives, and they didn't really care about it." Seriously? Whats worse? The movement that kills millions, or the movement that understands the former, and wants to push it a step further. People don't understand that we are all in this fucking world together. People just gush ignorance sometimes. Get along and help each other. Even if its just little things as small as a smile, do it. Be a human, we're all on the same team.

Well after that, nothing much to talk about. Going to Parma this weekend. Nothing much else. Oh, I have a letter to look forward to... ;)