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Post by rick on Aug 30, 2018 0:37:33 GMT -5
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Post by erik on Aug 30, 2018 8:54:23 GMT -5
In a long line of masterpieces that Spielberg has made during his time, SCHINDLER'S LIST is a genuine stand-out; and it always chokes me up when I see that film (I saw it during its original release in 1993, and have seen it eight times on DVD).
What is quite remarkable about that movie, however, and one that I think Spielberg has been unfairly criticized for, is seeing a lot of this from the perspective not only of the victims of the Holocaust but also of the perpetrators of it, and making Oskar Schindler, who after all was a profiteer of slave labor even as his efforts saved 1,100 Jews from certain death in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, the "hero" (for lack of a better word) of the piece. What he does in this film is try to understand what it is that causes a certain group of people to turn so ultra-violently and inhumanely against another group of people that are supposed to be their fellow human beings. He is trying to get at the psychology of Hate, which is something that I think a lot of people have a problem with--even, dare I say this (because I consider myself one), some Liberals. Too often, people want to put certain uncomfortable truths about the past into nice, compartmentalized boxes so that they can feel secure about their own opinions, or demonize the haters as mere "reptilians", a term that I quite frankly find disgusting. and which actually tends to embolden those people. Spielberg, who is after all Jewish, was born after World War II; and his family lost many in the Holocaust, and he made it to address his Jewish heritage, for which he was bullied for as a teenager, both while living in Arizona and then in Northern California. But what he also wanted to do was to examine what it was that made the Holocaust possible; and thus, he found it necessary to step into the shoes of the "enemy", the Nazis.
To me, SCHINDLER'S LIST is as vital now as it was back in 1993. At a time when denial of certain historical truths and present facts, be they the Holocaust, White Supremacy, or climate change, is at an all-time high thanks to a certain mango-headed menace from Manhattan, it may in fact be even more vital and necessary than before. That's a big reason why this film remains a great work of art, and why its 25th anniversary re-release really should be celebrated.
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