Sep 17
bad food, Basil Fawlty, British Council, David Beckham, England, Europe, European Union, Fawlty Towers, Germany, Goethe-Institut, John Cleese, Nuremberg, propaganda, Richard Desmond, stereotypes, Sunday Times, TV
We like to think that we are immune to propaganda. Yes, other feeble-minded individuals may allow their attitudes to be shaped by the media and their surroundings, but we’re sure that we are far too smart for that.
In 1975, John Cleese savagely satirized British attitudes to Germany, in the classic Fawlty Towers episode The Germans. After a blow to the head, hotel proprietor Basil Fawlty loses his ability to self-censor. While taking a dinner order from some German guests, he proceeds to blurt out the names of Nazis; eventually he descends into xenophobic ranting.
The sad thing is that after 30 more years, nothing much has changed.
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Mar 12
The two young women walked down Unter den Linden, past a poster advertising a retrospective of DDR propoganda posters in one of the museums.
The poster depicted the Berlin Wall, or “anti-fascist protection shield” as the government of the DDR had called it. Beyond the wall, two capitalists were leaning over, trying to grasp at the buildings of Berlin (East). One wore a Nazi helmet and had an evil grin; the other had swastika symbols instead of eyes. “They are waiting to grab us”, warned the poster.
One young woman sighed, and said to the other “Well, they got us in the end.”
She paused, uncertain, and turned to look at XQ. “That is, you got us in the end.”