Oliver Stone was right

Last updated on: August 4, 2010 at 11:17 am by Dave Griffey

Oliver Stone was right 2010-08-04T11:17:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sort of. This may seem like ancient history because it’s been a week since Stone shocked the media world by suggesting Hitler was a scapegoat, Russians suffered more than Jews (which is unknown due to a Jewish dominance of the media), and Stalin may need to be given some slack. Stone not being Mel Gibson, issued an apology to Jewish leaders who were upset, redefined his statements about Hitler, and everyone has moved on (that is because the dirty little secret is, much media outrage is proportional to how much someone happens to run afoul of the basic biases and agendas of the media. But that’s for another post). What I want to do is break down Stone’s statement, because I found it and, more to the point, the ‘outrage’ to be interesting.

Here’s what Stone said about Hitler that turned everyone inside out:

“We can’t judge people as only ‘bad’ or ‘good’,” Stone said. “(Hitler) is the product of a series of actions. It’s cause and effect. People in America don’t know the connection between World War I and World War II. Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it’s been used cheaply.”

Let’s break that down.

We can’t judge people as only ‘bad’ or ‘good’. That depends doesn’t it. We can say that Hitler loved animals, or that Charles Manson was charismatic, but the idea that ‘good’ or ‘bad’ can no longer be applied smacks of a post-Boomer moral relativity. And it’s that manner of moral relativity that most in the post-Boomer world seem reluctant to apply. After all, most of Stone’s life has been framing his films around “He’s good and he’s the baddie.” Of course, you can’t just say it’s all bad or good. For too long Hitler has become a one-dimensional cardboard cutout comic book villain. Knowing what Hitler was, what made him tick, understanding he was a human being, are all appropriate. But it needn’t replace the fact that the overall average of Hitler’s life still should end up in the ‘evil’ column of history (which Stone, in his apology, agreed with).

Hitler is the product of a series of actions. Of course. So is the United States, every president, each filmmaker. That’s always true. Nothing unusual about that except for the fact that when such an obvious statement is applied to Hitler there is a knee-jerk reaction demanding the perpetrator’s head on a platter.

People in America don’t know the connection between WWI and WWII. It’s likely that some in America would be hard pressed to remember there was a WWI at all, if it wasn’t for the fact that the name WWII suggests something must have happened beforehand called WWI. Modern Americans and historical knowledge are two ships passing in the night. Which is why you have Americans leaving such stellar films as JFK or The Da Vinci Code assured they just received a post-doctorate level education in history.

Finally, has Hitler been a scapegoat? Has he been used cheaply? Second question first. Yes, if you mean that for many “Evil” is defined as ‘Hitler and the Nazis killed 6 million Jews. Period. Everything else is subject to debate.’ Has he been used as a weapon to bludgeon folks in debate or politics, when the people invoking the name couldn’t explain anything about Hitler other than he and the Nazis killed 6 million Jews? Sure. Has he been used to sweep other terrifying episodes – particularly in the 20th century – under the rug? Frequently. Like the rest of our historical knowledge, misunderstanding Hitler, and therefore misusing Hitler, is all too common.

As for the first. A scapegoat? This is where we begin seeing Stone move from some bold, if not simplistic, evaluations regarding our current knowledge of history and Hitler’s role in human events, and begin to get a strange whiff of bias. For we see in his other quotes that Hitler was simply a marionette, dancing to the tune played out by – who else? – those evil American and British industrialists. This is where Stone goes off the same tracks his films always seem to jump.

Especially strange is why Stone would assume Hitler was somehow supported by the industrialists. Did some, early on, see Hitler as someone who could get things done, could make things happen, who turned around his country’s dismal economic depression? They did. Were there folks willing to look away from the Nazis’ flagrant anti-Semitism due to a latent bigotry in their own lives? Apparently so. But that means there were humans who were wrong, bad, or short-sighted like there are today. Just as there is a well known filmmaker insisting that even though Hugo Chavez may be cracking a few skulls in Venezuela, the ones getting it have it coming. Besides, look how he is a man who can get things done, make things happen, and turn around his country’s dismal economic depression!

Perhaps Stone is right after all. Maybe there were people pushing Hitler because of their own agendas and designs, and Hitler merely sailed to the top on their prodding and cheering. That is easier to believe now that we see modern dictators and dictator wannabes spreading oppression, hatred, and fear while also gleaning the support of many modern industrialists’ proddings.

Next time, more on Hitler and Stalin, too!

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 4, 2010

A Mosque at Ground Zero

Next Post

August 4, 2010 Republican leaders decide to help third parties

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who prophesied about the birth of Jesus in the Old Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Daniel Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel