Mastodawn

Mar 21, 2024

Remember in Blues Brothers when they end up at the Nazi rally and the point isn't even that Jake really hates Nazis, it's that Nazis are about the biggest losers that anyone could imagine. They are portrayed as completely pathetic dead-ender assholes.

Or in the Rocketeer when the mobsters find our the Sinclair guy is a Nazi and join forces with the FBI to stop them because Nazis are clearly the worst thing.

Or when Christopher Plummer rips the Nazi flag in two in Sound of Music.

None of these films were making bold political statements. The Nazis were the bad guys because that was something that everyone in the audience could agree one. Dunking on Nazis was a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

When the hell did we stop agreeing on something so simple and self-evident as Nazis Are Fucking Losers?

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Ricki Yasha Tarr Mar 21, 2024

@theropologist Nazis are fucking losers! Let's all agree.

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Phil Landmeier Mar 21, 2024

@RickiTarr @theropologist Certain personality types are strongly attracted to right-wing ideas (and police work). Some "social misfits" (for lack of a better term) is one such.

But before we point fingers It's good to bear in mind that these social misfits were created by society / family / circumstances and we're not dealing with that. The young man with an eating disorder, who can't succeed with the ladies or jobs, who lives in his mother's basement and plays with guns has problems and needs that society is not addressing. He's marginalized and looks for ways to gain more personal power. Right-wing ideas are very attractive to him. Joining a right-wing group also provides camaraderie and sense of belonging to a family.

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Kickstink Mar 25, 2024

@shuttersparks @RickiTarr @theropologist Nope. Disenfranchised people get sucked into far-right talking points, needing to be an edgelord for all those reasons, sure. But that’s only the start of the story. If they continue to be in that space and fail to reject the hatred/discrimination, they are responsible for what they’re doing or turning a blind eye to. People can and should “come back from the dark side” and that door should be open, but there’s a point where no sad backstory justifies it.

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Kickstink Mar 25, 2024

@shuttersparks @RickiTarr @theropologist actually I’ve probably overreacted a bit to the toot I was replying to, it just seemed to go a bit too far in sympathising. The far-right is predatory and needs a supply of disenfranchised young men for recruits, so we should absolutely fix that, I just think understanding the reasons should never mean giving an inch towards it ever being an acceptable thing to choose.

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Phil Landmeier

@kickstink @RickiTarr @theropologist I don't think anyone said it was an acceptable thing to choose, or even implied it. It's not acceptable. That there are people who find it preferable to where they are is a problem we must look at.

Right-wing media constantly cultivates anger and dissatisfaction, blaming all troubles on "liberals". Nazis will find it far harder to recruit people who are basically happy. Naziism thrives on unhappiness, as illustrated by what happened in Germany.