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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Ampelios

@shuttersparks @RickiTarr @theropologist Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarians.

The book is free, I recommend it every time this comes up.

A certain percentage of the population just want to be told it will be okay if they do X, and they don't care how hideous an act X may be.

https://theauthoritarians.org/