The Specialists

The portrayal of Nazis has been a topic of discussion in the comments lately, so it was apropos that the A.V. Club published this article yesterday, containing a list of fifteen attempts to derive humor from mocking Hitler. For some people — maybe a lot of people — Hitler and the Nazis are simply inappropriate subjects of comedy. But I think that humor is a great way to deal with the memory of that hated regime. We can mock the Nazis without making light of their horrific deeds.

The article I linked above is worth a look. Most of the videos they list are funny and/or interesting (the Donald Duck cartoon is a fascinating example of anti-Nazi propaganda), and they all include the A.V. Club’s usual brilliant commentary. But if you don’t have time for the full article, check out my favorite videos below.

You can hardly go wrong with Monty Python, so let’s start with their “Mr. Hilter” sketch:

I’d forgotten about this sketch from Mr. Show, but it’s a good one. Unfortunately, this clip is only the first part of the sketch, and I couldn’t find the whole thing on YouTube.

Finally, there are the many parodies of the film, Downfall. It’s actually an excellent movie, and well worth watching. Bruno Ganz’s performance as Hitler is amazing, and the film is a great example of how the Nazis can be presented as humans without forgiving the sins of the Holocaust. Not all of the parodies of this scene available on YouTube are funny, but the best ones are hilarious.

Shawn (follow me on Twitter!)