Why should they be? Neither do I think that Gestapo comparisons (or jokes) are out of bounds. The people being compared to those organisations might object, of course (“What??? You’re comparing our glorious NSA with the Stasi?? How dare you! We’ve got twice as many files as the Stasi ever had on private German citizens!”).
Let him disagree. A Brit/American trying to make fun about the Germans being too quick to send tanks into some country has become funny in a new way after the Iraq invasion.
The context being that “The Producers” makes fun of nazis, not of a whole people in general. Which is perfectly fine. No reason why anyone should object.
On the other hand, the public reaction was a pretty uniform “those idiots should just shut up” when British “newspapers” thought to paint a certain former pope as a nazi just because he was German.
Again: I only objected to the negative, factually incorrect stereotyping against an entire people.
It’s even OK to cross the lines with humor now and then. But then you should know the lines are there, and not cross them unthinkingly. And if you do cross them, just make sure it’s funny enough to be worth the transgression.
I’ve said my part; whether you agree or not, you’ll find it hard to propagate the same stereotype unthinkingly in the future, so no further discussion is needed.
Let’s get back to bashing Merkel.
But before that:
Q: Why did Hitler commit suicide?
A: Because he got the gas bill.
You’re right. I shouldn’t have started my original post with a blanket statement about all Germans being evil; I should have stuck with their politicians exclusively, because there’s a common enemy that everyone can relate to; and instead of calling them Nazis, just make a general comment about control and corruption. That way, no over-sensitive bratwurst salesman is going to skid off the rails and misinterpret – hey!
Did you ever think that just maybe, German politics might be better understood as a reaction to the Nazis and perhap even as a reaction to the East German regime–a determination not to repeat the sins of previous governments? To think of the Nazis as officious, rather than as persons who committed atrocities on an industrial scale misses the whole point.
Well, I hate to sound like a broken record and keep repeating the importance of “context”, because having to over-analyze the possible ramifications of upsetting a surly Bavarian with a limp who has a chip on his shoulder because his mother had to alter his lederhosen to hide a nasty hip dysplasia can be daunting, and I’ve already spent way too much time in front of a computer for a Sunday
“Take my wife, please” doesn’t belittle domestic violence or the plight of Nigerian schoolgirls, but in this age, it’s easy for someone somewhere to make that connection and make it personal. If you refer to a cute girl as an “adorable pudding pop”, someone will hit you over the head on why rape is never a joke
I guarantee, By this time next week, very few will remember this thread, and even fewer will recall the details and nuance.
