Convincing a Nation Through Art

I found that one of the most appalling, yet interesting clips came from the movie produced by Goebbels about the “dangers” of the handicap population. The clip from his movie threatened the German population about the hazards of the ineptitudes of harmless, innocent souls. I understand the goal of the Nazi party in trying to perfect man through a psychopathic perception of the Aryan race, however the clip of the movie is extremely disturbing. Showing the faces of helpless individuals and criticizing the care given to them due to their disability was some of the most extreme of the propaganda I’ve encountered thus far. In terms of conveying the message of needing to do something to solve the “problem,” Goebbels does a brilliant job by showing the amenities while the rest of Germany suffered through a depression. Additionally, using the conspicuously skewed statistics that fifty years from that date the “useless” burdens of people to Germans would be one to four in ratio clearly has an impact on the naïve viewer. The art itself, a propaganda movie that looks to oust a group of people who have no choice on their inabilities, coincides with the entire Nazi movement of creating the perfect race, and doing so through such impressive and beautiful mediums such as a motion picture. While the most disturbing aspects of what happened in the twelve-year regime of the Nazi party in power are prevalent in the film, one cannot be unimpressed by the creativity and style in accomplishing a change in mindset of an entire nation through art. Portraying the sick and disabled as a dangerous threat to society seems impossible and horrific, yet through propaganda art Goebbels and the Nazi party were somehow able to accomplish this horrific feat. The main message I found Cohen was trying to convey to the viewer was that one of the greatest tragedy’s of all time happened in the twentieth century due to insane men who’s gruesome beliefs were turned into action and through their defeat, accomplished many of their goals.