June 26th, 2003

I have been disgusted with the number of critics that have been praising Ang Lee's production of "Hulk". I saw "Hulk" last weekend and although it was the one film this summer that I was most looking forward to, I still wanted to poke my eyes out in order to stop watching it.  I've been wondering if I saw the same film as these reviewers who love it.  Was it the one with the giant mutant poodle?  One brain dead reviewer even tried to compare "Hulk" to a Stanley Kubrick film. I found this outrageous, and I sent that reviewer an e-mail asking what his credentials were to waste my time with such a stupid review. I feel that these reviewers are nothing but blinded by the figures at the box office and the fact that the masses have flocked to it over the past week.  Just because a movie is successful doesn't make it good.  Oh god no!  I have a theory for the real reason people are flocking to see "Hulk" and why reviewers are giving it high praise.  It's a theory I came up with to explain all the half-baked entertainment successes out there.  It's not what one would call a popular theory, nor is it the most politically correct.  In order to begin to understand why the worst entertainment is not only made, but loved by the public, we need to turn to the words of two of the most brilliant speakers, but two of the most controversial men of all time - especially when you use their names in the same breath.  Thus, if I may, I would like to introduce you to something I like to call:
 

JESUS AND HITLER ON FILM

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Yes.  Jesus and Hitler.  Do I dare compare the two?  In most every case Jesus and Hitler are polar opposites.  Hitler represents evil and fear while Jesus represents peace and love.  However, there is one thing that the two of them did agree on and that was how to communicate to the masses.  The only difference was their agenda.  Yet before I get to that, let me explain the reason I developed this little idea first.

This theory came as a response to an idea my mother and father used to throw at me. When I used to state that a top rated television show or a hit song or a blockbuster movie was terrible my parents would always argue with me by reasoning, "Well the movie/show/album is making a lot of money and millions of people love it so it can't really be that bad.  You're just too opinionated." Yes, I am opinionated - this is true.  However, as much as I love my mother and my father and I know they are wise in their own ways, when it comes to the world of pop culture they just don't understand.

So why don't we start with the Bible - how does Jesus fit into explaining why the public loved a terrible film like "Hulk"?  Essentially, Jesus is walking around teaching people the ways of God and just telling people to be nice to each other. How does he do this? His teachings are all done through parables - simplistic stories such as the man who makes his house on the rock and the one that makes his house on the sand. In Mathew Chapter 13 Jesus' disciples come to him and ask him about the reason for the parables and why he just doesn't tell the masses the direct word of God. Jesus responds: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand. With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says: ‘You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive.  For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn— and I would heal them.’"  (Matthew v 11-15)

So what is Jesus saying here? Jesus is saying that the masses he teaches the messages of God to are unable to understand the complexity of God's message on their own.  Thus he has to make the teachings into something simpler, such as parables, in order for the public to listen and learn the teachings. The simpler the parable the easier an idea can be comprehended by men who are not able to understand it at a higher level. It is the simple parable that men will be able to take away with them. Jesus goes on to explain to the disciples that they are blessed enough to be able to understand. 

So how does Hitler fit into all of this?  Let's fast-forward to Germany in the early part of the last century. Adolph Hitler is writing his beliefs and his platform in his book "Mein Kampf". Within these pages he writes a lot on propaganda and indoctrination. Just like Jesus, Hitler has his own take on how to get a crowd to listen to his ideas and his message. Hitler writes:

"To whom should propaganda be addressed? To the scientifically trained intelligentsia or to the less educated masses?

It must be addressed always and exclusively to the masses... The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but in calling the masses' attention to certain facts, processes, necessities, etc., whose significance is thus for the first time placed within their field of vision.

The whole art consists in doing this so skillfully that everyone will be convinced that the fact is real, the process necessary, the necessity correct, etc. But since propaganda is not and cannot be the necessity in itself, since its function... consists in attracting the attention of the crowd, and not in educating those who are already educated or who are striving after education and knowledge, its effect for the most part must be aimed at the emotions and only to a very limited degree at the so-called intellect.

All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Consequently, the greater the mass it is intended to reach, the lower its purely intellectual level will have to be. But if, as in propaganda for sticking out a war, the aim is to influence a whole people, we must avoid excessive intellectual demands on our public, and too much caution cannot be exerted in this direction.

The more modest its intellectual ballast, the more exclusively it takes into consideration the emotions of the masses, the more effective it will be. And this is the best proof of the soundness or unsoundness of a propaganda campaign, and not success in pleasing a few scholars or young aesthetes."

Now can you see the connection between what Jesus and Hitler are saying?  Both are saying that in order to get an idea through to the masses you need to keep it simple and watered down. They both say that while there is a portion of the population, be it enlightened as Jesus believes or intellectual as Hitler calls it, the general mass populace isn't able to put together complex ideas or thoughts.  Thus for the popularization of ideas or messages, they need to be kept simple.

In many ways what Hitler and Jesus are saying is very similar - only Jesus uses the concept to teach love and humanity while Hitler twists it to teach hate and evil. Yet the basic concept is this - the masses at large will embrace simple things. Now let's apply it to our modern entertainment industry. If something contains the least amount of complexity the masses will turn their back on it and something which requires real thought will be left to be appreciated by the few who choose understand it or strive for something different. This explains why the public embraced "Titanic". It explains why Adam Sandler has a career. It explains why "Full House" was on for ten years and the whole ABC "TGIF" line-up in general. This explains the popularity of reality TV. It's why there is a wrestling industry. This is what explains Britney Spears. These are things with no depth, no originality and rarely anything to provoke any thoughts. Thus these are the things that the public at large make successful.

So when the masses flock to see "Hulk" like June bugs to a lamppost it is just another case of the masses denying themselves something with true value due to the fact that they are used to mediocrity. But to be fair, the media induced hype has a lot to do with it and being bombarded by images of "Hulk" makes it worse. I mean even I was at the opening of "Hulk".  The difference is that I could see the movie for what it was - dull and badly executed fluff.

So ends my rant on the Hitler and Jesus theory. Judge it as you will. Many over the years have argued with me about it, and have found fault with it, but I feel there is some truth in the theory - and it's far better than my "Star Wars action figure theory of Marxism". If you are interested in hearing that one buy me a drink sometime and I'll tell you in person.
 

All content copyright Sam Tweedle 2006.