The Evil of Banality: False Thoughts, Feelings, and Expectations

Scarlett 2022-04-24 07:01:23

What impressed me most about the film was the original black and white clip of Adolf Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem. The director skillfully combined them with the plot of the film to restore the trial of the century to the greatest extent possible. Eichmann did not have any sense of shame and repentance when defending his crimes, but appeared clear-minded and plausible, "I am just a person who executes the orders of the superiors. I am an innocent gun, aiming and firing I wasn't the one with the gun!" In fact, his actions as the school officer responsible for transporting Jews to the camps did not seem to be directly related to the brutal crimes that took place in the camps. His calm expression was in stark contrast to the grief-stricken victims in the dock. This scene made Arendt, who was present in the interview and recorded, ponder. Back in the U.S., she concluded in her report: "He just doesn't think!"

However, I have a hard time agreeing with Arendt's conclusion. As a healthy and intelligent person, how did Eichmann become a person who can't think? If he can't think, can he be promoted to lieutenant colonel in the SS? As Arendt's mentor and lover, Heidegger also joined the Nazis and persecuted his Jewish colleagues. In the film, he and Arendt sighed as they walked in the woods: "Politics, I'm a naive person." This is the only time he has talked to someone about his Nazi experience. The rest of the time he kept mum about it. Could it be that Heidegger could not think too? Conscience and courage completely give way to fear, regardless of whether a person thinks or not. In fact, human beings will self-deceive and spontaneously follow the crowd, obey and please the powerful, eager to become a part of the powerful group (I also wrote a crotch application when I was in school [Joyful]), purely out of self-protection instinct. As Fromm said, we think we are thinking, feeling, and expecting, but those are just false thinking, false feeling, and false expectations.

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Extended Reading
  • Gaylord 2022-03-20 09:02:45

    Evil is extreme and not thorough, evil is mediocre. Only goodness is thorough and deep. But people have been dazzled by emotions and lost their reason. Or is it impossible for them to think about philosophy? After "The Philosopher in the Novel", I think it's time to start thinking about the issue of writing "The Philosopher in the Movie". Thinking and life are the eternal mission of a writer. The two are originally one, even if they bear the burden of humiliation.

  • Lucie 2022-03-18 09:01:07

    #16thSIFF#It's really hard for Trotta to be able to break such a complicated matter so clearly. The script and performance are top-notch, and the photography is very good, but it doesn't grab the show at all. "If you don't understand, go to make up lessons silently." This kind of powerful intellectual film aura is really sturdy. In a country where nationalism is rampant like the Tian Dynasty, this place is really a slap in the face.

Hannah Arendt quotes

  • Hannah Arendt: Israel has to be very careful that this doesn't become a show trial.

    Kurt Blumenfeld: That's my Hannah! Just wait a bit. And try to understand Ben Gurion. Our young people refuse to confront what you call the "dark times." Either they're ashamed of their parents who didn't fight or protect themselves, or they accuse them of having behaved dishonorably. They think only criminals or whores could have survived the camps.

  • Adolf Eichmann: I received the matter for its continued processing and dealt with it in an intermediate capacity. As I was ordered to do. I had to follow orders.