——American philosopher Eric Hoffer
Why do ordinary Germans, such as farmers, bank employees, teachers, and doctors, declare that they don’t know the tragedy of the Jews’ slaughter?
In April 1967, in a history class at Coopers High School in California, a student asked the history teacher Ron Jones this question.
After the end of World War II, we quickly forgave Japan because the logic we held at the time was that this was a small group of Japanese militarists who were committing crimes, and most of the Japanese people were innocent.
As victims, we have this understanding, and as perpetrators, they will also have this logic: something as crazy as Nazism is the matter of Hitler, a lunatic and a small group of party members, and the majority of the German people are innocent. of.
Is it really?
There are countless researches on Nazi Germany, and there are not countless claims. Jones did not join the research team, but boldly did an experiment-to create a miniature Nazi society in his class.
This micro-society was named the "third wave", starting from Monday to ending on Friday, and the effect was astonishing and terrifying. First, the students with various problems became more like good students, and then the wave of this movement swept the entire school, from the initial more than 30 students to more than 200 students, many students escaped from their original classes. Come to Jones' class.
Moreover, this organization, which has only been born for a few days, has extraordinary cohesion. A student named Neal told his best friend the "third wave" joke. The next day, Teacher Jones repeated the joke in front of the class. Obviously, his best friend betrayed him.
The friendship that has lasted for many years is so vulnerable before this new sport, and this kind of betrayal of friends is everywhere, which makes Jones feel terrified.
On Friday, Jones held a meeting in the school’s auditorium and played a videotape of Nazi Germany to more than 200 members and supporters of the "third wave" to let everyone know that they were actually doing the same thing.
I was so easily involved in Nazism, and I was willing to be controlled by Jones. This shamed the teenagers at Cooper’s Middle School. Later, they never wanted to talk about this movement in front of others, just like the Germans after World War II. Reluctant to talk about the Nazis.
Teacher Jones answered the student’s question in this way. He said: “Like the Germans, it’s hard for you to admit it. If you do it so excessively, you won’t be willing to admit being manipulated, you won’t be willing to admit and participate. This farce.”
This social experiment initiated by Teacher Jones also shocked the United States and the world. This living experiment shows that the Nazis are not just Hitler’s business, nor are they just German business. In fact, it has something to do with most of us. With a certain inevitable connection, each of us may become a Nazi and willingly.
Subtitle:
In 2008, Dennis Gansell, a young German director, put this experiment at the Coopers High School on the screen and launched the movie "The Wave". In addition to changing the location from the United States to Germany, the authenticity of the event was basically maintained, and of course some exaggerated drama was added.
At the beginning of the film, it focused on portraying the boring real life. Everywhere is full of individualism at will. Whatever is done is difficult and empty, and tiresome.
For example, during the rehearsal of a play, the actor Randy "improved the lyrics with the times" and added the lines of "New Dragon Inn" to the story that was already quite serious. The heroine Carlo said angrily. She hated the tune of these "third-rate martial arts films", and in the end everyone broke up.
For example, in a water polo practice game, Marco wanted to show his personal heroism and was unwilling to pass the ball to Sinan. As a result, he lost the opportunity to attack and made their coach lose their temper, saying that they could not play at all. .
For example, in a bar where middle school students gather, uneasy youth flaunts sex, alcohol, and nothingness. A teenager said: "People today want to be rebellious, but they can’t find the direction of rebellion... Everyone thinks about themselves. , What our generation lacks is a goal that can unite us." Another teenager responded, do you know who is the most searched on Google? Paris Hilton!
What's the meaning of life, if it's just going on like this?
It was against this background that the local high school started an "activity week", and teacher Reine Wenge got a new teaching task-to teach students a lesson on dictatorship. This was an accidental incident. Originally, Rhine was prepared to teach anarchism, but his colleague Wielande took the lead and prepared the lessons in advance. Rhine was forced to teach lessons that he didn't want to teach.
The students who come to the class are not as good as there. They come to the dictatorship class not because they want to take this class, but because it is easy to get credits. In order to make the students more active, Reine had to say "please, this is your choice" to the students many times, so that the students can actively answer some questions and talk about their views on dictatorship.
Reine's forced questioning caused some students to express their disgust. They didn't want to talk about dictatorship, let alone the Third Reich created by their ancestors. One student said: "This kind of thing will never happen again anyway." Another student said: "We didn't do it, why have to carry guilt endlessly?"
They were talking about dictatorship, The Nazi empire is in the past and will not happen again in Germany, so it has nothing to do with us, at most it is just an intellectual discussion.
Hearing what the students said, Reiner
became more serious. He asked: "You think that dictatorship cannot be repeated in Germany, right?" Seeing the students nodding their heads, Reiner's expression became more solemn. A decision was made and a break was announced immediately.
Sub-heading:
After class restarted, the students found that their seats had been adjusted, and the chaotic classrooms that were previously arbitrary and tidy became tidy.
Chen Lin, who committed suicide by jumping off the building not long ago, sang over and over again in her famous work "Your Tenderness I Never Understand": "You must love me clearly." Clearness is a very common pursuit of ours. . In a clear order, Mr. Reine started his social experiment-letting students actually experience Nazism.
He first asked the students what are the characteristics of dictatorship, and then realized this characteristic in the class. What's interesting is that when implementing any feature, he uses elections. Elections are a symbol of democracy, and Hitler came to power through elections.
The most obvious feature of dictatorship is a powerful leader. Who should be the leader of this class? The rich kid and the head of the gangster Kevin are very interested, but everyone chose Mr. Rinner. Since he is the leader, he can no longer call him by his first name, so Reine asked the students to call him "Mr. Wenger" in the future.
Discipline is also one of the characteristics of dictatorship. Reine also requires students to abide by discipline, such as sitting upright and standing up when asking questions...
Unity is also an important feature. Mr. Wenger said that the cohesion of the class must be built. With this consideration, the seats were re-arranged and their inherent small groups were broken. The poor and outstanding students sat together to help each other, even during the exam. The honor of the class group surpassed everything else.
A good way to forge unity is to establish an enemy. Mr. Wengel asked the students to stand up and walk together. In order to arouse the emotions of the students, Wengel said that Wieland's anarchy class is downstairs. "Let our enemies eat the ashes of the ceiling!" The students laughed and stepped more neatly and harder.
It seems that this is a funny detail, but the logic in this detail-the use of hostile methods to distinguish one group from another-is actually the logic of the Nazis, which has been further developed and extended to the entire race. At the level, this is true racism.
Reine asked the students to actively think about how one group differs from another. The students thought of many aspects.
Must have a prominent name. Many students put forward a lot of names. Through the election, the "wave" proposed by Marco got the most votes and became the name of the collective.
Have a uniform. Regarding the many advantages of uniforms, Lisa said: “Get up every morning and rack your brains about what to wear. The uniform eliminates this pain.” The uniform was deliberately introduced by Rinner. In the end, he did not pass the choice but decided on the standard of the uniform. , Very simple, it is the most common white shirts and jeans.
There must be a set of eye-catching slogans. This is what Reiner thought of. There are three sentences in all: unity and build strength! Discipline creates power! Action creates power!
Have your own logo. A sign created by a student is passed, it is a wave.
There must be a special gesture. The little fat boy Bang Bei invented a gesture, which is also like a wave.
…
Through one after another, the Inspur Class has become an extraordinary cohesive group, and has set off a huge wave in the hearts of the students. Their original lazy, scattered, arbitrary, and tiresome individualism disappeared. It was quickly replaced by an aggressive team spirit.
Sub-heading: The
one who can most appreciate the benefits of Inspur is "Soft-footed Shrimp" Tim. He has a weak temperament and has no friends. He is always bullied by others. He often gets close to others in such flattering ways as giving marijuana. But Inspur changed this situation. When two gangsters asked him for marijuana, two boys from the Inspur class came to rescue him and left the phone with him.
But compared to the benefits of this reality, the more important advantage is that he has found a sense of belonging. In his own home, his father is cold and his mother is cold, he has no sense of connection with them, and he has no sense of belonging to this family. As for the previous class, he only belonged to the class in form, but because no one respected him, he still had no sense of connection with the classmates, which made him also have no sense of belonging to the class. But now, he is a member of Inspur, Inspur is equal, Inspur is friendly...He is a member of this outstanding collective!
After finding a sense of belonging to the wave, Tim's weak sense of identity with family and popular culture disappeared. He fell in love with white shirts and jeans, and burned the former brand-name clothing such as Nike and Adidas.
Marco also found a sense of belonging. Unlike the marginalized Tim, he is a good student, has a beautiful girlfriend Carlo, is a member of the water polo team, and is quite prestigious among his classmates. But he has no home, he is fostered at Carlo's home. Although Carlo's parents love him very much and accept him as a member of the family, he still lacks a sense of belonging.
Now he has a wave. Inspur is of great significance to him. After all, the name Inspur was brought up by Marco. He is not only a member of Inspur, he is also a heavyweight in this movement. Therefore, he and Carlo had a dialogue like this:
Marco: "The wave means far to me."
Carlo: "What's the meaning?
Marco: "Belonging...you know that you have a complete family." but I do not have. "
Sinan of Turkish origin found a sense of value from the wave. He lamented:
The life these days is very interesting. It doesn't matter who is the most beautiful and who has the best grades. The wave makes us all equal. Origin, beliefs, and family environment are not important. We are all members of a movement. The'wave' regained meaning in our lives and gave us an ideal we can fight for.
"Life has meaning again", for children in the hesitant adolescence, this is truly extraordinary progress. Moreover, not only the members of Inspur felt the meaning of life, but also the parents. A parent said to the headmistress, thanks to Teacher Reine, his child has changed drastically. Thus, when Reine was isolated among the teachers, the headmistress expressed her support for him.
A sense of belonging, meaning, etc., are perhaps the most important benefits of Inspur. With these feelings in my heart, life looks different.
However, gaining important sense of life such as belonging and meaning through super identification with a Nazi collective has huge side effects.
The core content of Nazism is xenophobia, and Inspur, an organization with only a few days of vitality, has fully demonstrated its xenophobic side. When Mr. Wengel encouraged his students to step hard so that the anarchy class downstairs could eat the ashes from the ceiling, xenophobia had already begun.
The classic scene of xenophobia in the film is that Carlo's brother and partner guard the school gate. If anyone can't make the wave gesture, they will not let anyone enter the school. When he saw this scene, Carlo felt that the wave was out of control.
Mr. Wenger created the wave, but the wave is not always in his control, and out of control has already happened. When he used the slogan "action to create power" to encourage students to do something for Inspur class collectively, they not only did something "for Inspur" in school, they also tried to extend the influence of Inspur to the entire city. . They used a night to mark the signs of the wave on every corner of the city, and "soft-footed shrimp" Tim did something extraordinary-he painted a big big on an iconic building Sign of the wave.
In this iconic way, the tide "occupies" the entire city. To be more accurate, the members of the wave occupy the entire city.
We all want to influence others and the world, but if we don't rely on something, we don't even have the courage to make an influence ourselves. For example, Tim, if it weren't for the wave, he would not have the courage to climb to the tall building and paint the oversized wave logo, and his classmates might not have the courage to paint the wave logo on the gang logo.
Tim also likes guns, and he carries a pistol with him. However, if there is no such thing as "for the tide", he likes guns and holding guns, it just means that he is a terrible problem boy, but what if Tim likes guns and holding guns "for the tide"? That means completely different. He will no longer be an outcast of a family and society, nor a dangerous boy, but a hero. He is not only a member of the wave, but also a symbol of the wave and the savior of the wave. If it continues to develop, it is even possible that things are reversed-the tide will belong to him.
Subheading: The
Israeli philosopher Martin Buber wrote in his book "Me and You" that as long as we treat others as tools and objects for our own goals, then danger has already arisen, no matter what the goal seems to be How wonderful.
Tim's behavior can make us smell this danger. The director deliberately portrayed Tim's dramatic actions, but also to allow the audience to see this danger.
However, if the director only uses this dramatic plot arrangement, then he is only a second-rate director at best, and this movie is at best a second-rate movie that likes bluffing. What really makes this movie enter the ranks of first-class movies is The director's portrayal of some seemingly inconspicuous details of life.
On the first night of the Inspur experiment, Mr. Wengel was a little excited. He was looking at some materials on the computer at home and wanted to prepare for the next day's course. Mrs. Wenger, who is also a teacher, returned home and shouted "Baby" as always, but "Baby" did not give a enthusiastic response as before. She was a bit nagged. When she entered the room and saw her husband watching the computer intently, she said that Kiki and Alexander are both teachers, and the relationship is getting more and more tense. I hope we will not be like them.
In this inconspicuous sentence, there is danger hidden. Originally, Mrs. Wenger was a little unhappy that her husband did not give a enthusiastic response as before. What she really cared about was this matter, but she did not talk about it, but talked about what she did to others. Worry.
Mr. Wenger was still engaged in her own affairs. She walked over and saw that Mr. Wenger was studying youth psychology and uniforms. She already knew what her husband was doing. At this time, she tempted her husband to say, stop studying those uniforms, I also have uniforms for you to study. Then, she adjusted the nurse's uniform from the computer. She succeeded in flirting and made Mr. Wengel put down the work in progress.
This is a small contest of the will of two people. Mr. Wengel's will at this time is that he wants to make the next day's course better, so he must prepare the lesson well. Mrs. Wenger's will at this time is that she hopes her husband can respond to her with enthusiasm as before.
Of course, she succeeded. But I couldn't help thinking, when Mr. Wenger walked to the bedroom with his wife, is he thinking about sex or his exciting lessons?
Marco and Carlo have a similar story, but the man who tried to arouse sexual desire has failed.
Carlo’s democratic and open parents flirted in front of Carlo and Marco, touching each other enthusiastically, and the man said to the woman: “Let’s also have an activity week.” In the
same scene, Carlo and Marco had Different feelings of life and body reactions. Marco, who has no parents, feels that this pair of parents is too affectionate, he likes them like this, and his own sexual desire is also aroused. But Carlo is different. She knows that her parents are not as affectionate as they are. She feels disgusted when she sees her parents doing superficial essays in front of them.
After returning to their bedroom, Marco said to Carlo that we are also active. But Carlo said, I'm not interested, let's plan a trip to Barcelona, Spain.
At this time, Carlo's will is that we plan to go to Barcelona, and Marco's will is sex. Carlo did not obey Marco's will, Marco did not want to obey Carlo's will, he said, I am going to train, and left the door.
This kind of conflict abounds in the lives of every one of us. Everyone has their own will, and everyone wants others to obey their own will, and even if they want to obey the other's will, they may not know what the other's will is... Therefore, conflicts will continue to arise. How to deal with these trivial conflicts is the key to determining whether an intimate relationship is happy.
Subtitle:
So, how to deal with such trivial conflicts? At least one principle is to discuss the matter. Assuming that there is a conflict on matter A, just talk about matter A.
However, our most commonly used method is precisely that, assuming that there is a conflict on matter A, I will talk about matter B, or, when matter B occurs, I will use matter B to talk about matter A.
Mrs. Wenger did this, and Marco did the same. Mrs. Wenger used her sex appeal to make her husband obey her will and fulfill her desire-you have to respond intimately when I call you "baby". Marco is not so smart. The B he uses is extremely lethal.
As the "head of state" of the experimental class, Mr. Wengel prescribed a white shirt and jeans. Carlo didn't want to wear a white shirt and went to school in a red T-shirt the next day. On the way to school, Marco said that the reason why you don't wear a white shirt is because you are the kind of person Mr. Wenger said-selfish.
Perhaps what he wants to say the most is that when I wanted to have sex with you, you rejected me, you are so selfish. However, he could not say this with confidence at the time, because his request lacked the correct and great meaning. If Carlo was directly said to be selfish at that time, it would necessarily mean that he was just as selfish. Why did he have to obey his will and he Can't follow Carlo's will? So, at that time, he could only find a not-so-great excuse B—I'm going to train—and express his dissatisfaction with matter A.
But now, with the wave, it's different. Inspur is not just for me and you. Inspur belongs to dozens of us. You can ignore my feelings and sacrifice for my will. You can always sacrifice for this collective, right? You can't do it, so look, Carlo, how selfish you are!
Through the name "for the tide", which is more correct and great, Marco can finally accuse Carlo with righteousness, and this accusation seems so correct.
In my analysis, it may seem too trivial and too small, but it can be seen that this is where the director’s skill lies. He hardly wastes any detail, and every detail is connected with other details. Yes, every detail in the back is padded with the details in the front.
Lisa is Carlo's good friend. She has always envied Carlo's beauty and has an excellent boyfriend, and she has never been in a relationship. But she is a good person. She can't directly express her envy for Carlo, nor can she express her resentment towards Carlo-the kind of resentment that good people have-"I care about you so much, when did you care about me."
But In the name of "for the tide", she can attack Carlo. Lisa's attack on Carlo sparked a deeper grievance from Marco. He said to Lisa, why I have to go to Spain with her, maybe she will find a new boyfriend and dump me.
Originally it was just a small conflict. Marco wanted to be intimate and Carlo was not interested at the time, but this small conflict extended and led to a series of new conflicts. Since you did not respect my will at that time, then I would not respect your will either. Spain, why go to Spain? You don’t listen to me, why should I listen to you? !
Think about how this extension of conflict, or the extension of will contest, is so common in your life, and how it gradually extinguishes the flames in your intimate relationship.
Subtitle:
For various reasons, it is really not easy for many people to take a delicate responsibility for a delicate emotional event and experience the vague, warm and weak emotional experience in it.
In contrast, we would rather find some crude, but seemingly convincing reasons—in fact, an excuse to make others obey ourselves, so that we can believe that our own wills are correct.
Because of the drama rehearsal, Carlo and Lisa clashed. Lisa didn't talk about rehearsal, but said, "You got angry because the tide did not develop according to your command." Everything is because of the wave. The wave is like a black hole, sucking all the differences in and smoothing it out. In the end, it only comes down to two points-are you "for the wave" or for yourself?
Such quarrels will become much easier, but if we always talk like this, our hearts will become coarser and farther and farther away from the matter itself. It is rare for domestic directors to reach the level of "The Tide". Perhaps the most critical reason is that our history of speaking rough is too long.
By condemning Carlo again and again, Lisa and Marco got closer and closer. At a party, Lisa became ambiguous with Marco. This ambiguity, if there is no premise, it means betrayal, and once Adding the premise of "for the tide" seems to be more rigorous. As for the unspeakable and vague feelings, you can ignore it. Therefore, Lisa, who has always been a good person, can also take the initiative to kiss Marco.
But after all, delicate emotions are still one of the most powerful forces. When Marco found that he was about to lose Carlo, he came to his senses, went to Mr. Wengel, and asked him to stop the wave movement. Mr. Wenger was also in danger of losing his wife, so Marco's wish finally came true. The wave movement that lasted for a week finally ended, but the price was that Tim, who had regarded the wave as everything, committed suicide.
Tim has nothing, so he can't let the wave go. If Mr. Wengel doesn't have a wife, and Marco doesn't have Carlo, would they be as incapable as Tim? The historical answer is "yes." Hitler, who pushed the Nazis to the end, and people like Hitler, their emotional world is indeed blank. Although Hitler had Eva, it is said that he never had sex with Eva, and Eva was just a puppet to him.
Mr. Wenger asked Marco: Did you beat Carlo? Why?
Marco replied: I don't know, I have changed a person during this period of time. I love Carlo, but I still beat her.
In my opinion, the reason why Marco has changed is because he used too much the excuse of "for the tide" and stayed away from himself. In fact, anyone who uses those great names arbitrarily means that he will stay away from himself.
Before announcing the end of the wave movement, Mr. Wenger also pretended to be the head of state and gave an exciting speech, using many great names, such as Germany cannot be a loser in globalization, we are fighting terrorism, and terrorist activities. The source is injustice, the shame of the rich, etc. These are some common great names, that is, excuses.
In life, there are many great names that are used more often.
For example, "for children", when adults quarrel, they ignore each other's delicate feelings and declare "for children";
for example, a couple quarreling may say that everything is because of money;
for example, talents, one person thinks that I I am so talented that others do not accept me, it must be the other party’s problem;
...
If we want to completely stay away from Nazism in politics and life, we must stay away from such crude discourse, and go back to the time when every incident happened. Delicate feeling. When we do this, we get in touch with ourselves, which is the foundation of our standing in this world.
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