Nietzsche and the Cobbler, Germans brainwashing our pure white girls!!

Nietzsche and the Cobbler: German brainwashing?

“Face life as you find it, defiantly and unafraid! Waste no energy yearning for the moon! Crush out all sentiment,” reads Lily from the book that an old friend has sent her. The book is Thoughts Out of Season, the author: Friedrich Nietzsche. An interesting addition an otherwise traditional ‘fallen woman’ film is the presence of Nietzschean philosophy thought out Baby Face. Lily is kicked out of her old life from the promptings of a cobbler, Adolf Gragg, who speaks from Nietzsche’s writings as if they are scripture. The idea of raising one’s self up by their own bootstraps is something common in film, but for 1933, the idea of a woman doing it was likely frowned upon (judging by the severe editing and poor critical reception), and the method of doing it by “using men” to do it was out right blasphemy – hence the veneer of philosophy.

By having the prod out of a “socially acceptable situation” into a morally flawed and socially dangerous one be caused from the word of Nietzsche, spoken through a clear foreigner, it gave the message less credulity and, as was probably thought at the time, would reduce the risk of women emulating Stanwyck’s character. At its core, Nietzschean philosophy regarding its relationship to society openly admits to being “immoral” compared to moral stigmas of the world. He believed that rules and morals were appropriate for a society to function, they keep the lesser dregs in check – but for those that are exceptional, those like Lily, and should be given room to “play” with the law. “Become what you are,” Nietzsche wrote, the cobbler read…then told Lily.

The Scarred Face of Comedy

In Scarface, we enter a world of violence, tragedy, corruption, death, and humor – one of these things is not like the other. Clearly the use of humor in the film was intentional, the placement of certain characters and actions makes this obvious; for example, when Tony and Guino get shot at in the diner, as his ‘secretary’ attempts to have a phone conversation while under a barrage of Tommy gun fire. The use of the secretary as a comedic foil to the gun battles, crime and murder is an interesting decision, why would they do this?

As we look further, we see that Tony himself is a comedic figure, looking like a child on Christmas day when talking about the new Tommy gun, exclaiming something along the lines of, “they make machine guns you can carry now!” Or when he’s let out of prison, gibing to Guino, “Nice little thug, he give ‘em a writ of hocus pocus,” referring to the writ of Habeus corpus. Compared to the other humor in Scarface, Tony’s is somewhat twofold.

Firstly, it serves as one of the pillars of his character. He’s a jovial, driven individual that’s on his way up – so you’d better be on board or out of his way. But it also is a subtle slap in the face to society. Sure, he’s clearly opposed to the law, we see this within sixty seconds of being introduced to Tony, when he strikes a match on the officer’s badge, but his bravado of jokes is a way of saying to everyone that, morally, he has no qualms with what he’s doing.

By giving us a “hero” that’s so comedic, and giving us a movie surprisingly equally full of violence and comedy, Scarface says, “criminals don’t see anything wrong in what they are doing, in fact, they’re laughing all the way to the gallows.”

Redskin has Two Jims

Out of all the names possible, for Wing Foot's loyal Navajo friend and for the Pueblo that wants to marry an unwilling Corn Blossom, I found it very peculiar that the picture decided to call them both Jim. First of all, by not naming them a "traditional native american name" we are licensed to make some assumptions. First of which is that they must have been raised in similar boarding schools as Wing Foot and given "American" names. Or, at the very least they have had repeated contact with whites. We know the latter to be true, because Navajo Jim sports jeans and a denim jacket with a floppy mountain man hat, and totes a revolver that he routinely plays with. He also speaks in an odder dialect than the other cast members, perhaps indicating that his learning of English was not as successful as Wing Foot's -- so its noticeably "weaker." Pueblo Jim, on the other hand, is a big fan of the "white man's gin" as Corn Blossom so aptly points out, as well as some casual flannel shirts and, again, jeans. So, obviously, both have been deeply influenced by white culture.

In noticing the influence, it is easy to spot the differences between them and their significance. Because they share the same name, I think we are supposed to look at them under a bit more scrutiny than we would have otherwise. They are really two sides of the same coin, if you will. The "coin" being white education and culture, and the sides being the progressive or positive aspects versus the detrimental or negative aspects. If we take Wing Foot into the equation, we find a three sided coin. Where Pueblo Jim is clearly the wrong parts of white culture, Navajo Jim is some of the good parts of white culture (knowledge of the language and advanced technology), and Wing Foot is the pinnacle of white education. And because he has embraced education fully, he is able to realize the flaws with both cultures and winds up pulling himself into this area of limbo -- where he is only a Redskin.

Interestingly enough, in getting some of the facts straight for this blog, I noticed that Pueblo Jim was played by a man named Noble Johnson -- an African American. Now I can only wonder if Johnson was type cast into the role of the "bad Indian" by Paramount because of his skin color. How ironic that would be, a movie preaching tolerance while having quite a bit of intolerance behind the scenes.

Religion in "Within our Gates"

What can one say of how religion was depicted in Within our Gates? Before we answer this question we should look at how it was showcased in Birth of a Nation. Although never bluntly addressed, it was nevertheless crucial in the imagery. Chivalrous knights, gleaming in white robes emblazoned with crosses lead a charge against the chaotic masses. Flaming crosses a hallmark of their zealotry and "righteous mission." These visual monikers are repeated throughout D.W. Griffith's film, and they leave a rather frank impact on a neutral viewer -- the KKK are the hand of God.
In Within our Gates, we are shown primarily the other side of the reconstruction era south. Two preachers, church scenes, and multiple references to God are ever present in Micheaux's film and they too leave a message. On one hand, we have the Reverend Jacobs -- a kind minister and principal whose mission is to educate African American youth. On the other hand, we are shown Old Ned -- another minister who uses his influence to "keep the black population in check." He's an interesting character in his own right, but the tool that he uses to keep the masses ill informed is their religion.
So what do we have? Three different uses for religion: violence, education or subjugation. In Birth obviously but even Within , there is violence associated with religion. (The hangings for the Landrys are on Sunday, quotes such as "Divine justice punishes the real killer," etc). Disregarding religion as fuel for violence, you have the choice to either become uplifted and enlightened, able to think for yourself - or you choose to stay in the dark, and let others make decisions for you. The situation Micheaux presents is one where the others that make decisions are the very people that enslaved you just decades before. They butchered, raped, tortured and lynched you -- and now that you are free they still control you? The answer will always be yes until you are able to broaden your mind and see your reality as it is, not through the mask of Old Ned.

Why we play it...aside from the fame and fortune

Quote from wiki: "According to research from Dr. Richard Haier, et al. prolonged Tetris activity can also lead to more efficient brain activity during play. When first playing Tetris, brain function and activity increases, along with greater cerebral energy consumption, measured by glucose metabolic rate. As Tetris players become more proficient, their brains show a reduced consumption of glucose, indicating more efficient brain activity for this task. Even moderate playing of tetris (half-an-hour a day for three months) boosts general cognitve functions such as 'critical thinking, reasoning, language and processing' and increase cerebral cortex thickness."

Press release: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6122290/Tetris-could-boost-brain-power.html
Full scientific study: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0006-8993(92)90573-R

That's right kids, tell your parents to get you a Nintendo -- CAUSE VIDEO GAMES MAKE YOU SMARTER

*knowledge bomb deployed*