Could it happen here? That’s not even a question any longer, is it? Of course it could. Where “it” equals the equivalent of a Nazi takeover in the United States – a fascist, intolerant, bigoted, violent, one man/one party domination of all aspects of American life. Yes, it certainly could happen here. Many even want it to happen here.
Neither is it difficult to imagine at this point – Trump wins in 2024. He takes office in 2025 and immediately removes all checks on his power by simply ignoring opposers and replacing all heads of justice and law enforcement with loyalists. That’s phase one. Phase two is the media: he promotes Fox News to state TV and immediately puts pressure on any prospective truth-telling news (i.e. every publication left of Rupert Murdoch) outlets to disband. Admittedly, this part is more difficult, but hardly impossible; there is already an entire RW ecosystem of “news” willing to display Trump’s POV regardless of truth. And its followers either don’t know or don’t care they’re being lied to. Phase three: Trump rounds up all the dissenters. Trump has already threatened to put all undocumented immigrants in internment camps. Many Americans who have blindly parroted the anti-immigrant rhetoric for years won’t offer resistance to this one. The key part is once you control the camps and the media, when does MAGA start going after other perceived enemies, huh? Politicians, journalists, writers, bloggers, etc. And how soon until the camps go from “internment” to “concentration?”
How soon until I’m rounded up, forced into a camp, the blog destroyed, my life destroyed, and then jailed indefinitely on the charge of “dissent?” If you control the justice, the military, the police, and the narrative, there’s nothing to stop such, especially if you consistently remove all opposing voices. Don’t kid yourself; that is the plan for Trump II. And if you have the tolerance and sociopathy of a Trump, yikes.
Yes, this is a tad on the far-fetched and alarmist side, but I would have said the same about overturning Roe v. Wade before RBG died. Let me put it this way: if Donald Trump could “de-voice” every person that criticized him or tried to hold him accountable, would he? Suppose he could snap his fingers and all the Never Trumpers of the country disappeared. Would he do that? Of course he would. I doubt he’d even consider the morality of such. Only question in my mind is if orange Hitler returns to the White House, will his sloth overcome his wrath? Cuz that might be all that stands between people like me and execution.
All that intro was necessary to describe The Zone of Interest, a relevant peek into the mundanity of evil. The film is about a seemingly ordinary, if perhaps delightful, 20th century European family.
Hmmm, costumes and vehicles say late 1930s, early 1940s. And they’re German. We can tell by language and lederhosen.
What’s with the constant buzz? Is that gunfire? Is there a war going on right outside this pleasant household? Oh, Christ, this is Nazi Germany and we are right next door to a Concentration Camp, aren’t we?
Oh, we are in fact in Auschwitz, and the family we are following belongs to commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel). Oh boy. Sure, there it is, our main subject approving plans for a new crematorium. I’ve been duped. This is not an ordinary family or an ordinary man. And nobody here is “delightful.” We are following one of history’s greatest villains and treating him like just another middle manager with a wife, children, and a job to do. This is insidious. This could have been Poland in the mid-1930s and us watching an innocent family, one worth rooting for.
But it’s not.
These are people steeped in a dogma so evil that it claimed six million Jews and not a single member of this family thinks twice about it. Heck, Frau Höss (Sandra Huller) even jokes about finding blood diamonds hidden in the toothpaste. Good gravy.
This is evil, pure evil, passed off as “every day.” The family even has a guest book to sign … ”Thanks for letting me spend this magical day at your beautiful home where we enjoyed swimming, picnicking, gunfire, and the sweet aroma of charred human flesh. Ten out of ten! Would recommend!”
Could it happen here? Of course it could. MAGA doesn’t think it’s evil. Just like the Confederacy never thought it was evil. Quite the opposite. MAGA folks would “happily” live their common lives either ignorant of or indifferent to the evil of MAGA policy. They already have. They already do. Try confronting any MAGA rep on “kids in cages” and see if you get anything other than anger or denial in return.
The beauty of this film is the compete lack of emotional investment. The scenes are blah. The characters are hands off. The camera constantly narrates at a distance, all as if to say, “This is normal, humdrum, blasé.” But it isn’t. That’s the sinister part of the film. Overall, however, The Zone of Interest suffers from the same fate as Brokeback Mountain in that, on its face, the film is dull, boring, tiresome. This is day-to-day Nazism, which looks a great deal like normal. Hence, the film only means something depending on what you bring to the table. Without the audience, the film has the emotional range of a home movie. It’s hard to see a film with such deliberately subdued presentation become a stirring icon of Nazi atrocity despite the intentional juxtaposition of reality. This film does have a place – it belongs in classrooms where every child can see how Nazi families lived just like we do … as a reminder that we are not nearly as different as we pretend we are.
Here’s the family life of Rudolf Höss
In Auschwitz, this guy was the boss
He murdered by day
Then came home to play
Ignoring his sins which hung like an albatross
Rated PG-13, 105 Minutes
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Writer: Martin Amis, Jonathan Glazer
Genre: Downtime Nazis
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Historians
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Fascists
