Baudot- Week 2: Good/Bent

Max (the main character) at Dachau

As mentioned in our blog prompt for this week, the main dynamic that the reader or audience encounters in both the play, Good, and the film, Bent, is the victimizer/victim role that each of their main characters take on through the duration of the text/film. In Good, John Halder is a literary professor who examines the concept of compassionate and “worthwhile” euthanasia, which stems from his personal experiences with his ill mother. His book is recruited by the Nazis to serve as a form of basic principle of which to base the Nazi reasoning behind killing. The term “good” is repeated often throughout the play, and it seems to appear at times when things seem to be at their worst. We see Halder go from a husband and father who experiences problems at home who consults his close friend Maurice (a psychologist), to a man that chooses to commit adultery despite all that he has to lose and, by joining the Nazi Party, turns against his Jewish best friend (Maurice). Halder refers to his wife, his children, his lover, and himself as “good,” yet all of the things that he classifies as good seem to be the things that are creating the most unhappiness and distress in his life. He, conversely, views his recruitment; opportunity for leadership, and high regard from the Nazis as an opportunity that he cannot turn down. We are led to believe that this is an honorable offer, according to Halder, and joining the party will be a good choice for him. Halder turns on his best friend because he is Jewish, and Maurice notices this drastic change in Halder and condemns him for being influenced so heavily by his new political allegiance. Halder tells Maurice, “What has happened is we have confused subjective fantasy concepts like good, bad, right, wrong, human, inhuman as objective, immutable laws of the universe. Jews are bad, German are good. Like a stone falls to the ground, it is a moral act to get rid of the Jews (page 84).” This Nazi ideology that Halder convinces himself of, as a victimizer, is ironic due to the fact that earlier on in the play, Hitler and the Doctor discuss what constitutes “good” humanity, and that, repeatedly, Halder claims to believe that capitalism will resurface once the collapse of the Nazi campaign/takeover occurs. Overall, Good exposes the complexities behind human society and the impact that this new government potentially had on an individual’s morality and sense of self.

Bent contrasts, yet compliments, Good. Likewise, the role of the victimizer is turned into the victim, and the viewer watches as a love affair develops between two victims in particular: Max and Horst. Max is not only a victim as serving as capture by the Nazis, but also a victim to his unwillingness to accept his homosexuality outwardly. He refuses to wear the pink emblem on his coat shirt, which he claims at first is the smarter move because he will be treated better. But as the movie develops, and this better treatment is shown to be true, we see that his refusal is more just an unwillingness to accept that being gay is acceptable. As he falls more in love with Horst, and commits suicide over his loss, we see that Horst has taught him to be unafraid. Max’s sense of awareness is bettered because of Horst, and by the end of the film, he seems to have found his own, personal way of defeating the oppression and captivity of the Nazis by committing suicide. The movie mentions earlier on that the Nazis hated when the Jews killed themselves because it took away their power over them. Max has finally taken a claim over his personal life, which was robbed from him and Horst in captivity.

There is a moment between Anne and Halder in Good where Halder tells Anne, “We’ll be alright. We’ll help each other, won’t we? As long as we are together, I feel that. That’s the first time I’ve felt anything like that in my whole life. It doesn’t matter what happens around us as long as we have each other (page 39).” There are several scenes in Bent that this moment between Anne and Halder can be compared to between Max and Horst. They give each other the love they are no longer allowed to have by the Nazis while in captivity. They support each other, look out for one another, and Max, particularly, promises “not to let go” of Horst. He even reminds himself of this promise upon Horst’s death. In both Bent and Good, above all else, we see how Nazi Germany robbed its victims of their personal selves, regardless of whether or not this influence made them better or worse people because of it. 

A scene from another adaptation of Good capturing the differences/dynamic between Nazi Germany and Horst, representing the defense for homosexuality.