In the movie Bent, we see various events take place that show victimization. We know a little history on the laws of homosexuals prior to the movie, by reading paragraph 175. It was a law in Germany being gay was against the law. This way of life was seen as “unnatural”. Max knowing he was a gay man knew he was already in a compromising situation going to the gay party at the nightclub. Anytime there were large gatherings of homosexuals, the risk of getting caught rose higher. Society was intolerable of this life and wanted nothing to do with anyone that was gay. The major event that in Bent, which begins the victimization is when the nightclub gets raided. Just as we have seen and heard in other documentaries of the Holocaust of the Soldiers making their way into people’s homes and forcing them out. This is exactly what had taken place in the club to the gays. When Max and Rudy, who is his lover are sent the concentration camp; he betrays his partner and exchanges his pink triangle (a symbol showing he was gay) to the yellow star (which meant Jew). At this time, the homosexuals where condemned to concentration camps as were the others, but they were beaten more due to their sexual preference. Rudy is completely caught off guard when Max switches his mark, he thought they were in a serious relationship and hand a much stronger bond than that. In the situation Rudy becomes the victim and Max is the victimizer. Up until this, we were all under the impression that Max and Rudy were both the victims. At one point or another we all are either victims or can then easily turn our defense mechanism on and become the victimizer. Max would not have ever probably turned on Rudy, but when the times got rough. He only cared about saving himself through the brutality of the Nazi soldiers. Later as the movie progresses, we see Max fall in love with another man he meets in the concentration camp. When he meets Horst, he sees that he is wearing his gay symbol with such great pride. Max quickly realizes that it is ok for him to be gay and have others know. They go through many events that finally make Max see that accepting his identity makes him a stronger man.
In Good, it is a play that shows us the victimizer, Halder, whom is a German soldier. Halder goes about his everyday work as a Nazi soldier as if it is any other job. He shows himself throughout the play to me as a guy just trying to complete his career. He makes checks on the various camps as he is told. As all the other Nazi soldiers they do not have hearts, they are on missions. They were asked to seek out horrific acts of violence. If you are a person that is going to work for a job that is going to kill others, due to their faith, how can you really be anything but a victimizer? Both the movie and book show the true sense of victims versus victimizers. In the book I feel we do get to see a lot more of these roles going both ways.
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ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree with what you say about the play Good in that it is pretty undeniable that Halder is the victimizer. He not only chooses a career that, as you point out, is targeted to kill individuals based on their faith, but in the process, he loses his own sense of self and the people that are important in his life. He turns against his wife, his best friend, and, in a way, himself. I like that you try to make Max out to be a victimizer simply because I had not thought about him in that way until reading your post. I thought he was a victim to his inability to face the realization that he was gay within the concentration camps because of the risk it would bring to his life. When you discuss Max switching his mark and catching Rudy off guard thus making him the victimizer I would agree and disagree. If we ask the question: "Who is he victimizing?" I think he is more so victimizing himself more than Rudy. Even if not, I definitely would argue that by the end of the novel he becomes a "transformed" victim. He is no longer afraid to proclaim he is gay within the camp, even though he ultimately commits suicide. Going along with your argument, one could probably argue that at some point Horst victimized Max in how he made him feel in terms of his love for Max that Max didn't want him to have, and how he tried to often make Max feel guilty for not wearing the pink triangle. I agree with you that both Bent and Good attempt to show the true character behind the victim/victimizer.
ReplyDeleteGudan: Comment on Baudot's comment on Raymond's blog on Bent and Good
ReplyDeleteLauren, I found your comment on this blog very interesting. Everyone (myself included) has been so focused on Max and Halder, that it was fresh to think of Horst as a victimizer. Like I’ve said in other comments, I don’t see Max as a very strong victimizer at least, especially in his treatment towards Horst. I see the argument, but I think Max is just trying to survive and, although he acts out of selfishness in many, many ways, he is trying to protect Horst. He bribes the guards in order to speak with Horst, so it is an executive decision and one made with his own desires in mind, but he also does it in order to save him from the dangers of the other work in the camp. Max honestly believed that moving rocks was a safer job, and therefore I can’t really blame him for wanting to have Horst work with him. Getting back to viewing Horst as a victimizer, Horst does not necessarily victimize Max physically, but he does hold power over him emotionally. Although Max may have already been harboring feelings for Horst, he was trying not to acknowledge them in order to protect the both of them. Remember, he tells Horst not to touch him and not to love him because he believes he is a horrible person and in order to keep the soldiers and other inmates from further attacking not only himself, but Horst also. So, in a way, Horst is definitely being a victimizer, not in the sense that the Nazis are victimizing people, but in the sense that love in general victimizes people, making their lives difficult and taking complete control of their feelings and senses without their consent, driving them mad.
Max denies his homosexuality until Horst is killed. That is important. Your comment that Max quickly realizes it is okay to be gay needs further support. Also, you need to develop your points about Good.
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