A traveling exhibit by the U.S Holocaust memorial exhibitWe are members of the human race. A race that is known throughout history as one that destroys their own in petty wars and jealous rages. A race where men victimize each other.
The film Bent shows the story of a particular man, Max, who begins his story being a victimizer. He sleeps with men and women left and right, playing with the emotions of especially his young dancer friend and roommate Rudy, who he seems to have some sort of a relationship with. Very quickly, as the film progresses, we see the horrible turn of events, where Max and Rudy are persecuted for being gay.
I believe that the point in which Max truly became a victim in the film is when he was forced to deny his friendship with Rudy and when he was forced to beat him. Here, the most basic animalistic tendency showed... the want and need of survival. Here, compassion was taken away and replaced with mind altering fear.
It was interesting to see the humanity of the victimizers (mainly the SS guards) in this film. It was interesting to see that while they still tortured these men and women, they were human too. They needed water to cool down and could fail a few times trying to light a cigarette. They played like children in the snow and drank and had fun. They did all these things with the victims in the concentration and work camps suffering and dying in front of them. They had already lost sight of the humanity of the people in front of them.
Unfortunately, you see Max revert to his ways as the victimizer as he forces Horst to join his work, a job that clearly drove Horst mad much sooner than it did Max, a job that Horst obviously never wanted to have. A job that forces Horst to fall in love with a man that can't love back. Even within the victimized, there are vicimizers.
Good, a play about a man who decided to join the Nazi party to advance his career, portrays the main character as the victimizer. What other title would joining the Nazi party give you, his advancements on euthanasia helping the party annihilate millions of lives? But my, aren't we quick to judge. Couldn't one argue that Halder, the protagonist, was a victim of a movement? Not really given much of an option?
I can definitely see where Max was the victim in Bent, however, he was not forced to do kill Rudy in my opinion. Yes, he had to choose life or death, more humane treatment versus inhumane treatment, however, taking a human life is just horrible. Do not get my wrong, I can see where he is coming from, and though I have never been in this situation, I am not sure if I could ever take a life in order to save my own. That is a pure act of cowardice. Max was under a lot of pressure, scared, and was having fight or flight, however, he became a victimizer which made him no better than the Nazis and other victimizers. One always has a choice. At times making the right one will be the toughest, like in this instance, but to take a human life, especially a boyfriend whom Max loved is just disgusting. He became a victimizer to save himself, that is how this epidemic spread. One man did not like the Jews, and then everyone else being scared for their lives followed suit creating a mass genocide. One person needs to stand up enabling others to. It is a Domino Effect and Max fed into it.
ReplyDeleteI like how you bring up him being a victim, when he is forced to beat his so called lover Rudy. I do see how he is a victim forced to be a victimizer. Can you really imagine having to beat your significant other or good friend, because of their life style? You are also the same life style, just covering it to prevent the brutally happening to you. Max really feels rock bottom here, I think. If you do not feel the ultimate guilt, then you have now heart at all. The SS soldiers where there to get a job done and that is what they did. As a victimizer you must take yourself out of the situation somehow to be able to treat people wrongly. As many other mention thought, not all of them were able to just do this. At several times their emotions and somewhat showing sympathy towards what they were seeing taking place daily. No matter what we try to analyze this as, it was wrong. The Nazi’s were twisted to be able to victimize as much and as to as many people they did.
ReplyDeleteGudan: Comment on Trujillo's Blog on Bent and other comments
ReplyDeleteAfter hearing people’s opinions on Max as a victimizer, I’ve started to feel a little sorry for him, more so than when I watched the movie. Of course, this may just be me being contrary or difficult subconsciously, but I feel a need to protect him in some kind of way. Yes, beating Rudy on the train was a sad thing to see and a horrible situation, but it was under extreme threat. I thought Max was a jerk in the beginning of the story, and if anything, he’s more the victimizer by ignoring his partner’s feelings and bringing a stranger into his bed. However, I just don’t see Max as the victimizer once he’s taken in by the Nazi soldiers. I understand how his denial of their relationship and the physical beating is a betrayal, but I still just can’t see Max as the wrongdoer in this situation. By being forced into treating Rudy in this way, Max himself is being victimized. I think Max’s physical actions do not override his underlying feelings. I suppose people can then point out perhaps differences in my understanding of a “victimizer,” and “victim,” but I see it as more of an emotional and mental crisis than anything else. So, I guess to summarize, I can see everybody else’s points, I just don’t agree one hundred percent.
"Good, a play about a man who decided to join the Nazi party to advance his career, portrays the main character as the victimizer. What other title would joining the Nazi party give you, his advancements on euthanasia helping the party annihilate millions of lives? But my, aren't we quick to judge. Couldn't one argue that Halder, the protagonist, was a victim of a movement? Not really given much of an option?"
ReplyDeleteI don't feel like that is the reason Halder joins the Nazi party. I feel as though he is sort of bullied into it so as to avoid suspicion.
I am very quick to judge when i feel that a character is being morally corrupt. Halder, I feel, purposefully tries to keep himself ignorant of hat is going on. When his Jewish friend begs him to help him get out of the country, his refusal is evidence of his selfish ignorance. He understands what is going on and that he would get into trouble if he tried to help Maurice and yet he still cannot see his way straight to help out his old war buddy.
Being human doesn't preclude being a victimizer. No one would deny that Nazis are human; the point is that their behavior was inhuman, and just because they had fun together or failed to light a cigarette doesn't make them victims. You need to do a good deal more with those issues in Good.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Halder is not necessarily forced into becoming an S.S. officer. I also think it is interesting to view Halder as both a victim and an oppresor. Halder has more of a choice than Max, but still becomes a victim of Nazi propaganda. Halder's situation with his elderly mother clearly gives him the ability to see the benefits of euthanasia for those whose quality of life has severely diminished; however, he never acknowledges the fact that his writings on the subject are being used for a purpose other than what he originally intended. We also see how, as his ties with the Nazi party deepen, his view of the world, Jews, and Nazi Germany shift. For example, in his conversation with a young student at the university he acknowledges how Hitler's persecution of Jews has benefited him. He is wealthier, and has more power than he ever did prior. In this way, we can see how Halder is both a victim (allowing himself to be "sucked" into the Nazi thought process, weak from his struggles with his mother and wife)and an oppressor (living in a home that belonged to a Jew, growing rich off the misfortunes of others).
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