The Great Dictator

 The great Dictator a film by Charlie Chaplin whose role was a barber, it is a movie that dwells more on the Nazis and Hitler.  The humor in the movie I think is appropriate because it helped to release some tensions and emotion breakdown that people might have when watching this film. It is a sad thing to see the pain and suffering they went through during the world war, so humor in the film keeps the balance. In the first few minutes when he was asked to fire the bum which he did by pulling down the rope and falling down after that, I see that to be too funny, it was time for war and seriousness not time for jokes but as I said though people were being killed, yet still we had something to laugh on.

 And also when he gave his first speech to the people coming down off the stairs he fell down and was putting the blame on one of the soldier who was rather trying to help him, tell how they treated people even when they were not wrong, he however had to wipe his hands off after holding the baby which shows disrespect for the people.

Though the ending was not as comical as it stated but it was ok for a film of that nature and how serious the incident of the war was like. This helps to bring to light what the story was portraying about the seriousness of the issues.

My reaction to this film however, considering the scenes,  although was a serious one I think the humor in it was just perfect and appropriate for portraying the Nazis and how they behaved.

PHOTOGRAPHS’ THAT HAVE STRONG EXIBITION VALUE

Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother, Florence Owens Thompson, 1936

Dorothea Lange took this photograph in 1936, while she employed by the federal Farm Security Administration (FSA) to document migratory farm laborers escaping dustbowl conditions during the Great Depression. In Nipomo, California, Lange came across Florence Owens Thompson and her children in a camp. She was hungry and a desperate mother who feed on frozen vegetables and wild birds. Dorothea took. One photograph she took from that day, now known as Migrant Mother, was widely circulated to magazines and newspapers at the time and became a symbol of the plight of migrant farm workers during the Great Depression.”

This piece has a strong exhibition value because after this photograph was taken, t was widely spread in news papers and magazines for people to see and know what was going on then. Hence this piece was presented publicly that’s what bring its exhibition value.

 

 

Stanley Forman, Fire Escape Collapse, 1975

Diana Bryant and Tiare Jones fall from the collapsing fire escape and this picture was taken by Stanley Forman, in 1975. After this picture was taken it was wide spread all over the world and Stanley was recognized for his good works.

What makes to have a strong exhibition value if the fact that it was publicly exhibited and the picture won a lot of public attention.

Source List

http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/dorothea-lange-migrant-mother-nipomo-california-1936

 

 

"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"

“Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence (p.220).”

INTERPRETATION OF PASSAGE

In this passage, Walter was trying to explain to us that no matter how we go about things in life nothing or nobody comes out to be too perfect. Something is always lacking in one way or the other, it could be the time or space. In the reproduction of an art work, since it was already done and they are trying to get a new copy of it, something will always be lacking because it is not the original copy of the work. Every work of art has its own uniqueness and each time a reproduction is done there is always something lacking when going about it. We can never get it to look like the original copy because it is not our own painting or work.

I chose this passage because I believe that in life nothing can be perfect and as humans we have to accept that as a challenge but yet try to do our best to bring out the best of the best off in us. In as much as we try also to copy an already produced work of someone, its not going to be that aesy to get it as it was becuase each and everyone has a unique way they do their things.

 

 

                       AN ART THAT PORTRAYS PAIN

 

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Triumph of Death, 1562

This painting by Pieter shows the aftermath of war and what it brings to the people. We can see piles of dead bodies on the ground and the burns from the flames of the fire. Black smokes all over the place causing contamination of the air. All these troubles are the effect of war and the lack of peace. People have to go through this pain because they failed to live in peace with their neighbors. This is a great pain for the people and their families that is if they have anyone left after this horrible incident.

This painting should portray to people that peace is a very important toll that every country has to strive to maintain. We can see the disappointment and pain that they went through even before reaching their death. No matter how strong we believe we can be we have to live in peace for the good of all. War can cause hunger, pain and above all death. Hence we really need to live in peace.

 

 

JUNGER ON PAIN

“We find ourselves in a situation where we are still capable of grasping what is lost; we can still sense the destruction of values and how the world is becoming more shallow and superficial. New generations are growing up far removed from all our inherited traditions, and it is an amazing feeling to see these children many of whom will live to experience the year 2000. By then, the last remnants of the modern, i.e., Copernican, age will most likely have disappeared.”

INTERPRETATION OF PASSAGE

Junger was trying to explain to us the situation we had to go through in times of pain and sorrow. Even at the time we believe all is lost we still have the will to make things right and turn them around. He also talked about the new generation and how they seem lost when it comes to our traditional heritage. Every country has a tradition they follow of which they learnt from their ancestors. But to him today must of these traditions are not being practiced because they have long been lost.

I chose this passage because; I felt the truth in his massage, most of our richly blessed traditions is nowhere to be found today. And most of these traditions help to shape us morally. The society has made it to look like these traditions are bad and are colloquial to adhere to if you live in a modern world but it is the best think that we could ever think of having. There are a lot of indecent behaviors today in our societies, this is not just people are mad it’s also because we do not have a strong moral up bring that our forefathers use to have before we were born. And this explains why the society is going the way it is now. This makes it a pain and a pity for this generation, rather they embrace and practice the modern way of life wholeheartedly and with confidence.

COMPARISON OF DOCUMENTRY STYLE FILMS TO EARLIER FICTIONAL NARRATIVE FILMS

The major difference between the films we have watched are the documentary films shows more scenes of the pains that people went through and how they were maltreated and killed as if there were not humans at all. Whiles the fictional films we saw were basically on what Germans had to deal with that lead to lot problems like the dada and the Nazism.

Night and fog, is a French film produced in 1955 and the script was written by Jean Cayrol a concentration camp survivor. It shows more scenes of the Holocaust, it shows the cruelty that humans had to go through in the hands of the Nazis. Their living conditions was very bad, they had to go to detention camps where people were killed they never saw day nor night it was always darkness for them. This proves how inhuman they could be to have being treating people like that. As noted it is a very disturbing film and a wicked treatment at that.

Triumph of the will is a film that showed scenes of encouragement to the people of Germany so they will not feel the after mart of the world war so as to lower their spirits. But rather it was made to encourage them that even after everything they could still make it again and even come out as the best of the best.

The film “The blue angle talks more the attitudes and the sexual desires of the people. It was trying to bring into light the poor moral aspects of the people. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari shows scenes of disorder in societies and in what bad state the country was. The film “M”, displayed more scenes of murder which in effect is not in a normal place where children were kidnapped and killed and this is something that is really prevailing in our communities today.

Comparing the two, the first movies that we saw mostly explained to us some of the societal changes and the things that are actually happening today in our world. But the later, are scenes of the real things that was going on or happened in the Germany long ago and was documented. These acts were very inhumane and we pray we do not go back to a world like this again.

 

HITLERS FINAL SPEECH

“At one time I believed that perhaps this battle against Marxism could be carried on with the help of the government. In January, 1923, I learned that that was just not possible. The hypothesis for the victory of Marxism is not that Germany must be free, but rather Germany will only be free when Marxism is broken. At that time I did not dream that our movement would become great and cover Germany like a flood.”

INTERPRETATION OF HITLERS PASSAGE

 From the above quote from Hitler’s passage, we can tell that he was in the believe that, the government will help in the to fight against the Marxism, and he was very disappointed to know that, the government is in no way having his kind of thoughts and the time to go battle against the Marxism. He also believed that the only way Germany will be free is when the Marxism is broken. He was however overwhelmed to realize that his movement became so great that it took over all of Germany. He however has a strong believe that he will one day make Germany to be a place he wants it to be like.

 

 

SIMILLARITIES AND DIFFERENCIES BETWEEN THE GERMAN POLITICAL PLATFORMS

The communist party supported the abolition of private property, the establishment of land reform programs, so that the government can take over the land and distribute it for the good of all the people involved or all the people in the country. They were also, in support of Government ownership of all industrial productive forces so that they can be run for the benefit of the people rather than the capitalists. However, they were also committed to the overthrow of the presently existing, oppressive Republic and all of its economic and social institutions.

 In contrast, the Nazis platform was far different from that of the communist, they believed that only citizens can hold public office, and there should not be any immigration of non-Germans into their country that’s non-Germans can live in the country but only as foreigners’. This means that they do not enjoy a lot of public rights and benefits. And they further went ahead to say that any news paper that will be read and printed, should be printed in Germany and must be in German language only. They also thought that it will be difficult for them to provide food for the whole population therefore all alien must be sent out of the country.

The social democratic party's platform however, were in favor of creating more jobs for all they plan to also provide unemployment compensation for up to six months and also cut down on government expenditures to lower taxes. And also they believed in the right of those who disagree with the party to speak and write on those issues without interference. And they were also willing to honor all of Germany’s obligations, political and financial, in order that Germany’s honor and respect will not be decreased in the eyes of the world.

 The social democratic party's platform and the communist party platform are almost similar in the sense that they were not too harsh on the people who were considered non-Germans as was in the case of the Nazis platform. They gave everybody the chance to enjoy and take part in whatever was in the country and made them benefit in the good of the country. Unlike the Nazis they were not in support of allowing non-citizens stay because they believed they could not feed them and had no food in reserve for foreigners. And the only people who can be called citizens must be of German blood.

 

 

 

STATE FORMATION AS ORGANIZED CRIME

Charles Tilly draws a similarity between organized crimes with practices of “protection” and state making. He further made a direct link between war making and state making; he further argued that states do organized crimes in a larger scale. He however went ahead to explain how power holders’ persiut war no matter what it would take them. They tend to extract resources from the people they control due to the power they had over them. These power holders even go further to borrow money just to make this war a success.  

He also notes how governments always had a collection of aggressive groups to who are always ready to stand in for wars when it was necessary. Bandits became troops; pirates became sailors. As soon as their services are no longer needed, these groups are then considered illegal which makes it look like they were being used for these power hungry leaders. The goal of power holders was to hold on to their turf—and, if need be, expand it. He also states that, the building up of war-making capacity likewise increased the capacity to extract. He says that, the very activity of extraction, if successful, entailed the elimination, neutralization, or cooptation of the great lord’s local rivals; thus, it led to state making

Weber on the other hand rationalization of the state, he believes that, state as "a compulsory association which organizes domination. He explains that the state has gained control over the use of force. This is mostly to achieve their desires which are always selfish. He believed that though violence is necessary for a state, it does not make it develop. Rather what he thought would make the state develop and what would make an individual develop is to acquire the necessary technical and administrative skill in order to run the machines and run the corporation. He also explains that, states had some functions they fulfill, which include: the protection of personal safety and order, the protection of rights, the enactment of law and the armed protection against outside forces.

How Charles Tilly’s and Weber’s rationalization relates, is that they both looked at how to make a state and what is needed for that to be done. Tilly believes in those power holders will do whatever it takes to keep and protect their power by using people who are always ready to be used for such activity. Weber also thinks that violence is not needed for development rather an individual needs to acquire skills for development for him and the nation.  However at the end they both believe that, these governments or power holders, make all the decisions they make for their own benefits and to satisfy their selfish interest.

 

POLITICS AS A VOCCATION

“The honor of the civil servant is vested in his ability to execute conscientiously the order of the superior authorities, exactly as if the order agreed with his own conviction. This holds even if the order appears wrong to him and if, despite the civil servant’s remonstrances, the authority insists on the order. Without this moral discipline and self-denial, in the highest sense, the whole apparatus would fall to pieces. The honor of the political leader, of the leading statesman, however, lies precisely in an exclusive personal responsibility for what he does, a responsibility he cannot and must not reject or transfer. It is in the nature of officials of high moral standing to be poor politicians, and above all, in the political sense of the word, to be irresponsible politicians (p. 95).”

INTERPRETATION

This quote from the passage is explaining to us how the civil servants served their masters or those in command without question their authority. Whatever it is they were ask to do they did it diligently and with honor and respect. Max Weber in this passage, related to their moral instincts in conducting their duties to their superiors. No matter how bad the duties to be performed are, they still did it because they wanted to satisfy the needs of their masters. Politicians’ never care of what they do, if it is going to let them gain more power and control, then it is ok and such duties must be executed at the expense of other people. 

I chose this quote because, looking at our political world today, most of these things are happening where politicians use the power they have to boss and control the civilians around and have them do things for them that is against their moral conscience. These are seen a lot where people are ordered to steal and even kill because they need to maintain their position and have more power. Attitudes of this nature has come to stay and this is destroying our political system because it is hard for people who are in power today to serve the country for why they were appointed, rather they come in to fulfill their selfish interest at the expense of their followers.

The Weimar Republic

Article 48

“Which gives the president the power to suspend civil liberties in times of crisis. This was the legal pretext the Nazis used to turn Germany into a dictatorship.”

INTERPRETATION OF PASSAGE 

The article is talking about the power that the presidents were given which made them abuse the beauty of democracy. Because they had such powers to rule and be in control of the nations finance, war and education, and can serve more than the normal four term period, the president used this as an advantage to abuse the rights of the people. They however, changed Germany into a dictatorship rather than a peaceful and a democratic country.

“Suspension of civil liberties is one form of emergency powers executed by the government when its abilities to counteract the crisis are insufficient.”

http://superbessay.com/samples/Consideration/Suspending-Civil-Liberties.html

Civil liberties are the basic rights and freedoms that give a person a precise right. Some of these rights are freedom of expression, right to life, right to vote and your right to privacy.  But due t the powers they had the Nazis used it as an advantage and denied the people of all this civil rights that helps an individual to live a complete life.

IMPORTANCE

Why I think this rights are important, is that, to every human, we need basic things in life no one will deny. Hence if people are denied these fundamental rights I mentioned above in my explanation, it makes life a living hell.  Hence I am of the view that civil rights are very important for the sustainability of an individual.

Article 146

“Public schooling has to be organized organically. Middle and high schools are based on an elementary school common for everybody. For the organization of the school system the variety of occupations, for the acceptance of a child into a school his talent and inclination, but not the economic and social position nor the religious confession of his parents is authoritative. Within the communities, at the request of Erziehungsberechtigten (legal guardian), Volksschulen (primary school) of their confession or world outlook have to be established, if this does not obstruct the regular operation of the school. The wish of those Erziehungsberechtigter has, when possible, to be considered. Further details are specified by state legislation, according to principles laid down in a Reich law.Reich, states and communities have to provide funds to allow poor children access to middle and high schools, to grant financial aid to parents, whose children are regarded, qualified for the education on middle and high schools, until their education is ended.”

 

INTERPRETATION OF PASSAGE

According to the passage, every child of a school going age should have the opportunity to attend school. Acceptance of a child into a school should not be based on the social class of the individual’s family, religion or ethical background mostly the child talent and cleverness should be taken into consideration. The middle school and high schools should be well organized so it benefits the children as they attend them.

IMPORTANCE

I believe this is an important article in the passage because education is the key to success in life and it also helps to shape an individual’s life in a positive way. Education can help a person achieve a lot of success in life jobs to help increase the standard of living of the person who got education.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LUXEMBURG PASSAGE

“From dead machines assigned their place in production by capital, the proletarian masses must learn to transform themselves into the free and independent directors of this process. They have to acquire the feeling of responsibility proper to active members of the collectivity which alone possesses ownership of all social wealth. They have to develop industriousness without the capitalist whip, the highest productivity without slavedrivers, discipline without the yoke, order without authority. The highest idealism in the interest of the collectivity, the strictest self-discipline, the truest public spirit of the masses are the moral foundations of socialist society, just as stupidity, egotism, and corruptions are the moral foundations of capitalist society.”

 

People need to have a change of behavior and a mind set in order for them to be able to be prosperous in life. For a person to be independent, the need to put in more effort now, though it is very hard to work on that but the end of it pays a lot. For us to be self emancipated and control over our lives, we need to put in the efforts now. Humans need to be able to take charge of their lives and do things without being controlled by anybody, have self discipline without being forced to do so and also be able to do their best where ever they find themselves this way they can be more productive in all areas.

The passage I chose is a way to encourage people to step up on their game in life, a way to bring them to the truth of life and how man can make in life is only by sacrificing and giving off their best to achieve the best of best in life. Nobody was born not to know how to do things it’s a matter of giving yourself the chance and being ready to learn and sacrifice to get what you need in life.

 

 

The author argued for success for movies of this nature because even today most movies follow trends of murder showing what was actually been showed in the ancient times. The films showed fear, horror and events that are more naturally to be true.

 M; it was directed by Fritz Lang, it was released in 1931. It entails the investigation of the killing of a young child that brought a lot of chaos to the people of the country.

The two films I chose are,

The first Movie is, “Who saw her Die”

This movie shows of killings where children were being kidnapped and forced to follow the killer. This scene is similar to that which we saw in M where child killing was rampant in the society that left the people in fear and terror.

The second “The nightmare on Elms street”

The night mare on Elms street, it was directed by Wes Cravens and was released in 1984.It was a success. This movie has a lot of sexual motives with the actors. But in both movies that are M and The nightmare on Elms street, they have scenes that show or depict murder actions and the need to find the real cause.

 

Essay

Kracauer's central thesis, of films produced in the pre-Nazi period up to 1933 disclose a desire for an authoritarian leader is most evident looking at the movie industries of today. Looking at the three films we watched that is, “The blue angel”, M and   The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

In the blue angel which has a depiction of an authoritarian leader, we could see how Professor Rath was captured by the love of Lola that made him stress up his life. He lived been jealous of the men she was having affairs with. His life was destroyed because of his illicit affair with her. This shows how law in morals they were.

 In the movie “M”, we saw how children were been killed, how they investigated to find the culprit to all the killings. It helps to bring to light criminals and killers who lived among people and still have such people in our mist. We could see terror and pain in the people for what was happening in their country.

In Dr. Caligari’s, where we had a lot of insane people who were doing things that were not right, We saw when Alan ask of his fortune and was told he will die at dawn. Truly he dies at at dawn and this brought about a lot of suspicion in the minds of the people.

All this movies help to portray the reality in our societies and how thing were going wrong and was very hard for people to have control over that. He is right in his ideas of the German economy and how all this movies say something about them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PARAGRAPH 175 SUMMARIZED

The paragraph is all about the laws that prohibits and is strictly against the idea of men having affairs with men.  Due to the severity of the offence, they had a new law, the NSDAP amended the Paragraph 175 that specifies what punishments are given if anyone was found a victim of that crime. Some of the punishments they came up with are imprisonment of three months or ten years depending on the severity of your offence and the loss of civil right might also be imposed.

Most people around the world are against homosexuality, and the idea that humans having affairs with animals are just out of it. They do not give a second look to people like that. It is not like today that some part of the world actually legalizes homosexuality.

How this relates to the lecture,

The film, The Blue Angel, has some underlined way of life for the people back then. The lecture made it clear on how the professor went ahead to have an affair with Lola which was very inappropriate that the students in the class had to draw funny pictures of him. When he saw the picture he was very upset and when watching the movie you could tell that he vented that anger on the students by the way his first lecture was. Him and Lola are considered to have problems based on their sexual desires , it can further be seen in the kind of life she even lead in the movie when she was sleeping around with men and this spited the professor a lot to make him miserable. In her actual life she is seen to be a bi-sexual which was a crime to me those. She had affairs with a lot of people including women. And same sex relationship is what paragraph 175 is seriously against.

CABARET SONGS INTERPRETATION

By Inge Spiegel

Night Ghost (Nachtgespenst)

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

When the housewife chains the hallway door at night, I’m standing right outside.

Without hurry, I file the chain away, and there I am.

As the daughter is putting on her nightgown, I enter her room.

I feel sorry for her.

I’m the night ghost, your sweet night ghost,

I wake you up each time you call me your darling.

Don’t be so scared, It's only me waking you.

And after you have been uncovered,

you will get tucked in again.

When I climb through the window,

I have no interest in taking your jewels,

Only your ivory skin appeals to me.

As a night ghost I don’t take any shiny jewels;

only enough for the return fare.

GERMAN TRANSLATION

Nachtgespenst

Legt die Hausfrau nachts die Kette hoch, im Korridor, steh ich davor.

Mit der Feile ohne Eile, keck, feil ich se weg. Da liegt der Dreck.

Waehrend sich die Tochter gerade kleid, tret ich bei ihr ein, sie tut mir leid.

Ich bin das Nachtgespenst, dein suesses Nachtgespenst.

Ich weck dich, wenn du pennst, sooft wie’s du mich Liebling nennst.

Sei bloss nicht so erschreckt, du wirst nur aufgeweckt.

Und wenn du aufgedeckt, dann wirst du wieder zugedeckt.

Steig ich durchs Fenster ein, reizt micht kein Edelstein.

Nein, nur dein Elfenbein reizt mich allein.

Ich nehm als Nachtgespenst kein Steuckchen mit, was glaenzt.

Ich brauch wirklich nur das Fahrtgeld retour.

This lyric explains how a mother takes care of her family its showing the love of women over her household. In the song where it says “after you have been uncovered you get tucked in again”. It shows how mothers spend time day and night to make sure everything is going on well in their home. The chains in the song that the housewife has in her hands are not meant to harm anybody but a sign to show protection. Nobody comes in and no one goes out at night. This way she is sure she has everything covered.

I chose this piece because it explains and shows the extent of unconditional love that women have for their husbands and children. After listening to this song I remembered a literature book I read in school entitled “Edufa” back home, it talks more on how women sacrifice for the good of the people they love especially their men. As a ghost at night she is always there to protect her loved once no matter what the situation is and are always ready to give up their lives even if the need be.

“Throw out the Men” By Friedrich Hollaender

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

The battle for emancipation's been raging since history began
Yes, feminists of every nation want to chuck off the chains made by man
Hula girls and housemaids and wives in Maribou
hear all our voices thunder in protest
Anything that men do women can do too
and more that that we women do it best

 GERMAN TRANSILATION

Raus mit den Männern!
(für Claire Waldoff)
Es geht durch die ganze Historie
ein Ruf nach Emanzipation
vom Menschen bis zur Infusorie
überall will das Weib auf den Thron.
Vin Hawai-Neger bis zur Berliner Range
braust ein Ruf wie Donnerhall daher:
Was die Männer können, können wir schon lange
und vielleicht ’ne ganze Ecke mehr.

In the lyrics women are trying to fight for their right and they fell that there is too many discrimination where men believe to be more superior to women in everything they do. But today women believe that anything a man can do women can do it better and of course even better. Women need to be freed from all disrespect and the misconception of superiority.

I chose this song because it brings out the truth of how people think of women most especially men all over. It helps to bring the awareness and making changes to correct that misconception. Women are always left behind in every aspect of life. In Africa it is worse women suffer to something find the meal to put on the table for their family, after going to the market to sell they still have to come back home to meet their lazy husbands and still cook for them to eat.

For a long time now women have been treated with less respect by men, even when it comes to positions women are not elected for any because they have a strong believe that they can’t function effectively. Most jobs pay females lesser than me why they do that? I do not understand. Most African countries they believed that a woman’s office is in the kitchen. I believe it is time so many thing that is related to women change. Women are the nation we can never do without them

FRANKFURT SCHOOL

“Films, radio and magazines make up a system which is uniform as a whole and in every part. Even the aesthetic activities of political opposites are one in their enthusiastic obedience to the rhythm of the iron system. The decorative industrial management buildings and exhibition centers in authoritarian countries are much the same as anywhere else.” Max Horkheimer.

Max Horkheimer was a German philosopher and social scientist; director of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research from 1930 to1958; he was born on 1895 and died in 1973. He was a close associate of Theodore Adorno, who mixed Marxism with influences as diverse as Schopenhauer, Dilthey, Nietzsche and Freud.

Futher, Horkheimer co-authored Dialectic of Enlightenment with Adorno while in the US during the 1940s, and his 1947 Critique of Instrumental Reason is also widely read. In 1949, Horkheimer returned to Frankfurt and re-established the Institute, and retired to Switzerland in 1958.
Horkheimer from his quote, you can tell that he was against the way the media like the radio, TV stations and magazines were making things look like what it wasn’t. They brained washed people into believing in things that were not really true and he was against it. Today media makes people do a lot of things that are not right because they copy blinded. This is due to the attractiveness of the way their advertisements are.

In some parts of Africa a lot of commercials are done on TV for certain products, and at the end of the commercial they tell you it’s harmful to the body. But because of how people smoke it so attractively in the Adds, people watch them and get so interested in trying it. The question now is, if you know is harmful to the body why advertise it then? This is one of the things that make the mass media a good “servant and a bad master” at the same.

 

When we come to our political world today, the mass media is used as an agent to deliver false information to the people. They talk about things that are not done but say it is done and also use it as a means to present to people about things that they plan to do and never happen. That is why Horkheimer was displeased about the situation and said in his quote “The decorative industrial management buildings and exhibition centers in authoritarian countries are much the same as anywhere else.” Their attitude does not change it is all the same everywhere.

I strongly agree with his views about the media, more especially on the impacts it has on people of today’s generation. media has a strong influence especially the youth, and this leads them to do the things that they copied blindly on the media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SIDDHARTHA

“I'm not kidding. I'm telling you what I've found. Knowledge can be conveyed, but not wisdom. It can be found, it can be lived, it is possible to be carried by it, miracles can be performed with it, but it cannot be expressed in words and taught. This was what I, even as a young man, sometimes suspected, what has driven me away from the teachers. I have found a thought, Govinda, which you'll again regard as a joke or foolishness, but which is my best thought. It says: The opposite of every truth is just as true! That's like this: any truth can only be expressed and put into words when it is one-sided. Everything is one-sided which can be thought with thoughts and said with words, it's all one-sided, all just one half, all lacks completeness, roundness, oneness. When the exalted Gotama spoke in his teachings of the world, he had to divide it into Sansara and Nirvana, into deception and truth, into suffering and salvation. It cannot be done differently; there is no other way for him who wants to teach. But the world itself, what exists around us and inside of us, is never one-sided. A person or an act is never entirely Sansara or entirely Nirvana, a person is never entirely holy or entirely sinful. It does really seem like this, because we are subject to deception, as if time was something real. Time is not real, Govinda, I have experienced this often and often again. And if time is not real, then the gap which seems to be between the world and the eternity, between suffering and blissfulness, between evil and good, is also a deception.”

 

In the passage, Siddhartha was trying to explain how knowledge is acquired and what a person can use the knowledge acquired for things that are miraculously important. Siddhartha believed that knowledge can be conveyed from one form to the other. When a person is educated they get so enlightened in their thoughts, behavior and way of life. Siddhartha as well did not understand why knowledge could not be expressed in words. This created a very big doubt in his mind to the extent of him having his own suspicions as a young man growing up. He therefore compared knowledge to wisdom, to Siddhartha, as knowledge can be conveyed wisdom cannot. Wisdom to Siddhartha was like a gift that a person gets.  

I chose this passage because I believe in education and the gaining of knowledge. Siddhartha gives a clear sense as to what education can do for an individual when it is acquired. Knowledge they always say is power, it helps to shape an individual in a very positive way, because when knowledge is acquired it can be transferred to do other things. I therefore attest to the fact that knowledge can take you go places and do things you never dreamed of, that is why Siddhartha wanted to understand the mystery behind it.

 

RAOUL HAUSMANN

Raoul Hausmann (July 12, 1886 – February 1, 1971) was an Austrian artist and writer. One of the key figures in Berlin Dada, his experimental photographic collages, sound poetry and institutional critiques would have a profound influence on the European Avant-Garde in the aftermath of World War I. Raoul Hausmann was born in Vienna but moved to Berlin with his parents at the age of 14, in 1901.His earliest art training was from his father, a professional conservator and painter. He met Johannes Baader, an eccentric architect and another future member of Dada, in 1905. At around the same time he met Elfride Schaeffer, a violinist, whom he married in 1908, a year after the birth of their daughter, Vera. That same year Hausmann enrolled at a private Art School in Berlin, where he remained until 1911. His is an artist and writer associated with the Dada movement in Berlin.

The International Dada Archive has extensive holdings of works by and about Hausmann. The Archive has microfilmed the Hausmann papers in Limoges. Other microfilmed collections with substantial material by or about Hausmann are the Hannah-Hsch-Nachlass at the Berlinische Galerie, the Schwitters-Archiv at the Stadtbibliothek Hannover and the Michael Erlhoff Collection in Hanover.

 

“Dada conquerors” Raoul Hausmann 1920

This painting shows a number of people who are talking and planning of a way of action. Men talking to each other, or they standing and thinking alone, I think Haussmann is trying to talk about aspect of his personal life as someone who studied anatomy, from the picture or piece of the human brain and also bring the dada culture in practice looking at the world map with the dada culture in it.

GEORGE GROSZ

George Grosz was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of a pub owner. His parents were devoutly Lutheran. Grosz grew up in the Pomeranian town, where his mother became the keeper of the local Hussar's Officers' mess after his father died in 1901. At the urging of his cousin, the young Grosz began attending a weekly drawing class taught by a local painter named Grot. Grosz developed his skills further by drawing meticulous copies of the drinking scenes of Eduard von Grützner, and by drawing imaginary battle scenes. From 1909–1911, he studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. He subsequently studied at the Berlin College of Arts and Crafts under Emil Orrick.

In November 1914 Grosz volunteered for military service, in the hope that by thus preempting conscription he would avoid being sent to the front. He was given a discharge after hospitalization for sinusitis in 1915. In 1916 he changed the spelling of his name to George Grosz as a protest against German nationalism and out of a romantic enthusiasm for America that originated in his early reading of the books of James Fenimore Cooper, Bret Harte and Karl May, and which he retained for the rest of his life. (His artist friend and collaborator Helmut Herzfeld changed his name to John Heartfield at the same time.) In January 1917 he was drafted for service, but in May he was discharged as permanently unfit.

"People," George Grosz, 1919

 “People” George Grosz, 1919

In this piece we can see people going about their way of life and how busy they day can be for everybobdy. People with different form of carrer , looks like they are going to work. Looking at the man in his uniform and the others dressed in a profersional maner. I think George in this piece is telling us how life was and how the people went about it.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Hausmann

 http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/dada/dadas/hausmann