The Reader by David Hare, based on the novel The Reader by Bernard Schlink http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-reader-by-bernard-schlink.html winner of prestigious awards - 9 out of 10

 

The Reader by David Hare, based on the novel The Reader by Bernard Schlink http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-reader-by-bernard-schlink.html winner of prestigious awards

9 out of 10

 

 

Perhaps the most important theme of this narrative is World War II and in particular The Holocaust, looking at the role that Hanna Schmitz aka Kate Winslet playing her part in the motion picture (for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role) the guilt she has to face, for which she is taken to court, but also what we can say about the German people, how could they allow for such a calamity?

 

One answer could be found in the Milgram Experiment http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-reader-by-bernard-schlink.html in which participants were invited to use electricity to correct those who gave wrong answers to questions…the rule was they will hear someone respond to questions, and whenever there was a mistake, they will apply an electric shock to punish the failure, with increased voltage, as they progressed, to the point where they would hear the human complain, then whine and moan because of the pain inflicted…however, most of those in the research would continue.

This proves the Principle of Respect for Authority, as explained in the quintessential Influence http://realini.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-absolute-psychology-classic.html by Robert Cialdini, whereby we listen to what looks like authority, to the point where in studies, drivers in a car that waits at the traffic lights for the green would not use the horn if ahead they have a luxury model, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, and prompt the one ahead, if the brand does not exude prestige…hence, Germans have listened to Hitler and the other Nazi monsters because they obeyed they Principle of Influence

 

In documentaries about The Holocaust we can find the excuse that they did not know about it – they would be taken to see the catastrophe at the end of World War II in the extermination camps – but we may not believe it…one of the most important books that looks at the experience in these places that killed millions of Jews (also smaller numbers of gypsies and other humans) is Man’s Search for Meaning http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/mans-search-for-meaning-by-victor-frankl.html by Victor Frankl

One of the most illustrious psychologists, Victor Frankl, had been sent to these lands of death, with the caveat that he could have escaped, but because his family would not be spared, Victor Frankl decided to go and then he would share with the world part of his experience, showing that as long as there is a why, there might be a way, those who lost the sense of meaning, would die very soon, a sign would be that they would not keep their cigarettes, which were as valuable as currency in those gruesome places, perhaps even more…

 

Michael Berg shares the spotlight with Hanna Schmitz in the book and film based on the narrative, when he is fifteen, the woman is thirty six, after she helps him, they have an affair, and then she disappears, only to resurface in court, years later, when she is accused for her role in the deaths of prisoners in concentration camps…the fact that she is illiterate appears to be seen as some attenuating circumstance.

There was criticism of this attitude, for how could one excuse any participant in that horrible Armageddon…indeed, the Principle of Respect for Authority can only go this far, we could factor in The Principle of Social Proof or Conformity, from the same Influence http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/05/influence-by-robert-cialdini.html there are situations when we look for the others to see what we could or should do, and go along with ‘when in Rome, do what the Romans do’

 

Some terrible events are explained in part by the coupling of these two principles, for instance the mass suicide that has taken place decades ago in Guyana, but surely it was at play recently in Kenya, where they have found dozens of bodies of dead humans that have starved themselves to death, respecting the Authority of a cult leader, if people can go as far in taking these principles to work, then they could do other things – in another example from the book, a murder has been committed in New York, with more than thirty witnesses, none of them acting in any way, because the others have not done anything…

The guilt of the Nazis and their collaborators is so clear, there is no point in discussing that, there could be some reason to look into the case of Hanna Schimtz, as she was illiterate – the title of the book and the film could point to her, because eventually, she learns to read and write, but it also covers Michael Berg, who reads to her, then he records tapes with what we call today audiobooks…you could find a large collection free at https://librivox.org/ the Gutenberg Project site and other places, for books that are older than seventy years and thus have had their copyright limit expire

 

Hanna Schmitz is so ashamed to admit to this shortcoming that she does not use this clear evidence at the trial, because she could not read or write, she could not have been the one in control, as her colleagues testified, the latter would receive only four years sentence, just as Hanna gets twenty, when she could have evaded that, with the embarrassing admission that she simply could not read or write in front of such a large audience

What is unacceptable for many in the East is the fact that communism has received a very different from fascism and Nazism, albeit the former has been much deadlier (only in China, I think Mao killed more than Hitler and Mussolini combined) with Stalin and the other commies indulging in famine, exterminations, and communism appears to be accepted somehow, China is a communist state to this day, and leaders of democracies play the game with them – let us just mention Lula, who seems to be better that that catastrophic Bolsanaro, but still a ghoul, he said Zelensky is to be blamed for the invasion of his country and other such enormities… now for  a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html