The lady in question. 
Now, maybe I've just been conditioned by years of watching indiana jones, but this poster just gives me the creeps.
Posted on 03/08/2004 6:37:58 PM PST by Fun Bob
Hollywood honors a Nazi
Posted: March 8, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
I waited a week to write this.
I waited intentionally to see if there would be any apology, any second-guessing, any mea culpa from Hollywood.
Nope.
A full week after the Academy Awards show that honored entertainment industry figures who died in 2003, including Adolf Hitler's filmmaker-propagandist Leni Riefenstahl, no one has expressed regrets or remorse to the American people or to the world's Jews.
Incredible. Especially so since so many in Hollywood have spent the last eight months obsessing over non-existent anti-Semitism in this year's biggest blockbuster movie, Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."
In case you missed it, in a segment of the Oscars extravaganza last weekend, the Academy offered up its annual memorial to those entertainment industry figures who died last year. The list included Riefenstahl, Hitler's favorite filmmaker – the one who produced all of his epic propaganda works.
This is one on which I agree with Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League. Though I must point out that his protests of this obvious misjudgment have been far more muted than his conniptions over Mel Gibson.
Riefenstahl was Hitler's hand-picked filmmaker, and she played a leading role in making propaganda for the most evil regime in human history. Imagine giving tribute to her along legitimate artists such as Gregory Peck and Elia Kazan. It does an injustice to every other artist named.
Riefenstahl, who died last September in Munich at the age of 101, was personally chosen by Hitler to direct films glorifying the Nazis, such as "Triumph of the Will." Riefenstahl even used Gypsy prisoners from German concentration camps as extras in one of her films. Although Riefenstahl later claimed she did not support the Nazis, when Hitler conquered Paris in 1940, she sent him a telegram declaring: "Your deeds exceed the power of human imagination. They are without equal in the history of mankind. How can we (the German people) ever thank you?" She produced Nazi documentaries during the 1930s and never apologized for her association with Hitler, claiming she didn't know about the mass murders.
Yet, far from rethinking the decision, some top Academy officials have rationalized the inclusion of Riefenstahl.
"She had a greatness to her and she had amazing longevity," said Sid Gannis, a Hollywood producer and Academy vice president. "There was no special debate whatsoever in the decision to include her on the list, and I personally agree with it."
"Yes, Hitler was evil, but I think it was proper to have her name there," Elton John said. "She was a great filmmaker, and as an artist myself, I think she deserved to be there."
Hitler was evil, but ...
Does that "but" bother you as much as it bothers me?
I don't know about you, but I think I'll be withholding my wedding present from Elton and his boy toy.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer said: "I don't have a problem with it. She was a genius, and her movies were innovative and still copied today. ... When I was making commercials years ago, I remember one where the director stole directly from 'Triumph of the Will.'"
Academy board member Tom Hanks, who said his role "is to crack wise at the meetings and make people laugh," declined to comment either way on the decision to memorialize Riefenstahl.
This is the mentality that rules Hollywood. It's corrupt. It's morally bankrupt. It's diseased. It's mentally ill.
And these are the folks who are entertaining our children, setting the cultural agenda for the nation, passing judgment on America's values, criticizing the war to liberate Iraq and, yes, even condemning artistic freedom by passionately faithful filmmakers like Mel Gibson.
It's enough to make you sick.
berating filmmakers for messages in films made by other people. Can we say "collective guilt"?
I'd imagine she had some role in those films.
Did she also turn you into a newt? Burn her!
"She was a genius, and her movies were innovative and still copied today."
oh, and - Horatio Alger was a pederast: entrepreneur capitalism is evil!
That's because the evil old bag just wouldn't DIE DIE DIE!
The lady in question. Now, maybe I've just been conditioned by years of watching indiana jones, but this poster just gives me the creeps.
No, she didn't. Her best known films from that era were Triumph of the Will and Olympia (I and II).
Lesser known works include the earlier films Day of Freedom and Victory of the Faith.
. . . . just in case anyone here is waiting with baited breath for this news.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.