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Some US Comedians Still Associate Germany with Nazi PastPosted by Joerg Wolf in Transatlantic Relations, US Domestic and Cultural Issues on Friday, December 29. 2006
Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien and an American blogger make jokes expressing concern for German troops going "on tour again" and suggesting that today's Germans could turn into Nazis anytime.
US News and World Report quoted NBC's Conan O'Brien in its Late Night Comedians round up on November 29, 2006: The Pentagon is, of course, making some decisions on Iraq. The Pentagon is trying to convince Germany to send more troops to the war in Iraq. Yeah. This marks the first time anyone has asked the Germans to send more troops.Does US News and World Report find this joke funny? Such jokes are a good excuse for Germany not to send troops anywhere. I could use this joke to argue that many Americans still associate Germany primarily with our Nazi past (see poll at the end of this post) and don't want us to participate in military missions abroad: "Sorry, Germany is not going to support America, because we don't want anybody to think of us as Nazis." Conan O'Brien's joke is not even accurate: The phrase "to send more troops" suggests that Germany already has some troops in Iraq. Thus, anybody who finds this joke funny lacks some information. Another example: Jon Stewart interviewed Natalie Portman about filming Vendetta in Berlin in March 2006: Natalie Portman: Berlin is amazing. I was nervous to go. I had never been to Germany.The wonderful Natalie Portman managed to stop Jon Stewart. I have seen the video on the internet in March, but it is no longer available online. A fan site has an accurate transcript. Jon Stewart's Daily Show is watched by millions of Americans. He received the prestigious Peabody Award twice, has been called a "Walter Cronkite" for a younger generation and was also featured on Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the year 2005. When Chancellor Merkel expressed Germany's solidarity with Israel in February 2006, an American Blogger based in Berlin voiced his concern about future German invasions: She stressed Germany's special responsibility in insuring Israel's right to exist, something clearly denied by Teheran’s leadership, and said that "Germany will not simply just watch" but will play an active role in solving the growing conflict over Iran's nuclear program. And upon hearing this, clear words before a light background of veiled military threat, none of the natives began jumping up and down and holding their breaths or running around in circles or whining or yelling or moaning like they're supposed to. To conclude: Conan O'Brien assumes that German troops always come as invading armies and makes fun of the Pentagon asking for "more" troops, while Jon Stewart is concerned that "Oktoberfest turns a little ugly" and Germans go after the Jews, while Clarsonimus -- the American blogger in Berlin -- is concerned that Germany might soon be "doing something" all over the place again. And if I am not laughing about their joke, then they might bring up the stereotype of the humorless Germans... I think Germans have learned their lesson from history and many are sensitive to thinly veiled comments about our past. (Likewise, many Americans are sensitive about Anti-Americanism.) Most Germans pay attention to their country's international reputation and take expressions of mistrust seriously. German Joys quotes the British Times correspondent in Berlin Roger Boyes, who wrote a book about the Germans: No other society so regularly seeks the views of foreigners. How are we doing, Dutch or Italian or indeed British correspondents are asked on television. Are we messing up again; are we failing Europe; are we incapable of change?I think, the lessons from the past and concern for international mistrust of Germany are two of the main reasons, why so many contemporary Germans are pacifists and critical of US wars. Most US policy makers, many US think tanks and many US journalists criticize Germany for being unwilling to send combat troops to Southern Afghanistan and accuse Germany in general for not doing its fair share within NATO. Popular US comedians with an audience of millions of TV viewers, however, continue to make Nazi jokes. Thus Germany gets mixed signals from policy makers and think tanks on the one hand and comedians and American TV audiences who laugh about them on the other hand. Sure, the comedians don't speak for all Americans. Most Americans are not concerned about Germany going Nazi again. Still, as Roger Boyes wrote, Germans are very interested in the views of foreigners. Besides, the respectable Forsa institute has conducted a poll about the image of Germany in the United States and in Russia in 2004. According to Forsa's report (p. 15), more Americans than Russians associate Germany with the Nazi regime. The term "Germany" makes a quarter of all Americans, who participated in the poll, think first about the Nationalsocialism: Das Bild Deutschlands wird in den USA deutlich stärker als in Russland noch durch die Erinnerungen an das Nazi-Regime geprägt: Ein Viertel aller Befragten denkt beim Begriff "Deutschland" zuallererst an den Nationalsozialismus.Quite surprising since Russia suffered much more under Nazi Germany than the United States. And Russians were living under Soviet propaganda. Does this mean that US comedians are more influential than Soviet propaganda ever was? First Endnote: Davids Medienkritik criticizes Sueddeutsche Zeitung, which once had an animation on their website making fun of German politicians with obese Americans in the background. Second Endnote: Laughing about Hitler? Both German and Jewish sensitivities are to face a severe test next month with the launch of a comedy movie in German that turns Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler into a clown with 90 minutes of juvenile jokes.Third Endnote: Roger Boyes book "My dear Krauts. Wie ich die Deutschen entdeckte" is available at Amazon.de, but unfortunately not at Amazon.com. Extract available at The Times: Sour Krauts? Not a bit of it Welcome! You are reading the ATLANTIC REVIEW -- a Press Digest on Transatlantic Relations combined with commentary and analysis by four young professionals from Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. More about us. The horizontal menu bar at the top helps to navigate this site. 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Chris
- #1 - 2006-12-29 17:22 - (Reply)
I did not see Conan's remark. But, he is probably referring more to German militarism. He's a history buff. And doesn't the saying go: Prussia was an army with a state?
Zyme
- #2 - 2006-12-29 17:44 - (Reply)
Germans have gotten over it and can laugh about the past. Only a minority is still worried when german soldiers move abroad and thinks they will secretly blow the planet apart :D
Zyme
- #3 - 2006-12-29 17:47 - (Reply)
Oh and Jörg, do you ever watch TV here in Germany?
JW-Atlantic Review
- #3.1 - 2006-12-29 23:01 - (Reply)
In my humble opinion: The jokes by US comedians are quite different from the ones that you mention.
Zyme
- #3.1.1 - 2006-12-30 13:34 - (Reply)
"Zyme, what do you make of this poll?
Pat Patterson
- #4 - 2006-12-29 21:03 - (Reply)
Wait a second. Just last year Joerg criticized me over at DM for saying virtually the same thing as the post. That the media here in the US rarely talks about Germany unless it's in reference to Nazis or neo-Nazis. I wasn't wrong just prematurely correct.
Pinkerton
- #5 - 2006-12-30 01:29 - (Reply)
For what it's worth, here is my view on American comedians. Conan O'Brian and Jay Leno target their jokes to a certain audience who are not, IMO, the brightest stars on the planet. In addition to the comparison of Germans to Nazi's, they also make jokes about French being cowards or smelly. It's nothing more than stupid humor for stupid people.
Pinkerton
- #5.1 - 2006-12-30 01:34 - (Reply)
"IMO, the brightest stars on the planet." ?????????
alexander
- #6 - 2006-12-30 01:32 - (Reply)
Hallo Jörg.
JW-Atlantic Review
- #6.1 - 2006-12-30 10:00 - (Reply)
I guess, I expected different humor, because of the strong preference for political correctness and the little tolerance regarding ethnic slurs on US television.
Shah Alexander
- #7 - 2006-12-30 06:03 - (Reply)
It is ridiculous. The Cold War is over now, and the global community faces new threats, like terrorism, religious radicalism, nuclear proliferation, and rogue states.
Don S
- #8 - 2006-12-30 06:26 - (Reply)
'Going on Tour' is a direct reference to a line in the Mel Brooks musical comedy 'The Producers'. In the context of the song 'Springtime for Hitler' (and the joke) I don't think it's particularly offensive. It's what the English call black humor.
mbast
- #9 - 2006-12-31 02:52 - (Reply)
Hah, welcome to the wonderful world of Euro-bashing. Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien? Now where did I last hear those names? Oh yeah, must have been on Superfrenchie. I wonder why... ;-).
Axel
- #10 - 2006-12-31 10:34 - (Reply)
Personally, I don't feel offended by these Nazi jokes at all. For me, it's merely an example of bad taste but not an affair to waste my time with or to complain about. I don't like this kind of political correctness at all where you ban cultural sterotypes because somebody possibly will feel offended. So I haven't the slightest motivation to dictate Americans their picture of Germans and the "correct" way how to make fun of us.
Dan
- #11 - 2007-01-19 14:08 - (Reply)
First, Leno's reference to Germany reunited and expected to go on tour has nothing to do with military actions. It's an analogy with rock bands (they usually go on tour after reuniting).
JW-Atlantic Review
- #11.1 - 2007-01-22 12:07 - (Reply)
You are right. Add Comment
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