Jul 17 2009
On the List of the Ludicrous
I base a good many of my assumptions on the idea that if we’re free, then we’re free and if we’re not, then we should shut up. My personal political feelings are being tested at this moment by several proposals and the healthcare horses being built by committee in our very own congress, but that’s not what this post is actually about; it’s about the lunacy of expecting art to conform to a certain set of rules, when art is often if not almost always a commentary about life.
There is a German artist who specializes in making garden gnomes who do the Nazi salute. It’s clearly satirical having the “master race” be represented by garden gnomes, but nevertheless, in Nuremberg they are evaluating whether or not the statues break the laws banning Nazi symbols and gestures. I would say I was surprised to learn that Germans don’t have a sense of humor, but Hogan’s heros wasn’t allowed on television in Germany, even over the Armed Forces Television Networks, until 1992.
