There's something weirdly sad about this. The fact that there was a time between the wars when Germany was incredibly progressive for the time, makes the rise of fascism incredibly tragic.
Well while those progressive people sure existed there where also a ton of nationalist and right extremists… the time between the world wars is full of political extremes
fun fact: in the early 1900s the question "do you speak german" was a coded way to ask someone if they were gay lol (this was mostly a popular phrase in paris) so basically today's version of "do you listen to girl in red?"
@@coreyparson9906 she is a queer artist who makes a lot of music about loving women, very popular among lesbians and other queer women. I love her music!
there was also a code that was said to date back at the 40s: "Are you a friend of Dorothy's?" or something similar to that manner. it was coined after Judy Garland's character, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Judy Garland was one of the greatest and bestest ally for the LGBTQIA+ community back in her days, so queer people used that code!
If I ever get personal hate mail from a modern dictator (*cough Putin *cough) or shitty former president (*cough Trump *cough), I'm framing it and hanging it on my wall. Edit: Even better if I get a hate letter from both of them.
You must understand. The leading Bolsheviks who took over Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse. The October Revolution was not what you call in America the "Russian Revolution." It was an invasion and conquest over the Russian people. More of my countrymen suffered horrific crimes at their bloodstained hands than any people or nation ever suffered in the entirety of human history. It cannot be understated. Bolshevism was the greatest human slaughter of all time. The fact that most of the world is ignorant of this reality is proof that the global media itself is in the hands of the perpetrators." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
I'm so glad to see Conrad Veidt's career so well highlighted. His influence is really permeating a lot of parts of gay and outsider culture. I'm probably joining throngs of Disney villain fans in jumping in defense of Veidt's hypnotically smooth and snakey Jafar. However problematic. Johnny Depp WISHED he was Conrad Veidt.
The irony being that Depp always resented being what Veidt could've never been - a conventionally attractive prettyboy actor - and as he lost his prettyboy looks to drugs, booze and the wear and tear of time, he also lost and squandered what acting talent and craft he once had and could have, should have nurtured...I'd feel sorry for the dude if he weren't such a scumbag! Meanwhile, Veidt, always more striking than conventionally handsome, remains an untouchable legend, in part due to his sadly untimely death.
Yes, well I am glad this video revealed to me the surprising history of Veidt's German film career it does though do a disservice to just some of those not 'Hollywood' but BRITISH films he made after leaving Nazi Germany. I refer to you especially 1939's 'The Spy In Black' and 1940's 'Contraband', both of which he is, in fact, the main protagonist/hero, the first as an honorable German U-boat captain forced into doing espionage and sabotage in Scotland and the second where he is a Dutch captain having adventures in a blacked-out London. Both films were written by the Hungarian emigre Emeric Pressburger and directed by the English Michael Powell, who yes, went on to co-direct Veidt in 'The Thief of Bagdad', but Veidt as the main character is magnetic in both.
ahhhh as a bi german kid that is obsessed with history this is everyything ahh thank you. I feel like every german history beside the of the NS time is handled like it never existed. While its of course important to talk about the Nazis its also refreshing to see something different 🍂💫
Another bi german here, totally agree. I totally think teaching kids about the horror of facism, world war two and the holocaust is important - but can we maybe teach other important stuff too?
Please. How many hairs width are you away from rightoids "hurr why can't we be proud of our country anymore"? Not many, I'll tell you. Everyone fucken knows about Weimar. I'm not even German and I know a lot about its culture. "WHEN WILL EVERYONE JUST GET OVER THE HOLOCAUST".
@@taranullius9221 that’s not at all what they said though??? It’s more that very often the first thing ppl think of when someone mentions Germany (sometimes even pretty much the only thing they know about it’s history for certain…) is the Nazi regime… and it’s a bit strange for a country with hundreds of years of history to be reduced to a twelve year period? And don’t get me wrong it’s extremely important to learn about that period and everything that led up to it! Not only politics but what was happening in society as well. That way we can hopefully stop anything like that from ever happening again! It honestly terrifies me that there’s people in the world right now who pretend like it never happened or wasn’t bad because it most certainly was!! …but it’s just kind of weird to act like that’s the only thing of importance ever to have happened there…
"It could happen here" but also "It could happen NOW." It's so tempting to see history as a straight line, to think things are always getting "better", more advanced, more progressive. But that's just not how it works. We are ALWAYS one generation, one decade, away from losing EVERYTHING.
Genau,weil die Geschichte sich immer wiederholt.Den Fokus nur auf eine Epoche zu sehen,wäre aus meiner Sicht Falsch.Am Ende liegt es stets an uns selber.Dies erkannte auch Goethe schon.Ich empfehle Faust 1 zu lesen und es abzugleichen mit heute. Liebe Grüße aus Weimar❤
that's how you feel about us but that's how we feel about you. The left is a self destructive force. You seem to be hell bent on imploding civilization itself.
The point of history is that no one in history learnt from their mistakes, mistakes were made/ repeated again and again. A massive genocide can absolutely happen again, smaller ones are already happening behind closed doors. It's dumb to think that we are smarter now. In many cases we are, but in others we progress backwards as a society.
Please do a video on Marlene Dietrich! She is such an inspiration and her role in Morocco was the basis of one of my Halloween costumes. As a proud bisexual, she is a huge inspiration to me!
I'm currently reading a biography about Marlene Dietrich and Leni Riefenstahl. It is strange to think that both of them were born at the same time and the same location but chose completely different paths.
As a queer German it's so good to see something like this! In school I learned a lot about the German history between 1914 and 1939, especially everything about the third Reich, but never anything about queer history! Really makes me want to look into it more myself. Thanks for this great video!
Exactly! Also the connection of antisemitism partially being fueled by homophobia due to queer jewish art was never something mentioned even though we talked about ww2 nearly annually in school. It seems more logical to me how conservatives felt threatened by progressiveness and thus where easier to see jewish people to be the scapegoat. For some reason we only talked about inflation and people needing a scapegoat, so when hitler came along people would be like "oh yeah makes sense, the jews are the problem" as if this suggestion came out of the blue. Whereas people being homophobes and already being uneasy about changing genderroles brought up by artists? Checks out more
@@nickbell8353 While there's a lot going wrong in Germany at least we still learn a lot about ww1 and ww2! However this still doesn't seem to be enough to keep fascists out of our politics. But it's really weird and alarming to see how other countries like the US deal with their history, or better how they don't deal with it critically. I really don't want to know how Germany would look today if we did it like the US!
We, The Destroyers", Samuel writes, "We Jews, we, the destroyers, will remain the destroyers for ever. Nothing that you will do will meet our needs and demands. We will for ever destroy because we need a world of our own, a God-world, which it is not in your nature to build. . . . The wretched fate which scattered us through your midst has thrust this unwelcome role upon us." Maurice Samuel - You Gentiles 1927
There's actually an anecdote I came across about why Conrad Veidt's first wife, Gussy Holl, decided to get a divorce. Apparently, the final nail in the coffin was when Gussy came home from work one night and found Conrad wearing her new dress which had just arrived from Paris.
I mean, i would also be mad too if my husband wore my new dress that had just arrived from pairs. Like, excuse me?? That dress is mine idc if you look good in it, go get your own dress.
@@moldy.lychee I mean, of all the dresses she owned, he just had to pick that one? And he had all these other guys over and they were wearing dresses too. I'm probably going to Hell for laughing, but I can't help but picture her looking really angry with steam coming out of her ears accompanied by the sound of a tea kettle boiling over. Meanwhile, Conrad's just sitting there looking nervous and knowing he done goofed. And his friends are all like "well would you look at the time, gotta go." I'll bet he looked great in that dress, though.
@@BeautifulMutant one of the things said about this was in a group of women one had to be careful of the prettiest one because she might turn out to be Veidt. so this isn’t entirely unfounded
You must understand. The leading Bolsheviks who took over Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse. The October Revolution was not what you call in America the "Russian Revolution." It was an invasion and conquest over the Russian people. More of my countrymen suffered horrific crimes at their bloodstained hands than any people or nation ever suffered in the entirety of human history. It cannot be understated. Bolshevism was the greatest human slaughter of all time. The fact that most of the world is ignorant of this reality is proof that the global media itself is in the hands of the perpetrators." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Your last point is so true. My Great-grandfather was in the SS. My great grandparents were all complacent or actively fought in WW2 but my family mostly doesn't make an effort to examine what they've done. People my age tell jokes about the Holocaust and trivialize it. Nazi Germany is in the process of fading into history, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't still impact our society today. It's so important to talk about responsibility and educate people about the Holocaust. (Great video btw, I love Conrad Veidt💗)
As a german who also had SS great grandparents ,there is no responsibility to take because you aren't responsible for the actions of the people you are affiliated with, especially if you weren't alive at that time.
@@BasileosHerodou as a german jew, I just know that if we talked to each other for more than 10 minutes you'd spout antisemitic bullshit and trivialize the holocaust instantly because y'all are VERY MUCH the grandchildren of Nazis in the most literal sense. The Ideas your family had that led to them being monstrous murderers are passed on through your families. Y'all are more willing to rehabilitate Nazis than to listen to jewish people. So no, you're not personally at fault, but it is absolutely your responsibility to deconstruct the antisemitic Ideas present in your family and culture (not that you'd ever do something like that lol) The Continuities within german society and German families, yes, including yours are very present, much more so than you realize.
My first true history love was Weimar Berlin, still have boxes of books on the subject- this makes me very happy :-) Thank you for all your videos, can't wait for your book!
My great grandparents (my opa and oma) were Holocaust survivors, the only thing that saved my opa was him converting to Christianity in college (he was going to be a Rabi, as that side of the family has a long and rich history of every man becoming and being a Rabi), so the nazis killed his family in front of him, forcing his eyes open the entire time. My other opa and oma were fighting for the Dutch, my opa built double layered coffins to smuggle the Jewish under a dead body during both day and night as my oma hid, protected, and sheltered anyone and everyone she could. It doesn't help that I have blue/green eyes and blond hair, learning about the Holocaust in school just had other classmates look at me like I myself was a nazi, it hurt because I was a quiet and shy kid who was scared to speak up in class and eventually getting in trouble for talking when the teacher was.
As a German, I can guarantee you that no matter how desired the "Arier" look (= blue eyes & blond hair) was by Nazi Germany back then, only a tiny minority of Germans actually possessed those features 😅 Brown and black hair was much more common; suffice it to say your classmates should not take everything (especially something this specific) at face value.
ALOT of Jews have blonde hair blue eyes too like myself...as for me , i had a white spanish teacher always call me a ' German Uboat Captain'...it was hard to hold in my hate..he didnt know i was Jewish ...he would always call me this when i would wear my white sweater..If you go to Israel you will see many Aryan looking Jews or just go to Aushwitz concentration camp,,,there is alot blond hair cut off behind the glass....at the camp...
Keith Woods: "russian" oligarchs. Igor Kolomoisky. Great russian famine, Holodomor, Famine in Khazakhstan, Lazar Kaganovich, Genrikh Yagoda, Aron Solts, Filipp Goloshchyokin, Yakov Yurovsky, Lazar Kogan, Matvei Berman, Naftaly Frenkel, Salomon Morel, Helena Brus. Balfour Declaration 1917 November Revolution 1918 Germany loses WW1 1918 Spartacist uprising 1919 You must understand. The leading Bolsheviks who took over Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse. The October Revolution was not what you call in America the "Russian Revolution." It was an invasion and conquest over the Russian people. More of my countrymen suffered horrific crimes at their bloodstained hands than any people or nation ever suffered in the entirety of human history. It cannot be understated. Bolshevism was the greatest human slaughter of all time. The fact that most of the world is ignorant of this reality is proof that the global media itself is in the hands of the perpetrators." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
What the Nazis did to Germany was cultural suicide in more than one way. So many great people killed or driven into exile, not only of the Jewish population, which could have made Germany famous for their art, inventions and discoveries. Instead, we're the land of fascism and stupid sheep. As a German, I can't hear my national anthem without thinking of the guy with the weird facial hair.
@@BlueberryDragon13 The same goes for German-Americans. It's kind of ironic (though understandable) that in the wake of WWII, multiculturalism became more embraced by the mainstream and celebrating one's ethnic identity and heritage (especially historically marginalized ethnicities) replaced assimilationism... as long as that ethnicity wasn't German. German used to be the second-most spoken language in the US (like Spanish is today). There were whole *counties* in Midwestern states where the predominant language was German. I know of some of my ancestors who were second- or third-generation German-Americans who never learned English because literally everyone in their community spoke German. The German-American community had already taken a big hit during the First World War and then again during Prohibition (because most American breweries were owned by German-Americans), but I think we could have bounced back from that. But not after WWII. German-American culture is virtually extinct these days (compared to Irish-American and Italian-American culture). Even a lot of the old headstones in once German enclave cemeteries have been replaced with English language ones with Anglicized names. My dad's grandfathers and one great grandfather were named Reuben, Albert, and Gustav-quite German. My grandfather and granduncle (born after WWI) are named Charles and John-Anglicized but still versions of common German names. My dad and uncles (born after WWII) are named David, Michael, and James-any resemblance to German names is purely coincidental. Just to be clear, I'm not one of those idiots who moans about "why can't I be proud of being white" and I certainly don't blame any of the victims of the Holocaust for not "letting" me be "proud" of my German heritage. There's only one group of people I blame for ruining German and German-American identity, and it's the Third Reich. I'm just a little jealous of the Little Italies and Chinatowns of the US when we used to have whole counties like that.
@@jungtothehuimang Not gonna lie thats also an issue in the German school system. We do this weird way of pretending to engage with our History. And i use pretending, because im pretty jaded about the whole thing. Germany prides itself on addressing its dark past (often in opposition to the US and UK who tend to ignore their less savoury historical Events). But what really happens is a type of mental exhaustion. I learned about the third Reich above all other things and hardly remember a thing except "Nazis Bad"(which... Duh.). But we didnt Talk about the why for years because it wasnt "age appropriate". Not in Detail. And to truly understand the magnitude and Terror... You need Details. So you get a bunch of 13 year olds who already dont give a damn, and you Tell them "Hitler Bad" for about three years. Which makes the students Go "yh No sh*t" and they get bored. Then by the time you CAN get to the graphic stuff, theyre already bored by the whole thing and dont engage anymore. And thats how you get grown ups spouting nonsense and claiming that "it's time to be proud again and Stop the shaming", which is Just Code for "leave me alone, i dont give a damn". An unfortunate Side effect is that Most students dont learn about the German Empire (pre wwi) either. We also dont learn how it failed. We vaguely learn that it's because of wwI, but we dont learn why it was already a mess before then, or how the insane militarization led to a toxic relationship to war. Most dont really learn how the weimarian republic was founded and why it was so vulnerable to fascists ( militarization and royalists and the exiled emperor doing everything they could to spin a narrative of how evil Weimar was a big Part of it). We also tend to ignore German colonialism, which makes the whole thing a Bit messed up. It's basically "we already Talk about the third Reich, why do we have to mention the herrero too". I didnt know about that genocide until i was Out of school, because we tend to Gloss over German colonies so much. Or we try to compare them to "really bad" colonial Powers to make us look better. And that is Just the past 150 years. That Not even the beautiful mess that was the holy Roman Empire of German Origin, which was neither Roman Nor Had rome as it's Capital. because rome is Not in Germany (duh). Just the Name alone is such a beautiful mess 😂
As a bi, old cinema loving European I am absolutely in love with this video. Dr Caligari is one of my favourite silent films and I've always loved Cesare, but I didn't know about Conrad being bi, or his efforts against nazis. Love him even more now.
Clicked this so fast. Conrad Veidt is one of my absolute favorite actors. He was beautiful, not just in his interesting and somewhat sinisterly handsome appearance, but in his acting style and the way he lived his life.
Thank you so much for making this video. I'm a huge fan of Conrad Veidt & it's lovely to see him represented so well on RU-vid! My synagogue just memorialized the anniversary of Kristallnacht a few days ago, an immensely tragic event, the scope of which no one could even have imagined at the time it started. Your video which discusses the rise of the Nazi regime is very well timed for this week. Blessings to your grandpa!!
Can we really say was bi or queer? I think is more accurate to say queer bc we can't really be more specific, specially when he flirted with anyone we can even say he was pansexual. But as I said, we can't really be specific, so queer should be the best word as well as a gesture bc there is a rejection of the concept in general in the community and would be awesome so have that concept present when we speak about past people
@@Maniafilia Bisexual is not a dirty word and it's perfectly fine to wonder if someone was. I *despise* people specifically throwing queer around as a term in this case because it specifically gives this whiff of deliberately trying to avoid the ideas associated with bisexuality by couching it in a vague and more socially acceptable term.
@roflcopterIII I don't think bi is a "dirty word", but that u don't like and reject the use of queer or pan says a lot about u and how u really want to ignore the history and academic use of the term. U just want him to be under the same term that u. U nor I not anyone can call him bi bc we don't know, thats why we should call him queer if u want to call him something. We don't know what teem he would like to use if he would want to use any. Stop trying to call out ppl just bc u don't know any better
Thanks, now im crying. Sincerely, a German queer person who spent the recent months trying to familiarize themselves with the queer German history they were never taught
They don't teach it because they thought you'd be smart enough to understand that it was pushed by non German Jews and it's the literal cause of the rise of the third Reich.
Fantastic video. I'm German and I am extremely interested in this time period. I also love Conrad Veidt, Brigitte Helm, German Expressionism and so on. Usually, when I watch videos about this time period I find a lot of mistakes. But not in this case - excellent research and video.
You must understand. The leading Bolsheviks who took over Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse. The October Revolution was not what you call in America the "Russian Revolution." It was an invasion and conquest over the Russian people. More of my countrymen suffered horrific crimes at their bloodstained hands than any people or nation ever suffered in the entirety of human history. It cannot be understated. Bolshevism was the greatest human slaughter of all time. The fact that most of the world is ignorant of this reality is proof that the global media itself is in the hands of the perpetrators." Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Thanks friend! I’m writing a biopic about Conrad Veidt. Your well-read, queer take on him, and other major players in Weimar’s queer culture, reinforces that it’s timely-and in fact urgent-to reexamine this period in history. Connie (as his friends called him) continues to offer us lessons in survivance in oppression and standing up to authoritarianism, even if it leads to exile, heartbreak, and an untimely sad ending.
HOLY SHIT im so happy i found this video. i was mega obsessed with conrad veidt/the man who laughs for like 2 years straight but it's so hard to find other people who like them the same way. kaz i appreciate u, this vid was highly highly needed
I’m really happy I found your channel! I’ve always wanted to learn more abt queer history bc it’s one of my only ways to feel connected to the community since I can’t come out but I have no idea where to start or what I’m supposed to look for so ur channel is basically like dora but instead of Spanish it’s queer history for me lol
A beautifully made and thought out presentation. Sitting here scratching my head that 100K + viewers aren't on it. Plus what someone else said about your outfit being on point 👌
omfg. the more i listen to you talk about veidt, the more he seems like the man i’d absolutely have a poster of on my wall. what a brilliant person. i’m glad he lived.
I was so swooned by Conrad that I dropped my phone into the bathtub and the 'film' turned really silent for a while XD But really, Weimar culture is one of the most fascinating topics out there and I am so thankful you did it credit. Waiting for the solo Marlene video! xxx
honestly this is my new favourite video on youtube. i knew conrad veidt was bi and opposed the nazis, but that’s about it. he’s one of my favourite silent film actors and i can’t thank you enough for this video! he was an absolute king
Honestly Weimar Germany was a hotbed of culture. I think no one ever thought Germany would turn anti Semitic. After the Dreyfus affair, if you had asked people which country would turn rabidly anti-Semitic they'd have said France
lol sweety Germany didn't turn antisemitic, antisemitism is one of the core pillars of german identity and culture and always has been. So many people in these comments who want to learn more about german history pre ww2, well good news it's also full of antisemitism. The holocaust didnt just happen randomly, it's the result of thousands of years of german antisemitism.
@@chana7276 the anti-Semitism got stronger because it was weaponized and pushed into the public. It wasn't a natural product of the time period it was something that the-guys-whose-name-might-get-my-comment-deleted pushed so that he would have a scapegoat for the things going on. This person isn't saying anti-Semitism WASNT in Germany, they were saying it wasn't nearly as bad.
@@chana7276 Saying "It's always been that way" would disqualify you in Academia, especially in terms of identity and culture. Identities and cultures are very complex and constantly changing, they cannot "always be like this". Moreover, anti-Semitism is not a specifically German phenomenon, if you say that it was specifically aggressive, you have to find reference points and compare it. Then we have the final statement, "Holocaust as a result of thousands of years of German anti-Semitism." This seems impossible to me, since specifically related to the German identity, this only begins to develop in the 15th century. Before that, the reference point had been the Franks. It also seems impossible to me that Germany has been anti-Semitic for thousands of years, since the first Jews with the Romans entered the area of today's Germany almost 1900 years ago. Finally, you present the Holocaust as inevitable. That is a deterministic argument that no historian would make. but I assume that you have not familiarized yourself with the methodology of historians either professionally or in university. Otherwise you would know that history is not inevitable and that the event occuring was just one possibility among many.
@@chana7276 So much ignorance in one comment. I hope you are not American because boy do I have news for you. That being said, Germany didn't invent anti-antisemitism, genocide or war. We have always had anti-antisemitism, genocide and war and we will continue to have anti-antisemitism, genocide and war. The whole mantra "never again" is bs. Look at all the wars and genocides that have happened since WWII? Presently genocide is going on in Yemen. There are countless wars going on for the last 21 years that the US started, ALL illegally. No push against the US whatsoever from people like you. It sickens me.
The man who I viewed as a grandpa was a Polish-American WW2 veteran who helped liberate 2 of the camps during the war. He passed away recently, and I attended his funeral just nearly a year ago. I’m constantly struck by how much was lost when we lost him, how much history is lost when we lose any of the survivors or veterans, and how much harder it is to truly make people understand the depth of tragedy that happened there when so many of the survivors and witnesses are gone. It makes it that much more important to tell the stories like this, which show how no matter the time period, there have always been people fighting for good.
Dr. Caligari is probably my favorite film of all time, and I never picked up on the queer subtext. As always, this was a really fascinating and informative video!
Magnus Hirschfled and homosexuality in the Weimar Republic is a topic I've been looking into a lot lately so I was incredibly excited when I got the notification for this video! I think you did a wonderful job covering this topic. Linking the Weimar queer rights movement to Germany's expressionist art is something I hadn't really thought about before, but adds a really fascinating perspective. Also I'm definitely going to look more into Conrad Veidt now. Thank you so much for making this video, it makes me so happy to see more people discussing this incredibly important part of history that sadly quite often goes overlooked...
It's intriguing that (to my knowledge) the earliest pro-gay feature film, "Different from the Others," and the earliest pro-lesbian feature film, "Mädchen in Uniform," both came out (so to speak) of Weimar Germany. That must speak to the openness of German society at the time and maybe help explain the wrathful retribution against such a society by the rise of the Nazi regime. P.S. The stuffed animals are interesting.
Just started watching Veidt’s films and now I’m hooked! He was such an incredible actor; I’m especially impressed by his performance in “The Man Who Laughs,” where he can only emote with his eyes, but still delivers a full range of emotions.
Greetings from Cambodia. Thank you very much for your research, video, and sharing this information. I stayed all the way to the end. Much of it was quite new to me. All of it is familiar currently in the US. Scary to anticipate a return visit, but I much appreciate that people like you are out there. Best wishes.
Your channel was recommended to me by YT because of OFMD. As a bi undergrad who loves academic history and the concept of history from below, your channel and the way you seem driven to uncover the queer history of so many times and places is just absolutely amazing and inspiring 😍 Thank you for that 💖💜💙
1930's Expressionist and Dadaist collages to me are the best examples to resume how people felt during those years! Loved the link with art (Metropolis is still one of my favourite movies). Thank you for this interesting video, I've just subscribed to your channel ❤️
Thank you so much for your work. I've loved German Expressionist films for a long time, and I learned so much. You made me love Conrad Veidt all the more ❤
My one true weakness, Conrad Veidt, the one and only man I'd let try to romance me I wanna build a time machine and ask him to read lines from Goethe's Faust, where Faust sees Gretchen for the first time and is all taken aback. Holy fuck I would just melt
@@marthajones9284 he has some lofty lines about how beautiful she is, saying he won't forget her until the end of days. As for the age difference, don't forget that he was magically made young again by the witch. Like he doesn't just look young, it affected his brain and the way he thinks too. It's implied to be one of the reasons Mephistopheles thought it would help him win the bet. The full effect is easier to see when it's acted as opposed to just words on a page, which can make it seem like Faust just suddenly got moodier if you missed the fact that he's not an old man anymore. In any case, i would be asking my celebrity crush 102 years my senior to read it for me
@@seraphinasullivan4849 I might have written that remark a bit too harshly, as a german who had too read it and analyse it to death in school it just did not seem like a story you would look at as romantic. But of course there can be other interpretations
as someone who is doing coursework on this topic, THIS IS SO WRONG, people were indoctrinated, their propaganda was amazing for the time, they used means of terror, they practically erraticated their opposition
This is a great video. I love that you give so much context and in a very concise way. I think this might be my favourite video of yours. Thank you for bringing to our attention the incredible person and icon that Conrad Veidt was.
As a longtime fan of Caligari and German Expressionism in general who only recently found out what a queer icon Veidt was, thank you so much for this! Also, mad props for being one of the few people I've heard pronounce Cesare's name correctly.
Hey thanks for this! I took a 'Modern Art History in Europe' class and when my professor was talking about the violence manifesting in the art she was very vague and never talked about the connection between that and the queer figures... Puts things into some CONTEXT
I was obsessed with The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari in my teen years. I am forever thankful to Tim Burton since he was so inspired by it (and German Expresionist films)!
Whoever Is interested in this time period: I recommend the series Babylon Berlin (in the German sub, please the English dub is horrible). In my opinion it’s one of the best shows we’ve ever produced. It’s technically a noir/detective/crime show but it’s honestly so much more than that. Berlin in the Weimar Republic really was a character of its own and there’s so much historical accurate stuff. It manages to portray germanys "decline" in such an interesting and believable way, you can really feel how it all happened. It also manages to show you all the various political and ideological groups of the time but like in a very nuanced way? Idk I just can’t recommend it enough. (Yes there’s plenty of gayness, especially in season 3)
@@GuyunZhongli-ow4ti in Germany it’s available on wow (I think that’s sky?) I have no idea where you’re from and therefore don’t know. As I said, the name is Babylon Berlin, maybe try with a vpn or google for your country?
@@CatalinaLinal7710 late reply, don’t know if you checked it out, but there is in fact a lot of queer culture shown in Babylon Berlin, though not the focus
This was such an interesting and layered video. I found your channel from the Green Knight and I adore your content about queer history. All that said, your "What about BEARS, Magnus? What about THE BEARS?" at 14:14 lives rent-free in my head now!
Well done. The final five minutes of this are terrifying and if one doesn’t see the parallels between the Weimar and the USA today are willfully blind. There is one half of the nation that would gleefully see history repeat itself in the US.
36:44 Yep, despite what conservative reactionaries think whenever confronted with a different analysis of history than what they were taught, history is not an "objective" recitation of "what happened". History is about what happened _to get us where we are now_ which necessarily requires understanding the subjectivity both of what people in the past thought, felt, and believed *and* the application of different theoretical frameworks to "what happened". It's why bigots love to dismiss marginalized voices about systemic, institutionalized issues by saying "Those problems were already fixed in the past, any problems you face now are because those people need to take responsibility for themselves." While I'm sure some of them are being disingenuous, I think most of them probably genuinely believe the barebones history about the various rights movements they were taught as "what happened", and any modern phenomena that contradict their understanding of oppression as being "over" can't *possibly* be the result of history they don't know and therefore *must* be the result of individual aberration. They don't understand that the past *causing* the present does not mean that history *dictates* the present. Also, 6:19 I always thought it was ironic bordering on hypocritical that Prussia was basically the only German state that still criminalized homosexuality at the time of unification, when the main reason they were the dominant German power at the time was because of Frederick the Great, a man so gay he built a "Temple of Friendship" that's filled with plaques of Achilles and Patroclus, Damon and Pythias, etc. and whose palace statuary includes FOUR of Emperor Hadrian's lover Antinous.
It's rather curious that an awful lot of you folks here keep drowning on about conservatives being to blame despite far left politics at that time viewed homosexuality with the same contempt.
@@sparkledwater5545 - When kink became flown under the banner of pride, even being flashed in front of children, don't be surprised then when people see the conflation and speak up against it. Don't like it? Maybe tell those peddling such perversion to get out of the movement instead of getting upset at those protecting children.
Its so cool how u have so many in depth videos on so many different topics. Like your videos always get me to want to learn more and they are just fascinating gateways into learning about so many different things.
Such a good video! I am from germany and it is very good to see this sad and complecated history being represented like that. PS: please do a video on Marlene Dietrich! She is such an incredible women.
I'd like to take a moment to thank the Jewish community for the significant role they've played in the development and promotion of gender theory, gender-affirming care, and child sexual education. We'll always remember you.
I don't know the meaning of those symbols, but in English I must say your acknowledgment of the pursuit of science by the Jewish people has always been admirable to me. The quest to explore the relationship between humanity and the Creator has been part of their very existence since ancient history.
I think theres a saying “those who don't believe in history are doomed to repeat it“ or something along those lines, these things happened if you like it or not they happened and it's horrible it had happened, stay safe kaz
29:21 this is pretty off topic, but it's comforting to see how many commas she put into one sentence. makes me feel better about some of the things i wrote like that when i was younger. it sucks that it's looked down upon. i tend to resort to every kind of way to extend a sentence because of it just being the way my mind works; a semicolon, parentheses, dashes (like she used a few times), colons, and of course: commas. i halfway tried to have some of those in that sentence, but it also just naturally fit with my style. i'm obviously a huge grammar nerd, lol. and this style (no capitalization, colloquialisms like lol, etc.) obviously isn't in my more serious writing, but it does fit my vibe, and just the way my brain naturally thinks. sorry for the rant, i just have a lot of thoughts.
also anyone who insists on "him or her" or whatever isn't a real grammar aficionado, just using "academic" rules as an excuse for their outdated views (just like christians who aren't really christians because they use the bible as an excuse to spread hate) hot take? no. cold facts. try to tell me i'm wrong, but you'd be wasting your time. "you" being aforementioned grammar assholes
Such a great video! (as always). Didn't know much about Conrad Veidt so this was so informative and fascinating. Thank you for all the hard work that you put into making these videos, they're brilliant
I'm so glad you did this topic! Conrad is my favorite silent actor, neigh, favorite actor in general! My favorite movie, the Man Who Laughs! And my favorite topics, German Expressionism and the Weimar Republic! Please do a Marlene Dietrich video, too! Thank you. I've been saying all year that we are in the Weimar phase.. very scary indeed.
this was an incredibly informative video, thank you so so much for this! it's so frustrating how I didn't learn anything about this in school, and I live in germany! i hope more people will learn about this, it is so important to keep this history alive.
Veidt was a beautiful man! I would love a sensitive, true film about his life. I think we are long overdue films about the stars from this time…especially the “outsider” or quirkier ones. Dirk Bogarde would be another one I’d love to see a film about. Both were such beautiful men.❤️ Loved this Kaz, and the dog “Homo” had me howling😂
My grandmother was a German citizen. Not a Holocaust survivor, she was actually a member of the Hitler's youth in her childhood. I am in *no way* equating that life story with the pain and trauma of victims of the Holocaust, but growing up that way - a child living in a war torn and economically depressed country, becoming a refugee, being smuggled out of East Germany in a trunk- and becoming an adult who must grapple with the realization, horror, guilt and deconstruction of what your home and society did leaves a mark of its own. My upbringing too was lived in the shadow of the third reich and it is startling how the framing around this piece of history is changing. I remember being in middle school, my classmates making jokes abt these atrocities while I was swept away in a very specific blend of grief, horror, nausea, guilt, shame, and reverence. Even then, that behavior disgusted me much more than affectionately being nick named "Nazi"-- though as an adult that also disturbs me; why would it ever be ok to bring up that word in a tone of levity? Germany and its people -- who are not and never were an ethnic monolith-- held so much beauty and joy and resistance, and anyone who dares to claim ethnic superiority by trying to align themselves with their ancestry betrays the millions of people who may have been ethnically German but fought for the rights and dignity of their marginalized bretheren. The fight against fascism requires that everyone know this history, not in broad strokes, but in fullness, both in the personal sphere and the general. That's the only way to stop it from happening again.
Greetings from Germany💕 It’s really interesting to get your perspective on this topic. If anyone is interested in the 1920‘s of Berlin I can recommend the show Babylon Berlin. Idk if it’s also available in English though.
Geeez I already loved Conrad Veidt because of my love of silent film and German expressionism, but I had no idea what an incredible person he was, thank you for this!
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is my absolute favorite movie of all time and I am sooo freaking glad to see it get the the attention it deserves. Conrad Veidt is an absolute icon.
I'm so happy this popped up in my feed! It was a very engrossing overview of a topic that should get waaaay more attention, and I'm thrilled you're spreading the Conny love in the process! Small correction: Waxworks was the film released the year before Viola's birth, not The Man Who Laughs. Both are directed by Leni, so I understand the mix-up! :)
