“Mocking, or ridiculing fascists is one of the most effective, non-violent ways to combat fascism.”
— @andr3wsky @ TikTok↗️
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Can’t See? Watch on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andr3wsky/video/7664727498734800141↗️
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Steven:
I’d agree with this on any given Sunday. The other days, too. I think if history and Mel Brooks can teach us anything, it’s this.
Fascism doesn’t merely spread false beliefs; it demands submission to absurdity as a demonstration of loyalty.
Some people may need Jesus, granted. But everybody needs Orwell.
Read your Orwell, people — not just the two you know the names of.
He’s heavy, though. Heavier still, the more you pay attention. Take your Orwell with liberal doses of Chaplin, Brooks, Carlin—and a little Gianmarco as a treat.
The point of @andr3wsky’s video above is expressed beautifully—preposterously—by Mel Brooks’s “Springtime for Hitler”
What some may not appreciate is how incredibly subversive this was—how thoroughly it emasculated the oppressive aura of dominance that Nazism and authoritarianism projected into the zeitgeist: choreographed dancing girls kicking out a show tune to ol’ Hittles himself.
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Laughing at the Führer Is Good for the Soul
My personal take is that humour, alongside its role in mocking and ridiculing fascists, can have an important healing function. The ability to share in grief through good humour—not only abject sorrow—is an underappreciated superpower of our social-loving primate brains. Laughter is love-adjacent1.
Here is a 1.3-minute video worth watching:
PBS | Independent Lens | The Last Laugh - Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Comedy and Darkness:
https://www.pbs.org/video/the-last-laugh-mel-brooks-sarah-silverman-comedy-and-darkness-clip
| “The Holocaust itself is not funny — but what it takes to survive involves humour”
—Rob Reiner
Citation: Robin Williams↗️
It’s probably a good idea to ask *which party* in the U.S. is acting more like fascists right now. I don’t necessarily think that it’s the *Republicans*.