Hitler is not commonly a person you talk about lightly and humor is almost never involved. Hitler the German Nazi leader from 1934 to 1945, who remained in power until he killed himself. Hitler was an oppressive leader responsible for the killing of millions of people or genocide. The genocide known as The Holocaust resulted in about six million european deaths. The total number of victims of the Holocaust add up to about 11-17 million people. This event is acknowledged as serious and devastating still till this day.
Parodies started emerging surrounding Hitler around 2006, two years after the movie about Hitler was released, Downfall in 2003. The Downfall is done completely in subtitles, this was the main appeal to video makers and internet users to begin to create parodies. One scene in the movie shows Hitler in complete upset as he has realized that the war is truly lost, this scene is what artist use to create parodies. Changing the English subtitles gave room for many interpretations of the movie and also humor. The parodies make Hitler seem that he has taken part in the popular culture that we live in now and is up to date with news, events, and mainstream gossip.
The increase in individuals making parodies grew quickly but 2010 there were thousands of videos. The New York Times during the popular peak of creation wrote an article influencing people to “keep up with the meme.” Creators of these parodies named themselves “Untergangers.” Popular videos include “Hitler got banned from Xbox” and “Hitler finds out pokemon aren’t real”.
The issue of controversy has raised questions among viewers but people seem to be okay with this. As long as the videos dodge the topics that hit a sore spot, like the Holocaust that is a very serious matter. The director of the film Downfall announced that he thinks the videos are funny and bring ironic humor to the film. He stated: The point of the film was to kick these terrible people off the throne that made them demons, making them real and their actions into reality. I think it’s only fair if now it’s taken as part of our history, and used for whatever purposes people like.”
In 2010 Youtube stopped planning bans on all parodies and even started placing ads to bring in revenue. An attorney stated, “All the [Downfall parody videos] that I’ve seen are very strong fair use cases and so they’re not infringing, and they shouldn’t be taken down.”
A website that covers all of the memes and parodies is one click away from having humor at your hands. The parodies play to bring ironic humor and a twist on a serious matter. Check it out.
By Kaitlyn Wamsteeker