Herman Rosenblatt tells a marvelous story not that it's true of course but when did that ever stop Oprah from going all weak-kneed and co-opting it into her parthenon of aren't I the true epicenter of all meaningful human interaction stories ? While Herm was telling stories of a girl heaving him apples over the fence of the camp and Oprah was going all moonfaced, less gullible types like Professor Kenneth Waltzer, the director of the Jewish Studies program at Michigan State University were finding some serious flaws in the narrative : Waltzer concluded from studying maps of Schlieben that it was impossible for either a prisoner or civilian to approach the fence; the only spot where one could access the perimeter at all was right next to the SS barracks. "The story is a made-up story, so far as I can discern, it didn't happen." New Republic Last night I took the 4 older kids to see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas about a very similar dynamic except this story involved a Concentration Camp Commandant's 8 year old son befriending an 8 year old Jewish prisoner at the camp in a very similar fashion with through the fence meetings. I truthfully had a hard time keeping my disbelief willingly suspended throughout the film and my kids had some problems with the way nobody seemed to have nay idea of what the hell der Vater was doing exactly. It struck me that stretches of the imagination like this one and the one perpetrated by Herman Rosenblatt only serve to trivialize the suffering of the people for whom they are purportedly trying to advocate. And when is Oprah going to shut up and go about her own damned life instead of living vicariously off of everyone else's ? Is she losing weight again ? or Stedman ? I realize there are a surprising (to me) number of reasonable and bright adults who get Oprah. I am afraid I get her but I want my money back. Televised megalomania just isn't my game. And in this case it strikes me that Oprah is only too willing to go running out and grab credit for this heart warming miracle because spending the time and trouble to check its veracity might lose her ratings or worse yet, prove that it's all bull. And how can anything be bull after Oprah has waved her wand over it ?
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We all get duped from time to time when we try to believe people are being truthful in stories that they tell. I for one have been there, feeling stupid and embarrassed for believing in honesty and goodness in people and then later finding out they were cons and liars.
It's cold here - just trying to keep warm.
Have a warm and nice Sunday.
I try to go benefit of the doubt but sometimes it just doesn't pay... it's 11' here we just did a snack run for last night of vacation before everyone goes back to school... brrrrrrrrr
well, i really did like oprah at a point in time. it was, like, 7 years ago. but then the whole holier than thou shtick became too much to bear. kathy griffin's stand-up bit on her is hilarious.
so, i have to read the boy in the striped with my kids and i just finished it yesterday. now that you mention it, i too was wondering how in the world it would be conceivable that there would be any lack of foresight which would allow for the two boys to be so physically close to one another. there were merits of the book, for sure--chief among them the issue or perhaps the word is question of complicity in injustice and inhumanity, what with the grandfather and the wife. but i think the author did a fair job of pointing out how difficult it was for oppressed groups within the germans to be anything but resigned even if they gave a shit--case and point, the grandmother. not that she was resigned per se but she couldn't do a damn thing. and i have so much ambivalence about bruno, who comes off at times as unbearably insolent and infuriatingly spoiled and at times as simply ignorant and innocent. well, maybe i'm grasping for straws and maybe i'm not. but i've got to find some redeeming qualities because i have to teach the damn thing. correction, i have to teach the children. because i teach people, not books.
I think Oprah works best if you take her cafeteria style. The light stuff is often funny like her show last week rating sandwiches around the country. She does some good stuff on women's health and brings in experts who can dispense important info for women who may ignore their own health for whatever reason. She gets into trouble when she steps up into her pulpit and tries to lecture on ethics and morals. She also bugs me when she jumps in when a psychologist or psychiatrist is diagnosing a problem and giving advice. It's as if she thinks her time with Dr. Phil qualifies her as an expert. I never have been an every day devotee of Oprah, usually it's a flip through the channels at 4 and I usually keep going. Randy Rhodes is more my style these days.
I found the movie to have its merits, it was unbearably sad from the opening scene in a realistic way but it never managed to get out of that sad gate. A moment of comic tension breaking is usually the norm even in the most dire movies but this one felt like it grabbed you by the collar and only tightened its grip and the hour and a half ran on.
What a shame that the Rosenblats lied about their story. I wish Oprah would publicize only checked-out true stories from now on forward.
I read about a genuine Holocaust love story in the NY Times recently and it's better than the Rosenblats anyway. Stan Lee and Neal Adams the famous comic book artists were publicizing the story of Dina Gottliebova Babbitt. I checked and I'm surprised there's no book on this yet. It's a great story! It also appears to be all true, thankfully.
Dina Gottliebova Babbitt who was a 19 year old art student at Auschwitz. There she painted Snow White and the Seven Dwarves on the wall of the children's barracks to cheer them up. Dina's art became her salvation and helped her find true love!
Dr. Mengele, the Angel of Death, found out about the mural Dina painted and called for her. She thought she was going to be gassed, but she bravely stood up to Mengele and he decided to make her his portrait painter, saving herself and her mother from the gas chamber.
After the war, Dina interviewed for a job as an animator based on the art she did in Auschwitz and the person interviewing her turned out to be the man who created Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs for the movie. They fell in love and got married. Show White saved Dina's life twice! I love this story!
Sometimes truth is a lot better than fiction, thanks for checking .
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