Sunday, April 12, 2009

Laibach and why Nazi Nudity is possible

To get a sense of the genius of Laibach, first, watch the original:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGikhmjTSZI
And then this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbB1s7TZUQk

Isn't that hilarious? But seriously, watch out whenever you encounter any sort of attempted aestheticization of politics. A lot can be accomplished with the proper aesthetics if one is thinking on the emotional/organicist level, and not on the French Enlightenment/rational/mechani
stic/egoistic level. I ran across the second video before seeing the first and realizing that it was a parody, and even I was kind of gripped by it, even though I knew what it was trying to do. But once you get the parody aspect of it, it seems really silly and over the top. ("Life is life!" is a very simple, infantile, fascist type of cliche in the first place...what is that even supposed to mean? It's not supposed to mean anything. The aesthetics are supposed to do the thinking for you, not your logical mind). Heh, and all they needed to do was tweak the lyrics and the instruments (even the musical notes are the same--the Wagnerian trumpets are playing the same "Na na, nana na" from the original without the swung beats).

By the way, this parody also shows how Nazi nudity is possible. Ever wonder why figures in the nude are sometimes portrayed in Nazi art? It's because it's pure organicism. As long as the nudity is portrayed in a "healthy" way signifying strength and primitive "Blut und Boden" familial/national warmth, and not in a transgressive or rebellious way, then nudity is perfectly amenable to Nazism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHABythIf20
These are all scenes from Leni Riefenstahl's "Olympia." Apparently Rammstein picked up on the odd fact of the nudity in this Nazi film. Also, is this a fascist song? Probably. It's pretty organicist. Is Rammstein a fascist band? I don't think so. Even more, I don't think that's the relevant question to ask. I think they are, as Slavoj Zizek has said about Laibach, a big question mark on stage, not posing as any sort of answer, but poking us with questions about fascism and revealing, if anything, how fascism works, the types of images that it uses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhBjlywzPHs

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For more evidence of why Laibach is genius, watch this documentary with Slavoj Zizek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU0sPdhcxhg

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Here's another way to understand Nazi nudity and organicism: as a way of recognizing everyone's innate admiration for nude bodies, and then channeling that into a safe significance, just as Catholicism tries to channel everyone's innate desire to have sex into a safe form with a safe significance. For example:

Pure organicism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3SvjSu4R-8
This is why organicism is dangerous. This is why there can be no compromise with organicism. My rational mind recognizes:
1. The manipulative Orwellian tactic of repeating a trivially true statement ("Life is life"), endowing that statement with huge significance, and then implying that the statement proves one's larger, but slightly unrelated point.
2. Notice the nude female archer. Notice the strength. This is how Nazi ideology could seem liberating to girls. Yes, behind the scenes the petulant establishmentism was re-iterating: "Kind, Kirche, Kuche," but on the surface it was saying, "You girls have a glorious place in our new society, a place of strength and honor and respect, just like the men have always had. We are elevating you to the status of equals, blah blah blah."

My rational mind realizes that these images, when taken at face value (which I'm not even sure is intended...the music video gets so over the top with the fascist nonsense that it is almost silly at times, such that I have to wonder if this is a very subtle satire of fascism, in fact), are manipulative.

But my emotional mind says..."LIFE IS LIFE."

Should I integrate this emotional mind into my political calculus? Or should I brutally interrogate and discipline this wayward emotional mind?

Communists and fascists can craft equally compelling mythologies and imagery when it comes to appealing to one's emotions. Fighting on this terrain is fighting with even odds at best.

Communists can craft rational self-interested justifications for itself (when concerning workers and not owners, of course) much better than fascism can. Fighting on this terrain gives communism much better odds than fascism. This is the terrain on which we must fight.

This is why I seriously doubt the argument that Saul Alinsky and others have put forward that we need to address people starting from where they are operating already. If their existing perspective is an organicist one, then we are fucked, and we will be fighting with even odds at best until we can change the methodology, the terrain. Besides, is it realistic to expect a build-up of revolutionary momentum without a transformation in fundamental perspectives? Haven't such shifts accompanied all world-historical revolutionary transformations? No, I'd focus on changing people's methodology first. Then we can get down to the bread-and-butter of figuring out what we want and what we need to do to get it.

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Other examples of Nazi nudity (obviously NSFW):
http://www.usmbooks.com/nazi_nude_photography.html
http://www.usmbooks.com/nazi_nudes_book.html
http://flickr.com/photos/29327835@N08/sets/72157607408769776/?page=3

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