(11-11-2014 03:10 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  I have seen excerpts of Triumph of the Will and found it to be very compelling. A lot of "modern", "educated", "progressive", upper- and middle-class-type people like to think that they are immune to political fanaticism and the worship of a "strong leader". However, such people were Precisely the demographic that put Hitler in power. Triumph of the Will illustrates that reality with unsettling clarity and dramatic force. The director of that film was a German woman, whose relationship with Hitler and the Nazi movement in general remains a topic of fierce debate in sone quarters.

I remember reading about this in high school. A teacher essentially created an arm of the Hitler Youth after his class insisted it could never happen here.

Quote:It is the ultimate classroom mind-game. A charismatic teacher suddenly introduces strict discipline into his lessons and, far from rebelling, the students embrace it with gusto. Within a week, they have devised a uniform, insignia, salute and banners, and eagerly spy on and intimidate schoolmates. The movement swells to more than 200 members who, on the last day, flock to a rally. . . .

At the end of the week - in life and in the film - the teacher announces a new national political party, with a new leader. Only then is the hoax revealed. "We were in a state of shock; there were kids crying," recalls ex-pupil Mark Hancock. "He wound that class up as tight as a drum."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/...state.html[/quote]