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I try not to talk about politics too much, since it's beyond depressing right now, but today I was thinking about the current political climate and the Amazon TV show, The Man in the High Castle. Which seems particularly relevant now that we're seeing a resurgence of neo-Nazism, racism, and xenophobia.
The Man in the High Castle (TMITHC) is about an alternate history in which the Allies lost World War II and Nazi Germany and Japan conquered the US and divided it between them. (Let's ignore, for the moment, the practical impossibility of such a thing ever happening even if the Allies had lost.)
The show has also been very well-received—so well-received, it's been renewed for 3 seasons so far.
I tried watching the first episode, since I'm a history geek, but I had to stop halfway through because I was about to have an aneurysm out of rage.
Here's the problem: If you think about Nazi Germany and Japan occupying the US, you'd think there are going to be some groups who will be persecuted more than others. Black people, Jewish people, Slavic people, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ people on the Nazi side, and any-Asians-who-aren't-Japanese on the Japanese side. (I'll apologize upfront for the fact that I know less about Japan's concept of racial hierarchy than Nazi Germany's, but I know they did, in fact, have a racial hierarchy.) You'd think these groups would be the focus of this story and the core of the resistance movement(s), right?
Wrong.
Instead, The Man in the High Castle is all about The Poor, Super Oppressed White People (seemingly of Western/Northern European descent). There was one Jewish character in the main cast, at least as far as I remember from the 1st episode, and that's it.
It just boggles the mind, how much TMITHC completely misses the point of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.* How entire regimes centered on racism somehow get boiled down to Oh No, The White People Are So Oppressed Under These Regimes.** Spoiler alert: If Nazi Germany had conquered the US, you can get your bank savings that white Americans of Western/Northern European descent would have been the least oppressed.
And I've been thinking about the premise of TMITHC and why it's been critically well-received. I wonder whether white American viewers who are divorced from history are fascinated by a premise that they are the ones who would be So Oppressed by the baddest of historical Bad Guys, the Nazis and WWII Japanese, instead of a more historically accurate story in which straight, able-bodied & neurotypical white Americans would be safe and privileged and Americans of color, disabled Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans are persecuted.
Because when you juxtapose the white rebel fantasy of TMITHC with what's currently going on, it's...disturbing.
*Yes, I'm aware TMITHC is based on a novel. But not every novel should be adapted into a movie or TV show. Like, I find it very hard to believe Uncle Tom's Cabin would be seriously considered by anyone for a screen adaptation today, even though it was wildly influential in its time.
**At least from the first episode, I found the depiction of White People's "oppression" in the Japanese-controlled West Coast also very poorly done. They were allowed to speak English and follow their own customs, that white woman (forgot her name, sorry) even out-Japanese-ed the Japanese in aikido (which, by the way, was a pretty gross example of the pretty racist trope of White Person Who Out-Asians Actual Asian People).
The Man in the High Castle (TMITHC) is about an alternate history in which the Allies lost World War II and Nazi Germany and Japan conquered the US and divided it between them. (Let's ignore, for the moment, the practical impossibility of such a thing ever happening even if the Allies had lost.)
The show has also been very well-received—so well-received, it's been renewed for 3 seasons so far.
I tried watching the first episode, since I'm a history geek, but I had to stop halfway through because I was about to have an aneurysm out of rage.
Here's the problem: If you think about Nazi Germany and Japan occupying the US, you'd think there are going to be some groups who will be persecuted more than others. Black people, Jewish people, Slavic people, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ people on the Nazi side, and any-Asians-who-aren't-Japanese on the Japanese side. (I'll apologize upfront for the fact that I know less about Japan's concept of racial hierarchy than Nazi Germany's, but I know they did, in fact, have a racial hierarchy.) You'd think these groups would be the focus of this story and the core of the resistance movement(s), right?
Wrong.
Instead, The Man in the High Castle is all about The Poor, Super Oppressed White People (seemingly of Western/Northern European descent). There was one Jewish character in the main cast, at least as far as I remember from the 1st episode, and that's it.
It just boggles the mind, how much TMITHC completely misses the point of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.* How entire regimes centered on racism somehow get boiled down to Oh No, The White People Are So Oppressed Under These Regimes.** Spoiler alert: If Nazi Germany had conquered the US, you can get your bank savings that white Americans of Western/Northern European descent would have been the least oppressed.
And I've been thinking about the premise of TMITHC and why it's been critically well-received. I wonder whether white American viewers who are divorced from history are fascinated by a premise that they are the ones who would be So Oppressed by the baddest of historical Bad Guys, the Nazis and WWII Japanese, instead of a more historically accurate story in which straight, able-bodied & neurotypical white Americans would be safe and privileged and Americans of color, disabled Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans are persecuted.
Because when you juxtapose the white rebel fantasy of TMITHC with what's currently going on, it's...disturbing.
*Yes, I'm aware TMITHC is based on a novel. But not every novel should be adapted into a movie or TV show. Like, I find it very hard to believe Uncle Tom's Cabin would be seriously considered by anyone for a screen adaptation today, even though it was wildly influential in its time.
**At least from the first episode, I found the depiction of White People's "oppression" in the Japanese-controlled West Coast also very poorly done. They were allowed to speak English and follow their own customs, that white woman (forgot her name, sorry) even out-Japanese-ed the Japanese in aikido (which, by the way, was a pretty gross example of the pretty racist trope of White Person Who Out-Asians Actual Asian People).
