Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Witches' Hammer in Relation to Communism
Before we watched Witches' Hammer on Tuesday, Professor Green noted that it was made contemporary to The Prague Spring and as a reaction to Communist Party Rule in the former Czechoslovakia. Though it was a striking historical portrayal of the hysteria of the witch hunts, I read the entire film as a political allegory. The most striking example of this allegory appears in the nature of the accusations juxtaposed with the behavior of the inquisitors. Superficially, the feasts and parties of the inquisition seem to be elements used to move the plot of the film forward. However, it was very striking how the inquisition indulged in gluttonous feasting, copious drinking, and implied fornicating at their huge parties and when the "witches" were accused they faced charges of gluttony, boozing, and fornicating with the devil. This draws a very clear parallel to the Communist Party. While propagating a message of communal labor and living, the Communist Party reserved special privileges for itself. By not "practicing what they preach," the resentment for the Party and its continuous thirst for power grew. The movie raises the question: What makes these behaviors acceptable for the inquisition, but a grounds for torture and execution of the common class? This question presented in the film can be applied to the political frustrations of the people: What makes the Communist Party so privileged, but the proletariat must submit to a pure communist ideal of no privilege? As the power of the elite groups grow, so does the paranoia and the irrationality of the situation. Did anyone else notice allegorical elements? Why would a use of the witch trials as an allegory be so striking, especially within an Eastern European culture? Could this be interpreted any differently?
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I previously had not thought of the movie in that way. I very much agree that this movie brings up many parallels to communism in cold war Europe. I find it ironic that while this movie was being made in Czechoslovakia about the communists being portrayed as witches, The United States had just gone through the second "Red Scare". It is interesting how in eastern Europe where the communists where in power, They where portrayed as the inquisition. While just a few years earlier communists in our government where depicted as witches in many political cartoons.
ReplyDeleteGreg Massey
I hadn't thought of the movie that in that way until now as well. But when I did, the "Red Scare" came straight to mind! It just seems to me that in response to Tori that (What makes these behaviors acceptable for the inquisition, but a grounds for torture and execution of the common class?) maybe the inquisition sees it as a privilege they are entitled to have and when the common class tries to participate maybe they see it as a sign of disrespect and trying to show that they are in a different class by participating in the same activities. Obviously it doesn't make it right but it's the only thing I can think of that would make any sense. EVERYONE is so quick to set double standards "i can do this but if you do you will be punished" has unfortunately always been apart of the human way and most likely will continue to be so. As for the red scare and what seems to be an ongoing happening throughout this class is ... accuse someone else before you yourself is accused!
Delete-Ashleigh Mussulin
I too never thought of it in that way, but looking back on it, it makes a lot of sense. I do like the reference Greg brought up though with how communists were portrayed as witches in political cartoons, which also reminds me of the cold war accusation, "Are you now or have you ever been a communist", an mindset that can be applied to the accusation of witches.
Delete-Michael Schmidt
Hi, Greg. I didn't know about political cartoons depicting alleged communists as witches. That is really interesting in this context. Do you know where we could look for examples? -Michele
DeleteI realize that this is a stretch for a cartoon literally depicting witches in reference to Communism, but I googled some cartoons and I found this one from a direct link on McCarthyism. While it is aiming to depict Communists taking over and destroying American society and freedom (symbolized in the burning of the flag), I think that some of the techniques employed draw on witch hunting. The use of flames as a means of destruction reminded me very much so of the burning of witches. Furthermore, in the lower right hand corner, there is a witch-like female figure. I saw her as a representation of the impending doom of Communism if let loose, but I found the artist's interpretation of her was very paralleled to a stereotype of a witch. These subliminal elements reveal how much the concept of a witch hunt affected/still affects the psyche, but also the nature of McCarthyism. I am trying to find more interesting things like this! Hopefully you all find some cool stuff!
DeleteI just realized I forgot to post the link!
DeleteHere it is!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Is_this_tomorrow.jpg
Nice work. This is a fascinating cartoon, really. I wonder exactly what is going on with the witch-like figure you mention. She seems to be among a crowd. If this were a more recent piece, I might think it had something to do with zombies! You can certainly understand the projection of fear that people felt at that time, of which there are still remnants today, especially among older Americans, who lived during the cold war. Thanks for finding this. -Michele
DeleteIt sure is an interesting take on the movie, and I feel like I would have to watch it again with this in mind. But I do see where you are coming from. For me, the whole movie was infuriating and just made me despise that people had really acted like this. So many innocent people confessing lies and dying for it..it makes me sick. I can't believe it went on for so long. These people were forced into accusing others, maybe their friends, and in the end they were usually all killed. In the end it seems to be just a game to see who can survive and not be accused of witchcraft/heresy, and who has power.
ReplyDelete-Rachel Skowron
I agree. It is sad that these people were caught in a catch 22. No matter what you said you'd be killed in the end. In my 20th century German History class we discussed the situation in Czech. during the reign of the Soviet Union and what led to the "Prague Spring" in 1968. The people are lower than the ones governing them so they have no privileges while the upper class, though there isn't supposed to be an upper class in Communism, has privileges. If anyone spoke up, they would be "dealt with." In the end, it's all a game of power and influence.
Delete-Victoria Penno
I agree with both points made above. I left the class feeling anxious and sick to my stomach regarding this injustice, insensitivity and irrationality. I can't say what exactly made these lavish behaviors from the inquisitors acceptable, but the only obvious reason is that they did not have fear for the higher-ups above them/monitoring them. Because they were the ones enforcing the laws that they implanted, they thought they were excused of them. There were indeed parallels between the activities of the inquisitors and the accusations of the "witches" -- to the point where the parallels almost aligned. It is obvious that the inquisitors were not rationally considering these accusations, it didn't matter what the accused were accused of, if it qualified them as a potential witch, that was enough. They were done for. Though I thoroughly enjoy learning about history, I find it incredibly unsettling to know these times existed.
DeleteAda Matusiewicz
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ReplyDeleteThe many different views of this movie are extremely interesting to me, I too did not think about the parallel to communism until it was brought up here. It seems as though these parallels become prevalent through not only this movie but most of the quarter when talking about witches. It is a pointing game and the faster you blame someone else, the safer you are, so pointing fingers and blaming others, possibly for nothing at all or even for things you may do it seems to happen often along with many double standards during witch trials. It seems to be in the hands of the power in each side of the parallels and it has been that way as far back as history goes.
ReplyDelete-Jessica Petrus
The movie really does draw many parralels with the communist party. I can answer the question about how the Communist Party feels priveledged, while the proletariat needs to succumb underneath like ants compared with us. The communist party "elites" do not abide by any of their laws. We have seen this in historical context with Stalin, Mao, and other Communist leaders. The political elite are wealthy, while the poor become even poorer. One must wonder why millions of peasants died under Joseph Stalin's rule. It is interesting how the political elite threw these parties and then people were accused of such crimes by the very own party-throwers. I can see the hypocrisy. Witchcraft was also used to hurt the support of political/social opponents of the norm in the Middle Ages. Communists have made quite a reputation for killing off political opponents. Note Leon Trotsky with Stalin. Communism is perfect on paper, but greed gets people to do wild things.
ReplyDeleteVavra displays the oppressiveness of the communist regime to a "t." Like Tori said, the inquisition was filled with hypocritical behavior. Inquisitions, easily brought about, can enter a city and accuse people of witchcraft, and from here enter a "snowball effect" of accusations. Defending an accused person automatically implies that you are also guilty. So to see it from a political point of view its all about who has the greater power. Both parties were participating in similar behaviors, but the ones in power, are the ones who had the power to condemn!
ReplyDeleteDavid Stenger