German or Turkish, That is the Question

Posted on April 28, 2020 by garlandba

Baker Garland

LTGR 270

Dr. Tovey

4/28/2020

Introduction to Topic/Background Info
1. Topic: The adaptation to German society by Turkish guest workers and their families has caused an identity crisis in their descendants.
2. Clip of Hüseyin getting off the train in Germany-2:13-2:34
  1. Narration: In the 60s, many foreign workers came as guest workers to Germany. A large group that came were the Turks. Instead of going back home, many Turkish guest workers stayed and brought their families with them to Germany. To make their lives easier, the guest workers and their families needed to adapt to German society and culture. The shift from black and white to color symbolizes how identity goes from simplistic, only identifying with one culture-symbolized by black and white, to complex, identifying with many cultures-symbolized by the color.
3. Wipe to clips for next slide
Mimicry of German Culture and Ambivalence
1. Christmas Clip-1:03:19-1:04:49
  1. Narration: Homi Bahabha proposed the idea that individuals that become colonized will start to mimic the new, dominant culture. This mimicry creates to a state of ambivalence, where individuals take on aspects of both cultures. Although the Turkish guest workers were not colonized by the Germans, there was intense pressure from the German government and regular Germans for the Turkish guest workers to assimilate and integrate into German society. Germans wanted the German culture to be the only culture of these guest workers. In this clip the Yilmazs start to mimic German culture when the children ask to participate in Christmas. This is a mimicry of Christmas traditions because a state of ambivalence is present. The children are speaking German, but the food they are eating is Turkish. The lighting in this scene symbolizes the ambivalence of the Yilmazs’ situation. The lighting is not too bright and not too dark. This symbolizes how the Yilmazs are not too German and not too Turkish.
2. Cut to next clips
3. Clip of Yilmazs back in Turkey-1:07:05-1:07:22 & 1:08:36-1:08:52
  1. Narration: These clips demonstrate how the Yilmazs have adapted to German society and taken a presence in German society and culture. When a person lives in a state of ambivalence, they take on a partial presence in both cultures and societies. Because of this, when the Yilmazs try to fully immerse themselves in Turkish society and culture once again, they find that they struggle in Turkish society, where they would not have before they came to Germany.
4. Wipe to clips for next slide
Identity Issues in Later Generations
1. Clips of Cenk at school
  1. Classroom Scene- 4:41-5:14
  2. Soccer Team Scene- 7:44-8:00
    1. Narration: While adapting to German culture made it easier for the older generation of Turks to live in Germany, living in a state of ambivalence has created an identity crisis for the younger generation with migrations background. This is displayed through Cenk Yilmaz. Being ethnically half German and half Turkish, Cenk can connect to aspects of both cultures, for example Cenk can speak German but eats Turkish food with his family. However, growing up in a family that was forced to adapt to German culture, has prevented Cenk from fully connecting with his Turkish side. One issue that starts his identity crisis is that he cannot speak Turkish. It is because of this that he is put on the German soccer team at school. In this sense, Genk is too German to be Turkish. However, earlier when Cenk’s pin does not fit on the Europe map he is too Turkish for Germans.
  3. Turkish or German
    1. Clip of Cenk asking if they are Turkish or German-12:23-12:26
    2. Cut to clip of conversation with Canan and Cenk-12:37-12:12:45
      1. Narration: Finally Cenk asks the question that he wants the answer to. Cenk wants to know if they are Turkish or German. The answer to this question is complex because a person can be both Turkish and German as Canan tells Cenk. However, Cenk cannot accept this answer because like many young children, the ability to clearly identify himself to one group is important to him, and a crucial aspect psychologically into developing an identity. The importance of being able to categorize himself is shown when he says that a person can only play on the German or the Turkish soccer team, not both. The inability to clearly identify as either Turkish or German has caused an identity crisis in Cenk, especially because he has grown up in a family that has had to adapt to and take on aspects of German culture and society in order to survive in Germany. Because of these adaptations Cenk does not have as strong of a connection to his Turkish side that he needs to have so he can confidently categorize himself.

Throwbacks! Not Just for Thursdays but also for Quarantines!

Posted on April 11, 2020 by garlandba

My media viewing habits have definitely increases since being COVID-19 hit. When I was living on campus before COVID-19 hit, the majority of my media viewing happened during the evening and more on the weekends because those were the times of the day where I had more free time. However, now that COVID-19 has hit and I am at home I have been viewing media more during the day. I’ve tried not to be online too much, but there is only so many time a person can walk around their neighborhood. I have been on Instagram and Twitter more than I normally would be during the day and I am watching Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Instant Video more than before. I have noticed that, with the exception of Tiger King on Netflix, I have been re-watching shows that I have already finished such as Downton Abbey on Amazon Prime Instant Video, Call the Midwife, and old Disney movies on Netflix. I’ve also been re-watching old shows that I first watched when I was younger like Victorious and the good Teen Titans. I think that one possible explanation for theses trends that I’ve noticed in my viewing habits is that it takes a lot for me to start and get invested in a new movie and series, so by re-watching shows and movies I’ve already watched, I don’t expend and waste any energy, if I don’t like the series or movie, on a new series or movie. Another explanation for this trend could be that I relate these movies and TV shows to a time when I knew what was going on in terms of school and had some control. This may be a response to how for some of my classes, now that we are doing online learning, I do not know what is going on or what is going to happen in terms of a final exam for one of my classes. Since I spend much of my energy working on classwork and trying to figure out what I have due for certain classes, it is more appealing to me to watch something that I have already watched and can sort of shut my brain off when I watch it.

Freedom Means I’m Free Right?

Posted on April 5, 2020 by garlandba

In this clip, Joy has paid her debt to her madame and is now free. She is given her passport symbolizing her freedom from the madame and will no longer be a prostitute. However, there is still a problem, Joy does not have a visa. Therefore, she cannot stay and work legally in Germany. This presents a problem because Joy needs to make money in order to take care of her and her daughter. However, one way to make money without having a visa is to become a madame. In this clip the madames at the party are encouraging Joy to become a madame. They paint being a madame as a source of income and independence, telling Joy that if she becomes a madame she will be able to make money and would not have to be subservient to a man who would spend her money. It is because of this that Joy entertains the idea of becoming a madame. She even goes to a place where madames can buy girls. This demonstrates that even when a woman is “free” from the cycle of prostitution and sex trafficking she is never truly free because the circumstances that she faces after leaving give her very few if any options to make a living other than continue selling herself or becoming the one who sells other girls and either way the cycle continues.

Staying is Dying, but Leaving is Dying

Posted on March 29, 2020 by garlandba

In this clip, the viewer may be shocked at the cheerfulness and the cheerful tone that the refugees have when recounting their trip and the difficulties they faced, such as 200 people dying in the Sahara and having to drink their own urine to survive, on their way to Lampedusa. However, the cheerfulness and optimistic tone displayed in this scene is because the Nigerian refugees have accepted the reality that they may very likely die on their way to Lampeduas. In her book We Refugees, Hannah Arendt discusses how the Jewish refugees’ cheerfulness and optimism stemmed from an acceptance of death. This is similar the Nigerian refugees seen in this clip. The Nigerian refugee speaking in this clip states that “it is risky in life not to take a risk, because life itself is a risk.” The refugees use the fact that life is a risk as validation for accepting the 200 deaths of their companions in the desert, and for their own possible deaths on their trip to Lampedusa. Traveling to Lampedusa from Nigeria through Libya and the Sahara was risky and most likely many would die, but at the same time, it was a greater risk to stay in Nigeria and had a more likely chance of dying. Essentially, death was a real possibility for the refugees not matter what risk they chose, so they accepted the possibility of death and decided to head to Lampedusa.

Corruption by Man

Posted on March 22, 2020 by garlandba

In these two clips from Werner Herzong’s film “Encounters at the End of the World”, Herzog discusses how humans corrupt, disrespect, and the mockery humans make of nature. In the first clip, Herzog discusses how before the first adventurers were able to travel to the South Pole, it was still pure and untouched. However, once theses adventurers were able to arrive at the South Pole, the South Pole was no longer pure and untouched, but instead corrupted. For Herzog, the only saving grace that these adventurers had was that they were actual “adventures”, unlike the individuals discussed in the second clip. In the second clip Herzog’s tone shifts from dismayed to annoyed at the “quests” these individuals take. These “quests” further corrupt nature by making a mockery of it and using nature for personal gain by setting some sort of world record. It used to be difficult and dangerous to travel to Antarctica or through the Sahara, but now it seems that anyone can do it, even if it is by some ridiculous means like driving backwards or by using a pogo stick. By traveling in these ridiculous ways, man is disrespecting nature. When man uses nature as a means to gain some sort of notoriety, he is corrupting nature, because nature is being used and bent to the will of man.

The Truth Comes Out Under the Light

Posted on March 8, 2020 by garlandba

Pulled in a New Direction

Posted on February 22, 2020 by garlandba

In this GIF Cenk is being taken away from his Turkish grandfather, Hüysein, and the rest of his Turkish family by his German mother after Hüysein suddenly dies during their trip back to Turkey. One of the main themes of the movie is Cenk’s question of whether he is Turkish or German. Hüysein is Cenk’s greatest anchor to his Turkish heritage, so when Hüysein dies, Cenk loses his strongest anchor to his Turkish heritage and with this loss will mostly likely drift towards his German heritage. This is symbolized in this GIF by Cenk being led further and further away from Hüysein and the rest of his Turkish family members by his German mother.

We Don’t Wear Our Uniforms Anymore, Right?

Posted on February 17, 2020 by garlandba

While the Nazis were able to take off their physical uniforms, they were not able to take off their metaphorical uniforms. This meme references how after the fall of the Third Reich, the majority of the Nazis were simply able to take their uniforms off and continue with their lives, but it was not as easy for the survivors of the Third Reich to move on from the atrocities that they had suffered or forgive the sins against them committed by the Nazis. After World War Two, many countries thought that the process of Denazification was enough to absolve the majority of former Nazis of their sins. However, it was not enough for the survivors, because it did not matter if the Nazis no longer wore their physical uniforms, they still wore their metaphorical uniforms of the sins they committed.

Deadly Optimism

Posted on February 8, 2020 by garlandba

In this clip, we see the final interaction between Georg and the woman who was watching the dogs before she kills herself. When watching this clip I thought back to Hannah Arendt’s We Refugees and her discussion about the suicides of the Jewish people. Arendt discusses the optimism and hope that many of the Jewish people had in the hopes of returning home, and how ultimately that optimism and hope faded for many and eventually led them to suicide. The Jewish refugees were left in a state of limbo not knowing if or when they would be able to return home, so the only thing that they had that they could cling to after losing their homes and livelihoods was hope and optimism. However, one hope and optimism is gone, they are left with nothing and death can be seen as a better option. This is similar to the woman with the dogs. The dogs she is tasked with watching symbolize her hope for escape. However, these dogs ultimately die, symbolizing how her hope and optimism of leaving France has died. Mirroring may Jewish and refugees from other countries, the woman ultimately decides to kill herself and simply falls from the ledge where she and Georg are smoking. She kills herself quietly with no explanation just like how Arendt described the suicides of Jewish refugees.

Performance of an Empire

Posted on February 3, 2020 by garlandba

In this screenshot we Joseph Tura, dressed as the Nazi Colonel Ehrhardt, about to reenter the room that he left Professor Siletsky in. I believe that this screenshot speaks to the performance aspect of the movie. In my opinion, I believe that Lubitsch is speaking about the performative aspect that Nazi government utilized to draw support from the citizens of Germany and scare the rest of the world. During the Third Reich, there were many parades that involved Nazi soldiers and senior officers marching and putting on a performance for the public to gain support. Officers became famous to the public in Germany and outside of Germany, much like an actor does. By having Tura, an actor, impersonate Colonel Ehrhard, I believe Lubitsch is demonstrating his opinion that when it comes down to it, the Third Reich is in a sense a giant play, granted a giant play that committed horrible crimes against humanity, but a giant play none the less and the Nazi symbols and uniforms are nothing more than just props and costumes, as demonstrated by Tura leaving from the seating area of the theater, where a play would be watched, wearing a literal Nazi costume. News of a well produced performance can spread and reach many people far from the performance. For many people during this time, news of the Nazi parades and their might shown through their “performance” reached many countries. This is displayed by the shadows cast by the other actors and Sobinski who are also dressed as Nazi soldiers. Their shadows are present on the wall and are one of the main focal points. I am of the opinion that this symbolizes how the might of the Third Reich that was displayed through these “performances” casted a shadow on the rest of Europe.

Transnational German Cinema

Spring 2020

Author Archives: garlandba