History Forever Repeats…

This scene in “Inglorious Basterds” stuck with me after watching it because this is how Americans felt about Native Americans throughout history. Americans felt that the natives were savages and needed to be killed or somehow converted to a more civilized way of life. Now Lt. Raine feels the same way about Nazis. This scene is another subtle reference to the genocide of Native Americans because Lt. Aldo Raine has “a little injian” in him. Being one of the themes that Quentin Tarantino continues throughout the entire movie with the “King Kong” reference and slavery references makes this is an important scene.

Hugo Stiglitz has Fans

During the flashback where the Basterds break Hugo Stiglitz out of prison, they introduce themselves as his fans. One can not help but laugh at such a playful set of words, given the setting and context of the scene. The Americans know and remember him as a celebrity, given that “everybody in the German army has heard of Hugo Stiglitz.” However, Stiglitz’s status as a celebrity to them is like calling him an artist, actor, or performer of anything much more commonplace than Nazi-killing. Teh above meme is made with a humorous imagination of what Hugo’s equally humble reaction could be. After all, his character is quiet and does not tend to do much, save for contributing to the more violent scenes of the film. He likely would consider his deeds a personal hobby, but in a much more laid-back honesty compared to his heralded remembrance by the other characters in the film.

Inescapable Pasts

I chose to use this scene to make a meme of because it shows the reverse of roles, power, and memory at the end of the war. I wrote, “You can take the Nazi out of Germany but you can’t take the Swastika off his forehead”, because this is the scene where Hans Landa is surrendering to Aldo Raine. He says he will give up information and help them end the war as long as he is pardoned for his crimes and free to flee to Nantucket. The symbolism of the Swastika, the Inglorious Basterds, and the mentions of the “Bear Jew” throughout the movie all represent communicative memory. In the film, Aldo Raine knows that as soon as the war is over Nazi’s who have not been caught or killed will be able to shed their uniforms and dissolve back into society. This is exactly what Hans Landas plans to do when he arrives in Nantucket. When the Basterds catch Nazi’s they have two choices; refuse to give up information and be killed or give up information and become branded forever. The symbolism of carving Swastika’s on foreheads in the film represents the Nazi’s betrayal to their party but also leaves them with something to remind them everyday of the horrors they inflicted on others.

Can’t escape being a Nazi

The meme translates to “The first cut is the deepest and hard to forget”. This meme is similar to the article “Collective Memory and Cultural Identity” by J. Assmann because it shows communicative memory. The Nazi was branded with the swastika by the Basterds and he goes back to tell Hitler of what had happened to him. This is an example of communicative memory because the story of how he was branded is being told.  The memory of being branded by the Basterds, unless documented such as photograph or writing, will only live as long as the people, who were alive to experience it, are still living.