adaiello

Are You Being Served is a fantastic example of British humor at its finest. Granted, with almost 30 years since the telecast of the first episode, some of the humor has become dated. However, the cast and script-writers took the concept of double entendre to a whole new level with the jokes in the show (the best one I think being about Mrs. Slocum's cat, if you get my drift!). The thing that makes the show stand the test of time is that they did not have to resort to outright obscenity and crudity to get the humor across. It requires a little bit of thought to follow some of the jokes, which while base, are veiled in "false propriety". It is something that I would have no problem letting my children watch because they would not get the jokes until they were old enough to understand and deal with the humor. What comedy today can we say the same about? The show also has the ability to pull you in, make you privy to the "secret jokes" and make you feel part of the club. You become bound up in the inside jokes and personalities, and can identify with the characters (within reason: who can understand the concept of Mrs. Slocum's changing hair-colors?!). Overall, it is a great series and well worth watching, even 27 years later!

The film, Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will), is a masterpiece of the propagandist's art. What is even more stunning about it, is that Leni Riefenstahl used many "special effects" that were hitherto unknown within the film industry, and that she used them so successfully. For this alone, Leni Riefenstahl and Triumph des Willens should be hailed as a critical innovater to the movie industry. This movie was powerful then as a propaganda film. It is now a powerful reminder of the ultimate horrors of Nazism in Germany and Europe as well as an example of the innovation of the use of film for propaganda purposes. That having been said, I find it sad to see Riefenstahl's work written off as being that of a Nazi and to see Riefenstahl held accountable for the negative aspects that her film highlighted. In the context of the times, and in the context that Riefenstahl made the film, Nazism was a positive (if brutal) social phenomona in Germany. I feel that she accurately represents this feeling in this documentary/propaganda film. Riefenstahl had several violent rows with party members because she was adament that the film not become just the tool of a propagandist, but rather that it show the "social revival" as Nazism was looked at by Germans, and many non-Germans (taken from John Toland's book, Adolph Hitler, where he interviewed Leni Riefenstahl). There is no way she can be held responsible for any of the events that came later. If Leni Riefenstahl is guilty of anything, it is of creating a movie that was too good, a documentary that crossed the line and became a strong propaganda film for a group who later used it for more evil purposes.