MovieChat Forums > The Boys from Brazil (1978) Discussion > Had this been a real conspiracy, do you ...

Had this been a real conspiracy, do you think the plan would've worked?

posted 10 years ago by alioth4
13 replies | jump to latest

(Spoilers, in terms of the nature of the unfolding conspiracy in the film)

Had this been a real-life conspiracy, do you think the plan would've worked as the conspirators hoped? As in, do you think making a bunch of Hitler clones, distributing them around the ("Nordic/Aryan") world, reproducing as many of Hitler's personal circumstances as possible in their lives, etc.--do you think it would have actually produced the political rise of one of those clones, and a new Fascist Reich?

Or do you think there's more to the rise of such a movement than one man with an idea? That other social forces have to be at work, a "perfect storm" of events surrounding that one man, which he could then become swept up in?

I happen to strongly think the latter. And I generally respond to the idea of such time-travel plots "to kill Hitler as a boy" or whatnot, with thinking that, given the condition of Germany in the 1920s and 30s, the economic, revanchist, and (under the surface) racial/ethnic resentments, that if it wasn't for Hitler there would simply have been someone else leading the movement, probably without a whole lot of differences and probably leading to similar horrors. (And God forbid it be someone who actually listened better to his generals and was less of a megalomaniac, and Nazi Germany actually won the war and become a postwar superpower with those horrors entrenched.)

So conversely, even a Hitler clone who managed to end up having the same kind of philosophy, personality, and politics of Hitler, would still need the same kind of political tides and forces to sweep him into power, or else he'd be some raving loon that ends up ranting crazy talk in some fringe party, or in some corner of the Internet as it develops. Kind of like where the Neo-Nazis are in the US today, or were in the 80s and 90s (as these clones became putsch-aged young adults), or whatever. (Even in Europe, they're a bit more of a concern, but nowhere near taking over, at least as far as I understand.)

So, I saw the whole premise of the conspiracy as very flawed--but at the same time it was believable that a cadre of Hitler's ex-inner-circle, who practically worshipped the man, would believe it would work. It was as much wishful, belief-led thinking as a lot of Nazi "science". So it ends up working as a compelling story even if the whole idea might seem ridiculous.

Anyway, discuss.

Understanding is a three-edged sword.

[–] kenburke (2396) a year ago

For it to have worked you would have to have a group of people so fed up with the way things were they would give up anything to put such a person into power.

[–] Darren (1455) a month ago

It would have been very, very unlikely to work. This is why it both irritates and amuses me about the people acting like Trump is the next coming of Hitler. Even if he were -- and he isn't -- it isn't just the Hitler figure that makes for a slide into totalitarian dictatorship, the circumstances are just as important.

A combination of factors made Hitler's rise possible, and without them, he couldn't rise they way he did in early 1930s Germany. Some (but not all) of these are, Germany's defeat in WWI, and the nature of it: an armistice signed without that Allies ever having pushed into German territory -- this was crucial in creating the "stab in the back" myth that was key to the Nazi's rise, the delusion that politicians at home had betrayed Germany to defeat in a still-winnable war. The harshness of the Treat of Versailles, which saddled Germany with almost all the guilt for the war, and imposed crushing sanctions. The fragile nature of the Weimar Republic -- Germany, unlike Britain, was a country with no history of strong representative government; the Weimar Republic has been called "a democracy without democrats." Also the Great Depression, which destroyed the German economy and led to hyperinflation.

Conditions like these set the stage for dictatorship -- a strong man comes along, promises to restore pride to a defeated nation, and convinces people he offers hope for a better future that the corrupt failures currently running things don't. Things are so bad that people will voluntarily surrender freedom for security, and promised prosperity. Without this, Hitler couldn't rise, for the same reason communism never took hold in the U.S. -- life was too good, most people were well off, and nobody saw any benefit in a political revolution.