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Why the idiotic portrayal of East Germans?

posted 9 years ago by niosudigs
5 replies | jump to latest

I really liked Bridge of Spies. Spielberg does a great job of taking the audience on an emotional journey. For that you need to manipulate the viewer. But why portray East Germans in such idiotic and antiquated stereotypes? Pretty much everything from the scene where they built the wall, snow in berlin, the mannerisms of the people, the youth gangs, the ridiculously harsh pronounciation of the german language, the family bowing in front of the soviet, portraying all the soldiers as sadists or indifferent robots. all this was done in an unrealistic way.

But the worst scene was the border guards shooting the two guys trying to escape. The last thing that pretty much every West German and East German soldier would have done, is to shoot towards the other side. That was the #1 rule in Berlin: Do not start WW3.

Did that all serve a purpose that i missed?

[–] johnston.scot 9 years ago

Youth gangs in East Germany isn't any stereotype I've ever been aware of. It would be more stereotypical to show the opposite. And it's not exactly like Hollywood has never depicted the existence of youth gangs in the US.

East German soldiers were on screen for very limited periods of time. They seemed mostly to be bored soldiers doing their job.

The main East German character - Vogel - wasn't stereotypical either, unless there's some stereotype of East Germans as clever and stylish speakers of perfect English. For that matter, I don't think Ott was particularly stereotyped either.

The most stereotypical characters in the movie were the CIA agents.

Some of the things you mention are fairly vague, or I don't remember them.

I'm not sure what was wrong with the depiction of the shooting of attempted escapees. Perhaps the exact details of the position from which the soldiers fired was questionable or something. I don't know. And yes, I don't think Donovan actually witnessed anybody being shot. But East Germans were shot while attempting to escape to West Berlin before and after the time period depicted in the movie - one of them within days of the prisoner exchange (though nine days after, not a few days before).

[–] chicago85 8 years ago

That wasn't a youth gang. The Soviet Hanks met with said he should wear an overcoat in their weather. Hanks who was sniffling already said his was stolen. The official, with a smile, said "Why not, it was from Saks Fifth Avenue." They had taken the coat to rummage through the pockets for notes, wallet, hotel key, etc., as well as to get a nice coat.

The East Germans sometimes left wounded people laying in plain sight until they bled to death. They wanted to make a point and did.

I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else

[–] johnston.scot 8 years ago

I realized that. I don't know if we were supposed to understand that:
- they were an actual, existing youth gang that government officials cooperated with as their interests dictated,
- they were East German soldiers disguised as a youth gang, or
- something else.

In any event, the notion that youths acting like a gang - whatever their connections or motivations - is a pre-existing stereotype applicable to East Germans is about 180 degrees backwards.

In the movie their existence, and their connection to the official, came as a mild surprise to the audience. That was really the point of the whole sequence. When the official mentions Sak's, it's funny because we didn't expect it. Something that conforms to a stereotype does not generally come as a surprise.

Bottom line, though, remains: the OP's complaint that the portrayal of East Germans was "idiotic" (or, to be more specific, unfairly stereotypical) doesn't really hold water.

[–] TheManInOil 8 years ago

Dozens if not hundreds of people have been killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall. So I'm not sure what you object to. Maybe the placement of the tower?

[–] 8 years ago

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