Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Spiral of Silence - Shindler's List
The movie "Schindler's List" is about a man in Nazi Germany named Oskar Schindler who ran a factory which was run by Jews in order to save them from concentration camps. As everyone is well aware, Nazi Germany is the perfect example of the Spiral of Silence. Hitler used massive amounts of propoganda to get across his ideals and because of this, many people we put into concentration camps and tortured. Many people knew that Hitler's ideals were wrong, but they recceded into the silent minority.
The reason I chose this specific clip is because it shows the end of the movie and the war has ended. The reason the war has ended is because of people like Schindler who were hard core. Schindler spent all of his money to take hundreds of Jews and have them work in his factory to save then from the horrible fate of the concentration camps. The definition of a hard core group is groups the the end of the spiral willing to speak out at any cost. Well, not only did Schindler waste all of him money saving the lives of these people, but as shown in the clip, he also risked his own.
While his factory was running, even though it was technically a Nazi factory, Schindler always had the risk that someone would find out he was using the factory as a way to help out the Jews rather than put them to work. This would have put his life in danger. In addition, because he had run a Nazi factory, once the war ended he was seen as a criminal and he was to be punished. This was the cost he faced for saving so many people, and he did not care. He only cared that he had done the right thing and saved them. This makes him part of the hard core group.
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7 comments:
This is a really interesting example for Spiral of Silence. When I think of public opinion being affected by the media I think of present times - where media is very technologically advanced and prevalent.
During the Holocaust most media was channeled through radio and newspapers, but Nazi Germany is one of the best examples in history of how public opinion can be controlled.
Because public opinion in Germany during the Holocaust was so strong the hard core did not only risk isolation, but persecution, incarceration and death.
This is definitely an extreme example of the Spiral of Silence.
Once I saw that there was a clip from Shindler's list, I knew that it was a perfect example of the spiral of silence and more importantly an example of someone who is in the hard core group.
People were afraid to speak out during the Holocaust because most people who attempted to were attacked or threatened. The minority groups that were being massacred by Hitler and placed into concentration camps did not speak out in order to try to survive past the devastation of the camps and to survive because they felt that one small complaint would result in their death.
Shindler spoke out and saved Jewish people from being placed in concentration camps and being killed by allowing them to work in his factory. Shindler is a perfect example of someone who is a hardcore and was at the bottom of the spiral in the theory, but this did not stop his actions and only made him push further into trying to help save people from Hitler's wrath.
This [Nazi Germany] may be a perfect example of the spiral of silence. Since all forms of media were controlled by the party, people had no way of knowing that their "beliefs" were met with such opposition. Those that were brave enough to get radio transmissions from England and other countries knew more about the Allied opposition and were therefore less likely to remain silent in the long run.
The use of Shindler's List as an example of Spiral of Silence was nothing less than perfect. The movie focuses upon one of the greatest examples of control using the media that ever occurred. The Nazi party was notorious for its use of the media of control and manipulate the population under its control. Nazi Germany used the media so effectively that it had almost complete support from its citizens and almost no one stood against it. Those who did stand against the Nazi party and its powerful propaganda were the hard core such as Shindler. Shindler is, in my opinion, one of the greatest examples of the Hard Core ever depicted in a movie. His complete dedication to his beliefs allowed him to endure complete social rejection and gave him the courage to risk his life for his ideals. If that is not a perfect example of the hard core, I do not know what is.
This is definitely a good example of spiral of silence. The public opinion during the Holocaust was that everything the Nazis were doing was the best way it could be done. This however is because the Nazis were the ones controlling the media. In this case, they were the elite and majority and as a result silenced all others. Schindler tried to go against the majority and break the silence against the Nazis by helping everyone who was being oppressed. Nazi Germany clearly demonstrates the Spiral of Silence
I chose Nazi propaganda too, because I thought Nazi propaganda is a perfect example of Spiral of Silence. As the movie describes, Shindler was hard-core; he helped Jews escape from Nazi oppression. He must have known that it was dangerous. Many people like him saw what was happening, but did nothing. However, we should not forget that media influenced the “majority” to believe that nothing should be done. This is what caused such a huge tragedy.
The evolution of Schindler into a hero after all he did in his life is truly remarkable. At first, Schindler wheeled, dealed, and finessed his way into getting that big military contract, knowing his labor would be coming for next to nothing and that he would reap all the benefit. Unlike many of the Nazis, however, Schindler could not bear to see what was happening to the workers in the ghettos and work camps. In the beginning he was part of the problem, submitting to something he knew was happening but had not seen. When he realized what was going on, he then used his knowledge of the system to become part of the hard core and assist the persecuted in the biggest way.
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