Television Under The Swastika: The History of Nazi Television

Rating:
Summary: Turn Your TV Off
Review: I saw this film on a big screen at the Goethe Institute in LA in 2001 and have never forgotten the experience. To watch TV conceived and managed by Hitler's henchmen is unnerving in light of what we now know was really going on in Germany and what was to come for much of Eastern Europe in the next five years. Daily cooking shows, news, interviews, singers and musicians and dancers, sports events, all with subtle undertones of racism, subtle warnings that the elite and the artistic better conform, it's chilling, very Twilight Zone except it came true. There really were monsters under the bed. Hitler and Goebbels were no dummies, they saw early on that television could dull the senses of the masses and diminish their capacity for critical thinking, in essence turning them into couch potatoes. Anyone who is concerned about where contemporary American society is headed might want to watch this, it speaks volumes, and then read two great books, "Amusing Ourselves to Death" and "The Unreality Industry." Then think about what you're being told by the talking heads on your TV. Because you're being lied to.

Rating:
Summary: Good quality, ridiculous content
Review: The quality of this DVD is exceptional, with crisp tones, vibrant color hues and excellent black and white footage. However, the actual content of the DVD is almost non-existent. The reason for this is obvious: the topic of "Nazi television" cannot sustain 60 minutes of viewing time. Why? The Nazis experimented briefly with TV in the period 1935-1939. They managed to actually have one TV station which "broadcast" in the calender year, 1939. I put this in heavy quotations because no actual footage remains of what the Nazis aired on their TV station. Some interviews with old technicians are reasonably interesting, but the subtitles are annoying and take up half the screen, thus obliterating the subjects' faces!

The documentary explains that with the coming of World War II, television was put on the back burner while Nazis marauded over Europe, gassed millions of "inferior races" and invaded most of the rest of Europe. Again, one is stupefied that anyone saw fit to make a film of this topic when there really is nothing to say. A curious exercise and a frustrating experience for the viewer.