For the group presentations held on Wednesday March 26, my group was assigned the introduction part of Frank Tomasulo’s “The Mass Psychology of Fascist Cinema.” After giving the presentation, I still feel the need to write about this essay. The purpose of this essay was to refocus the discussion about the film “Triumph of the Will.” This discussion should be evoked by the text of the film, which is actually more important than it seems. Tomasulo wrote that during the elections of the 1930’s, Hitler gained most of his support from the lower class. This support is ironic, considering Hitler wants to suppress the lower class as much as possible. But like children, the lower class of Germany’s society seemed likely to be brainwashed. Hitler appealed to them by making himself an icon and a father-figure. The lower class just really wanted to be united with the rest of the country, and they thought this achievable by making the country similar to a family. By Hitler becoming the “father of the country,” then the lower class would relate more to him, not his goals. In the documentary “Triumph of the Will” the director Leni Riefenstahl films Hitler like he is standing on the ground. We see the audience of children above him, almost like they are standing on platforms. Riefenstahl uses the text of her filming to make Hitler seem more down to earth and more appealing to the lower class.

Tomasulo also talks about the meanings taken from the swastika. At first the swastika portrayed copulation, which means to engage in sexual intercourse. This meaning makes some sense, because Hitler and the Nazi’s tried to destroy all homosexual people. Maybe his symbol stood for his beliefs as well? After all, Hitler did try to wipe out the entire gay-community. The swastika could have been Hitler’s way of expressing his frustration at homosexual people, his own personal hatred of different people. And yet it’s so sad that so many people tattooed this image on their bodies, cut this image into their skin, shaved this image into their hair- did they even know what was the meaning behind the swastika? The other option, as Tomasulo said, was that the meaning of the swastika changed into portraying a windmill, which meant work. This explanation also makes sense. Hitler either killed people or turned them into his slaves, making them work day and night. Either way, both meaning of the swastika have a negative effect. In the documentary, however, Riefenstahl shows no hesitation in filming the swastika every chance she gets. At this rally, no one knows the meaning behind the swastika. It could have been sexual intercourse, or work, or slavery, or anything else for that matter. It just goes back to being a national symbol, making the people feel united with their country. The swastika stands for Germany like a mascot stands for a basketball team. The director sees this connection and wants everyone to come out and support their German team. It’s too bad the fans have no idea they are rooting for the team who doesn’t care about the final championship game, which the team only cares about murdering their opponents.