May 31, 2018

The Ben Rhodes clip has "Downfall" potential.

This is the first example I've seen...



... but the opportunities are big. There is however a long way to go to match the "Downfall" parodies, of which there are thousands:
One scene in the film, in which Hitler launches into a furious tirade upon finally realizing that the war is lost, has become a staple of internet videos.....

The film's director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, spoke positively about these parodies in a 2010 interview with New York magazine, saying that many of them were funny and they were a fitting extension of the film's purpose: "The point of the film was to kick these terrible people off the throne that made them demons, making them real and their actions into reality. I think it's only fair if now it's taken as part of our history, and used for whatever purposes people like."...

In October 2010, YouTube stopped blocking Downfall-derived parodies. Corynne McSherry, an attorney specializing in intellectual property and free speech issues for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said: "All the Downfall parody videos that I've seen are very strong fair use cases and so they're not infringing, and they shouldn't be taken down." ....

52 comments:

David Begley said...

Ohhh! Great idea. Mock the traitor Ben Rhodes.

As our man Saul said, “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”

mezzrow said...

"I don't care who y'are, that's funny."

David Begley said...

Obama hired Rhodes because they had a mind meld on foreign policy. It is now clear that Rhodes is no Rhodes Scholar.

One of the best thing about the Trump presidency is that it has exposed what failures and idiots we suffered through for eight years. Let’s check the news. North Korea talks opened, Trump pardons Black boxer Jack Johnson. Trump signed legislation yesterday allowing terminally ill people to try experimental drugs. At least one million new votes there. But Russia!

Obama was a total and complete failure.

Ralph L said...

I saw one with the Titanic song, "My Heart will Go On."

It's hard to be the bean bag baller to "I will always love you."

dreams said...

Though if they mock Obama, it's racist.

Ralph L said...

Titanic Rhodes

Hunter said...

I enjoyed the version with sad Hulk theme.

gspencer said...

"I can't, I can't even put it into words"

Well, I can, "Your frappin' lefty lunatic loon LOST"

She was utterly rejected. Along with your awful party. Eight years of Obama and the Ds lost >1000 legislative seats. That oughta tell ya that lefty politics, when put to the test, lose, explaining why D candidates have to lie or hide their policy agendas and why the lefties always turn to the courts.

Lloyd W. Robertson said...

Don't get me started on Downfall parodies. My favourite is when Hitler is told that when you search "Hitler," all you get is the parodies. Of course he is upset that he is getting no credit for mass killings, pure evil, etc. but then he rants about what a disappointment the internet is, mainly because of the pathetic people who are its heaviest users. "I had such high hopes for original Web content." Where are the really creative people? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vMUvgce_5s&feature=player_embedded

Loren W Laurent said...

The HBO show was supposed to be a Victory Lap.

Slowly circle the field, wave to the crowd, smile, bask, think about what you're going to say when you finish: something somewhat humble, but -- yeah -- I fucking won.

Unfortunately, three-quarters of the way into the Victory Lap -- he's past the last turn, the microphone is waiting -- Ben Rhodes shits himself.

You never shit yourself in your Victory Lap.

And now he is in front of the crowd, and he is having an out-of-body experience: I can't believe I just shit myself on my Victory Lap. This can' be happening, everyone is watching: I need to stay composed, stay composed, but I shit myself, maybe they won't notice, but how can they not notice? I fucking shit myself in front of everybody during my victory lap.

There is no graceful way to get off the field when you have just shit yourself in front of everybody during your Victory Lap.

LWL

Quaestor said...

The film's director, Oliver Hirschbiegel, spoke positively about these parodies in a 2010 interview with New York magazine, saying that many of them were funny and they were a fitting extension of the film's purpose: "The point of the film was to kick these terrible people off the throne that made them demons, making them real and their actions into reality

Hirchbeigel (Deer bagel? What the hell is that? Venison-flavored boiled dough?) has either not seen the "Hitler finds out..." vids or he has a brain tumor. Virtually none of them are a "fitting extension of the film's purpose". Some of them take on "terrible people" (as in...guess who!) but most just have a jolly old time with pop culture.

Humperdink said...

The first parodies were hilarious. After that, they went stale for me. I suspect one of mocking the Big O's menstruation (sic) would renew my interest.

tim in vermont said...

Ridiculing Hitler is a fitting use of the clip. I think Deer Bagel made that pretty clear.

CWJ said...

That's funny!!! Now I will have to watch the original. Compared to this, I suspect I'll find it disappointing.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

OT: What Happened to Jill Stein’s Recount Millions?

rehajm said...

Deer bagel? What the hell is that?

Coffee snort cleanup now complete I shall speculate they are in the case next to the JFK jelly donuts.

Perhaps the dopamine from Rhodes and this post will last through the day. (Now I know how you feel, leftie leftie media consumers.)

Wince said...

As tendentious but perhaps more revealing, is Showtime's The Fourth Estate, a "behind the scenes" look at the NYT.

You literally see how the personal biases are encoded in their coverage.

David Blaska said...

Would be fun to rank the Downfall parodies. My favorite is the one where Der Fuehrer is poring over the maps planning his next motorcycle trip when the stricken aides inform him that they were unable to rent a Harley and instead could only acquire a Honda Gold Wing.

I'm Full of Soup said...

EDH said:
"As tendentious but perhaps more revealing, is Showtime's The Fourth Estate, a "behind the scenes" look at the NYT.

You literally see how the personal biases are encoded in their coverage."

And the NYT's Julie Davis depicted that perfectly the other night when she whined that a little boy was yelling "fake news" at her at the Trump rally in Tenn and the next day she reports there were only 1,000 people at the rally and had to corect it aftee the fire marshal said there were 5,500. Davis acted as if she had simply made an honest mistake with here undercount of almost 85%.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

David (Iowahawk) Burge's comment on the Rhodes clip was “it takes a heart of stone not to laugh your ass off.”

bwebster said...

OK, that really was cleverly done and funny.

Known Unknown said...

Lonesome Rhodes.

gilbar said...

"Deer bagel? What the hell is that?"

i assume it's kinda like a bear claw?

narciso said...

Ah Julie I call her part of the hobby sixer or as with mark landler tiger near crew, it's gone to be a long 8 years for them.

Wilbur said...

For lawyers: the Hitler parody on International Shoe is the best I've seen.

MountainMan said...

It's a shame that most people only know "Downfall" from the parodies. It is an outstanding film. It is based on the memoir of Traudl Junge, Hitler's last private secretary. She was in the bunker during the last days and the film is considered the most accurate portrayal of his final hours. Well worth your time if you have an interest. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

I agree many of the early parodies were very funny but I have found them to have gotten a little less interesting as time goes on.

Sebastian said...

I, I, I can't even.

Quaestor said...

It is based on the memoir of Traudl Junge, Hitler's last private secretary.

I prefer The Bunker, televised on HBO in 1981. It was based on the book of the same title authored by James P. O'Donnell, the first American journalist to visit the Reichskanzlei bunker after the surrender. O'Donnell spent 25 years tracking down and interviewing bunker survivors, including Junge, Speer, Misch, Hentschel, Bauer, and Otto Günsche — Hitler's aide, and the last person to see him alive.

Jason said...

Call your doctor if your Schadenboner persists for more than four hours.

KG2V said...

My favorite Parody is the one on GIT, but if you aren't a software developer, it will not be funny at all

tcrosse said...

What a great loss to humanity that there are no videos of H>er reaction to having lost. Comedy gold !

Birches said...

That was a fantastic clip. I liked it so much I watched it twice. For someone who didn't even vote for Trump, I still get enormous satisfaction from reliving election night.

My name goes here. said...

Is a Deer Bagel something like the southern end of a northbound deer?

I mean it is the German language we are talking about here.

DrMaturin said...

It is based on the memoir of Traudl Junge, Hitler's last private secretary.

I always found this a paradox. Hitler was a monster in so many ways, yet apparently was a kind boss and his secretaries adored him. You see this in the opening scene of Downfall when Junge is auditioning for the secretary job. In her nervousness she makes a mistake and Hitler merely smiles and says "Let's try that again". While he is burning down half the world.

Mountain Maven said...

When Corey Booker and Chelsea Clinton are Rhodes scholars, they have become a joke.

Browndog said...

I've watched every one I ever ran across. Some are meh-, but some are absolutely brilliant, which keeps you coming back for more.

This is the first time I've heard them referred to as "downfall" videos.

chickelit said...

All rhoades led to Obama.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...


"Call your doctor if your Schadenboner persists for more than four hours."

Or four years.

wildswan said...

I saw the whole movie and the pictures one remembers seem to me to completely contradict the theme. The theme is about idealistic millennials - Samantha Powers, Ben Rhodes - losing to Donald Trump. But in the pictures it's about idealistic millennials having ideals that don't work.

It starts with Samantha Powers and Ben Rhodes talking about how they want to get away from reflexively using military power and how they want to involve other nations. But you go along in the video and you get Samantha Powers talking about Boko Haram kidnapping school girls and how after two years still no one has done anything. Meaning that her approach isn't working although she doesn't see it that way. So she goes over into the territory and talks to suffering people and draws attention to the problem. But still nothing is done. She doesn't lead and no one else does either. She doesn't want to use military power and no one else does either. She's talking the whole time about how someone should do something. Yes, Samantha, someone should. And so ... then?
The same thing happens with Syria. A deal is made with the Russians and everyone else to allow aid to civilians in besieged city. Then the Russians bomb the aid convoy and deny they did it. Samantha says in the UN to the Russians: "Have you no shame?" But no, these Russian leaders at this time on this issue have no shame. So Samantha, what are you and Ben Rhodes going to do for the Syrians? Nothing.

Then comes the loss to Trump. Rhodes is speechless. He did not see it coming. And Powers says she will not "go gentle into that good night." As we know she began illegally unmasking American citizens who were Trump supporters and were being followed by dubious FISA warrants.

In other words, in some ways this is a movie made by millennials about millennials. It suggests that their vision doesn't work because they know too little history and they just don't see other kinds of people. Abroad they are unable to confront enemies who don't hesitate to use military power; at home they can't imagine any good person disagreeing with them. They don't know that trade policies have taken away jobs; energy policies have taken away jobs; regulations have taken away jobs; illegal immigrants have taken away jobs. There's no unemployment caused by left policies, there's only racist misogynist homophobic Christians, etc. who voted for Trump because they are deplorable garbage people who unfortunately get to vote, say what they think and carry guns.

Quayle said...

What I see when I watch the video is a typica person who was the one he’d been waiting for to lead from behind.

Gone from leading from behind, to sitting on his behind, waiting for the person for whom he’d been waiting, to finally show up and deal with the events of the evening.

(I think people smarter than I call it ‘processing emotions from behind.’)

SweatBee said...

Samantha Power and Ben Rhodes are both Gen X, though.

langford peel said...

I remember the great Downfall parody that the Evil Blogger Lady made about Althouse when she closed her comments.

Maybe you should link to that.

Clyde said...

@ wildswan - Samantha Power was born in 1970. Most decidedly not a Millennial.

Bay Area Guy said...

Very good clip! Well done!

I do feel a bit of sympathy for Mr. Rhodes. Unlike the media dipshits who were blindsided by the victory, Rhodes genuinely feels the pain. He understands the significance of the moment, what was lost (in his view), and what the future steamroller will look like.

Hey, sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug.
I give it 3 stars (out of 4).

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

DrMaturin said...

It is based on the memoir of Traudl Junge, Hitler's last private secretary.

I always found this a paradox. Hitler was a monster in so many ways, yet apparently was a kind boss and his secretaries adored him."

Recently, I was stunned when I found out that Ted Bundy worked the phone lines at a suicide prevention center, right next to Ann Rule, who later became a true crime writer and wrote a book about Bundy. His coworkers thought he was kind and sympathetic. He talked troubled people out of committing suicide. And then he left work and hunted down young women.

If you see yourself as a god - well, gods are both merciful and cruel. They can give life and take it away.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

exiledonmainstreet said...

If you see yourself as a god - well, gods are both merciful and cruel. They can give life and take it away.

We are.

And we can.

madAsHell said...

My first thought was man-up, but he's obviously several Xe's away from that.

He (Xe?) obviously enjoys the attention of the camera as well.

Christy said...

I'd love to see that Rhodes clip done to Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down"

You may run home for a long time
Run on for a long time
You may run home for a long time
But lemme tell you God Almighty's gonna cut you down
Go tell that long-tongued liar
Go tell that midnight rider
Tell the gambler, rambler, backbiter
Tell 'im God Almighty's gonna cut him down
...
You may throw a rock, hide your hand
Workin' in the dark against your fellow man
But sure as God has made the day and the night
What you do in the dark will be brought to light
...
What you reap, my brother, is what you sow
You may run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
You may run home for for a long time
But let me tell you God Almighty's gonna cut you down

Josephbleau said...

The best Downfall is Hitler planning his visit to Burning Man.

Zach said...

Hitler was a monster in so many ways, yet apparently was a kind boss and his secretaries adored him.

Hitler was extremely egotistical and self centered, and he certainly approved of violence in the abstract and ordered it many times from afar, but he wasn't personally violent. He was a ranter, not a fighter. And a secretary who is literally paid to hang on his every word isn't exactly threatening to the ego.

Apparently, he spent most nights in the Fuehrerbunker endlessly expounding his opinions on art, history, etc, until three or four in the morning to anyone who would listen, then slept past noon. Basically, the life of a spoiled college student.

Zach said...

In a lot of ways, Hitler is like Robespierre -- a colossal bore who didn't really have a life outside of radical politics.

chickelit said...

langford peel said...I remember the great Downfall parody that the Evil Blogger Lady made about Althouse when she closed her comments.

Maybe you should link to that.


Here you go!