Not too bad looking for a Nazi butcher, eh? Image courtesy of
http://photos.lucywho.com/leni-riefenstahl-photos-t32917.html
Leni Riefenstahl has long been one of my favorite directors. I know, you’re warming up the tar and plucking the feathers. Hold up a minute though. Let me explain myself. I enjoy propaganda – as an art form. I think if you look at it, knowing what it is, and just try to appreciate its imagery and its camera magic, you can find beauty in it. Take for example some of the poster art from the Soviet Revolution. Square jawed men and voluptuous women carrying rakes and hoes – looking skyward – the beauteous proletariat.
Early on, in the development of the Concentration Camp System that eventually became Operation Reinhard – the Final Solution, Ms. Riefenstahl was asked to make a film which would show the world how well the Third Reich treated its inmates. Some of the most horrific places the world has ever known, were made up to look like playgrounds and vacation resorts. Starving people were fed, clothed and ordered to look happy. Gardens were planted and playgrounds full of happy children were erected. The rest is simply Leni’s genius with a 16mm.
I’ve seen this film, and knowing what I know about the Camps, I find the thing hilarious.
Well, I just saw CCA’s version of Ms. Riefenstahl’s masterpiece, and I thought it would be entertaining for you to see, as well. CCA – Corrections Corporation of America, a company that believes that Dickens’ London was a pretty cool place – has a version on their Web site, which I’ve stolen. Now, I will give you the site as a credit for the intellectual property, and I really don’t condone the stealing of same, but we are talking about America’s largest private prison conglomerate. If the worst thing that ever happens to these Sus scrofa domestici (look it up.) is that somebody steals their videos, then there’s truly no justice in the world.
[wpvideo qB1COR2p]
Video courtesy of http://www.cca.com/
Oh, by the way. The captions are mine. I promised you I’d caption every video and CCA never would bother to caption this because, well – they just don’t care.