Barghout,+Dina+Saad

Dina Barghout Historical Investigation 2010-2011 A. Plan of Investigation (WC: 119) The purpose of this investigation is to examine the extent of the accuracy portrayed in the 2009 movie //Inglourious Basterds//. The main portion of this investigation will consist in how the movie was accurate in portraying other aspects of the war, specifically the accuracy in how the Germans treated the Jews during the time of war. Although the lack of historical accuracy of how the war ended is obvious, other aspects of the movie will be inspected. The two main sources being used are an article from The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “The Holocaust” and an article //Inglourious Basterds// from “Slant Magazine”. A conclusion will be found as to what the similarities of WWII and the movie are. B. Summary of Evidence (WC: 475) In the article by The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, it gives a general overall summary of the holocaust. But specifically pertaining to treatment, the source states that most prisoners of war “were murdered or died of starvation, disease, neglect, or maltreatment.” It also talks about how concentration camps were formed to “detain real and imagined political and ideological opponents.”  The article mentions that the Germans targeted those that seemed like they didn’t fit the social norm, homosexuals, political opponents, and religious dissidents. The TIME article “//Inglourious Basterds:// Tarantino and the Jews Defeat Hitler!” states that this movie portrays what the majority generally ponders: “that the Third Reich had ended not in a bunker below the Reich Chancellor in Berlin….and that the Jews…might have had a crucial hand in his defeat.” The article expressed that this movie is a twist as to what could have happened if the war had ended a little differently-with the Nazi’s burning in a theater. When “Tarantino was asked if this was a “Jewish revenge fantasy,”” he replied that it was something that he had thought about, “the notion of Jews getting even with Hitler”. The article //Inglourious Basterds-Revenge, Evil, and Humanity// expresses that this movie makes us question “but in the end, what does the seeking of violent and revenge lead to? Through it all, we lose the essential traits that make us human beings.” “Another issue that //Inglourious Basterds// deals with is the ability to walk away from the wrong you have done.” This brings up the point of not forgiving others. Essentially, this review expresses that the movie loses our sense of humanity, and “instead of showing how horrible the holocaust was, it shows and in-depth look at the human beings involved”. In “Slant Magazine”, the article //Inglourious Basterds// provided an interesting outlook on the movie itself. First clarifying the position of the director, the article states that “everything is an allusion, a pose, in the films of Quentin Tarantino.” The article suggests that although the movie’s historical accuracy is obviously not correct, few factors are comparable. The deceit of the spies, portrayed by Bridget von Hammersmark, the fear in Shosanna’s eyes “when she learns she’s in the company of the man who killed her father”, and suspicion and lack of trust that fulfilled the area, as a simple event was taking place. C. Evaluation of Sources (WC: 317) The origin of this article is from The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which was established in 1993, however the article was last updated in April of 2010. The purpose of this article is to inform readers of the holocaust; it gives a general overview of the event. The value of this article to this investigation is that it describes the situations that the Jews were placed in very accurately and exemplifies what it would be like to be put into that circumstance. The limitation of this article however is that it mostly speaks from the German stand point: of how they tortured the Jews, instead of how this was inflicted on the Jews. Also, it’s general and brief, although informative; it doesn’t really go into detail about the specifics that happened during this horrific event. The origins of the article //Inglourious Basterds// in “Slant Magazine” was that it was published on August 17, 2009 by Ed Gonzalez. The purpose of this article is to review the movie, not only summarizing it, but giving the reader some background information on the director. The value of this article to this historical investigation is that it not only points out obvious flaws in the movie, such as its blunt lack of historical accuracy, but it compares certain aspects of the movie to the war, such as the fear, deceit, and suspicion that overwhelmed the environment and plagued the people. The limitation of this article is that most of it is irrelevant, and although he gives you background information of the director, this information is not necessarily a significant factor in the movie. Although the author’s opinion is integrated within the article, his thoughts of the director are also portrayed, but not vital. D. Analysis (WC: 429) It’s quite clear that the movie //Inglourious Basterds// was not created for historical evidence and accuracy. However, in some aspects, the movie’s accuracy was portrayed to an extreme precision. The way the Germans treated the Jews in the movie is accurate in several aspects. The movie shows that the Jews were constantly frightened, as they were faced with death so abruptly and constantly, just as Shosanna had been faced with “the Jew hunter” in a sitting of coffee, when the man, earlier in her life, had killed off all of her family members and had vowed that he will someday catch her as well. This situation is not only difficult to imagine, but it was accurate in the sense that the Jewish people’s risk of death was constantly high, and the promise of life was not evident, as “many…died as a result of incarceration and maltreatment.” Also, the movie was accurate in the sense that the Germans greatly valued loyalty. When the Jew hunter realized that Mrs. Hammersmark was a double agent, she was simply killed immediately, without hesitation. This was a result of seeking extreme control of the people, as the Nazi had done. Concentration camps are a valid example for the control that the Nazi’s achieved. They created these camps “to concentrate and monitor the Jewish population as well as to facilitate later deportation of the Jews…” Therefore, although the ending of Hitler dying in a theater with politically elite individual is vastly inaccurate, the relationship of the Jews and Germans in the movie is completely precise. The Germans stroked fear in the Jews with their extremist actions of control and their lack of fear to end a life. This is important today because as a social society, movies and other types of technological entertainment are a part of our daily life. Those that are inaccurately informed and ignorant of the true ending of World War II might understand the movie to be completely accurate. It’s important to differentiate between what is true and false as to not teach people inaccurate information. Furthermore, it’s interesting and informative to seek other outcomes of the second world war. Although the accuracy is uncertain, if Hitler had died in a Jewish theater, WWII would have hastily ended, considering most of the most important political leaders were in the theater as well. It’s enlightening to search “what if” questions in order to fully understand and comprehend the event itself. E. Conclusion (WC: 164) The purpose of this investigation was to explore the accuracy of the 2009 movie //Inglourious Basterds// and its historical accuracy. The accuracy of the how the movie evidently was incorrect, however this investigation focus on the exactitude of the relationships between the Jewish people and the Nazi Germans. Through the information given by the article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and with the ideas presented by the “Slant” magazine, it was concluded that this movie has historical importance. The Germans were aggressive with the Jews and that’s how they were presented in the movie, instantaneously destroying, and deceitfully killing the Jews in hiding. The Jews were electrocuted with fear, which is accurately presented in the lunch scene with Shosanna. Overall, the movie was generally a historical failure, exemplifying that Hitler died by a bombing in a theater while watching a nationalistic movie. However the minor details in the movie are extremely accurate and should be exemplified as to how times truly were. (Total WC: 1,531) F. List of Sources Works Cited Corliss, Richard, and Mary Corliss. “Inglourious Basterds: Tarantino and the Jews Defeat Hitler!” //TIME//. TIME, 20 May 2009. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. . Gonzalez, Ed. “Inglorious Basterds.” //Slant Magazine//. N.p., 17 Aug. 2009. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. . “The Holocaust.” //United States Holocaust Memorial Museum//. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1 Apr. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. . Lipovetsky, Josh. “Inglourious Basterds-Revenge, Evil, and Humanity.” //Film Insight//. Wordpress, 27 Nov. 2009. Web. 27 Sept. 2010. . Tarantino, Quentin, dir. //Inglourious Basterds//. Universal Pictures, The Weinstein Company, 2009. Film. “United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.” N.p., 2008. . Rpt. in //The Columbia Encyclopedia//. 6th ed. N.p.: n.p., 2008. N. pag. //Encyclopedia.com//. Web. 29 Oct. 2010.

"The Holocaust." //United States Holocaust Memorial Museum // //. // United States <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"> Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1 Apr. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143>. Ibid Corliss, Richard, and Mary Corliss. "Inglourious Basterds: Tarantino and the Jews Defeat Hitler!" //TIME//. TIME, 20 May 2009. Web. 18 Sept. 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1899812,00.html>. Ibid Lipovetsky, Josh. "Inglourious Basterds-Revenge, Evil, and Humanity." //Film// //Insight//. Wordpress, 27 Nov. 2009. Web. 27 Sept. 2010. <http://filminsight.net/2009/11/27/ inglourious-basterds-revenge-evil-and-humanity/>. ibid Gonzalez, Ed. "Inglorious Basterds." //Slant Magazine//. N.p., 17 Aug. 2009. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. <http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/ inglourious-basterds/4367>. ibid <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">"United States Holocaust Memorial Museum." N.p., 2008. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"> <http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/ United_States_Holocaust_Memorial_Museum.aspx>. Rpt. in //The Columbia// //Encyclopedia//. 6th ed. N.p.: n.p., 2008. N. pag. //Encyclopedia.com//. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">"The Holocaust." //<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">United States Holocaust Memorial Museum // <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">. United States <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"> Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1 Apr. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143>. ibid