Art, Immigration, and Hitler

This is an article featured in Glendale Community College Magazine.

Is art powerful enough to bridge the gap of polarizing beliefs? Could art help mediate conversation that promotes mutual compromise and respect? I set out to spark conversation amongst Glendale Community College students on the topic of immigration. I had the opportunity to speak to students and faculty, some shared their story of immigrating to the U.S. illegally due to war, violence, and poverty. Many shared stories of family members escaping unlivable circumstances, in hopes of re-rooting somewhere safe. Teenagers incarcerated at the border, escaping gang recruitment. Waging wars, where the sounds of bomb explosions permanently echo in one’s memory years later. I used the speech recited by Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator to humanize the immigrant story and begin conversation. Even for those unaffected by the ICE raids, DACA threats, and the culture shock involved in immigrating to a new country, the words still resonated.

Throughout history, individuals have used political art to critique society and the world around them. In some cases, artists cause such controversy to the point of being exiled or inciting riots. In a contemporary setting, citizens are exposed to a plethora of information and visuals through smartphones. Now, more than ever is it important to be aware of what language and visuals are used as propaganda. The Great Dictator was a film meant to capture the attention at a global scale, holding tyranny accountable.

Charlie Chaplin is well-known for his roles in black and white silent films, usually with a comedic style. It was 1939 and it was the cusp of World War II, when the Nazis successfully invaded Poland. Chaplin’s nation of Great Britain had declared to enter the war, while he remained in the U.S. (at the time remaining idle). By filming a commentary of dictatorship and war in a satirical tone, it transformed the topic to be more approachable. He created an awareness and call to action for the U.S. The film depicted the common people experiencing oppression and discrimination by the soldiers.

Ultimately Chaplin wanted to empower individuals to dismantle greed and pursue liberty for all, as evident when he says, “The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people.” That mentality focuses on the power of humility.

Art challenges individuals to ask, why?
I followed Charlie Chaplin’s lead by approaching the topic of immigration with humility, attempting to evoke a sense of unity. When I spoke to students and faculty, I had the idea of having individuals recite the speech from The Great Dictator in their own language. They read of the entirety of the speech piece by piece as a collective and diverse group. I wanted to honor the immigrant story with the words recited 78 years ago critiquing Hitler’s dictatorship, but in a modern context to dismantle labels of “alien” and “criminal”. The result was a five-minute video of 27 GCC Students and Faculty speaking in Swedish, Spanish, Tagalog, Japanese, Sign-Language, Armenian, And Italian.

Some of the participants already shared a similar story and for those that didn’t they connected and found empathy when asked about undocumented citizens. They described the experience to be one of survival, culture-shock, loss, hope, and strength. They participated in re-writing the labels placed on immigrants.

Art has also been used as propagandist means of control throughout history.
Inevitably we interact with others in a society as a collective network; a shared construct of reality. Sometimes tyrannical leaders tap into the psyche of citizens to create their own ideal version of reality. Adolf Hitler recognized the need to proclaim national identity and the residual nostalgia from World War 1, as explained by Hayk Rostomyan, T.V. production major. Hitler knew that propaganda is a tool used to control the public perception, scapegoating the Jewish people.

“Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people…Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea.” Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf (1926).

Nationalist propaganda was arguably the catalyst that the Nazi’s utilized to rile the masses into an invasion. There are parallels evident in the current U.S. president’s language that are xenophobic, or the fear that creates distrust towards a group of people.

“They’re taking our jobs. They’re taking our manufacturing jobs. They’re taking our money. They’re killing us.” President Donald Trump spoke regarding Mexicans in 2015.

The semantics trickle into conversations, especially in a technologically advanced era. According to Satistica, Twitter is a platform that reaches 336 million users globally, and 68 million in the US (making up approximately 22% of the total population).

Xenophobic attitudes have existed all throughout American history, escalating to a level of deeply rooted attitudes towards immigrants. This is seen in “The Unrestricted Dumping Ground” a political cartoon from 1903 depicting Italian immigrants as rats that will infest the country with socialist ideas and mafias. Meanwhile, Uncle Sam is depicted as a knight in shining armor that is defending the country, with a sword in hand. He has developed into a personified symbol of America, embodying a patriotic spirit and deep pride.

What if someone presented Uncle Sam in a different light? It would challenge the symbol that persisted throughout time.
That is what I set out to do by painting Uncle Sam in a more abrasive, striking, and demon-like manner, in order to create a sense of shock and discomfort. It sets the tone to unravel the uncomfortable truths.
Whether the information comes from a news outlet, social media app, art gallery, or casual conversation the repetition of an idea becomes cemented as a collective societal unconscious. In sociological terms it becomes anomie, defined by a “lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group.”
Becoming aware of what those prevailing ideas are, becomes one of the most powerful tools in a democracy. It may feel like an unachievable state with the recent immigration policies enforced by the Trump Administration, but consciousness could encourage potential partisan understanding.