This was an interesting doc on the famous scholar of tyranny and authoritarianism. I knew of her work on this, but also knew of her contradiction in endorsing authoritarianism in the United States with her support for Jim Crow laws in the American South (her views on feminism and human rights are also sketchy). The fact that she was driven out of Germany for the same reasons, but could easily defend American race laws has always put her at arms-length with me. Learning about her liberal zionist sentiments gave me insights to how she holds these different views—though it was unfortunate that the documentary did not cover the above controversial views that she held, the most it goes is the fallout over her coverage of the Eichmann trial. Certainly she was not the only Jewish refugee from Germany to hold such views, but it is disappointing that one who should know better felt so comfortable with the moral hypocrisy (and yet she could not understand how her idol Martin Heidegger could be an unrepentant Nazi).
The documentary does not give a thorough outline of her opinions or works, but a rough, safe look at the most notable points of her life & career. I was surprised this documentary got made at all given the current crackdown on anything with US funding that criticizes totalitarianism, fascism, and the like. Arendt came to the USA as she thought it was the only free democratic multicultural country, but the Cold War and Red Scare showed her how easily the empire embraced totalitarianism.
As surface level informative as this documentary is, it skips and glosses over too much for my taste.
No comments:
Post a Comment