Nazisploitation!: The Nazi Image in Low-Brow Cinema and Culture

by Elizabeth Bridges (Editor), Kristin T. Vander Lugt (Editor)

Nazisploitation! examines past intersections of National Socialism and popular cinema and the recent reemergence of this imagery in contemporary visual culture. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, films such as Love Camp 7 and Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS introduced and reinforced the image of Nazis as master paradigms of evil in what film theorists deem the 'sleaze' film. More recently, Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, as well as video games such as Call of World at War, have reinvented this iconography for new audiences. In these works, the violent Nazi becomes the hyperbolic caricature of the "monstrous feminine" or the masculine sadist. Power-hungry scientists seek to clone the Fuhrer, and Nazi zombies rise from the grave.

The history, aesthetic strategies, and political implications of such translations of National Socialism into the realm of commercial, low brow, and 'sleaze' visual culture are the focus of this book. The contributors examine when and why the Nazisploitation genre emerged as it did, how it establishes and violates taboos, and why this iconography resonates with contemporary audiences.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, History, BDSM

336 pages, Hardcover

First published November 24, 2011

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty mixed bag of essays, some fairly interesting, some not really, focusing on Nazi trash cinema of the 60's through today. I'd seen a lot of the movies that they discussed and I've always been interested in the ways the lurid garbage can sometimes shed a strangely nuanced light on reality.
There were a surprising number of articles about The Night Porter, which I can see as a reference point, but I had never before really thought of as being exploitative as much as using the Holocaust as a touchstone point for extreme circumstances, but maybe that is really the most exploitative form of reference.
Anyway, some of these articles are really well written, especially ones on Inglorious Basterds, Shock Waves, and Salon Kitty. A few of the others just seem to be cataloging, which is not all that important to me.
I do want to read the Susan Sontag article so many of these essays use as a frame of reference though, so that's something to take away.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This compilation of essays provides looks at the seedy underbelly of Western/American popular culture. Each author examines how a twisted portrayal of Nazis in popular culture has become an industry standard within their own area of expertise, from the 60s era torture porns to current mainstream outlets. There seems to be no end of WWII coverage in the United States, but this collection offers a different approach. Rather than making a case for the historical accuracy or inaccuracy of the characters and events they portray, the authors examine these tropes as products of their time - pieces of our culture that reflect the anxieties and atmospheres from which they came. There is no doubt that the works in question are sleazy (at best), so the question is not an argument over their artistic merit, but what their existence means. Why do we keep recreating and exploiting the atrocities of the WWII? Is there a pattern? What does it say about us? Those are the questions at the heart of this collection.

Taken as a whole, Nazisploitation! makes up one of the first published works that attempts to draw on all aspects of mass media to create a fuller picture of the pervasiveness of this Nazi image. These essays cover five main genres – literature analysis, sexual theory, the study of pornography, mainstream film analysis, and fashion studies. That said, I found some more interesting than others, but I suspect that’s dependant on your own personal interests. I used many of the essays to support my grad school thesis while others had little to do with my topic (and I didn’t spend much time on them). While the coverage is far from exhaustive, it is notable for providing a new approach to what is probably the most heavily covered topic in US history. Read as a starting point for further research, this collection is quite impressive and, I’m sure, controversial.

[Peter Tupper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating anthology on a scorned and misunderstood genre of film, also touching on Nazi images in video games and comic books.

My only real criticism is that there are only a few mentions of the Israeli Stalag novels of the 1960s.

[Jeff Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do a podcast about World War II movies, and was recently struggling to explain the concept of “Nazisploitation,” hence coming across and ordering “Nazisploitation!: The Nazi Image in Lowbrow Cinema and Culture.” As other reviewers have noted, it’s a collection of academic essays addressing mostly movies, with a couple about video games and comic books.

On the plus side… it’s a comprehensive exploration of how and why this subgenre exists, and successfully makes the case for looking past the tastelessness to something more meaningful. Indeed, what does it say about their respective societies that these pop-culture items exist in the first place? And why are there so many thematic constants among them? For that matter, how can such portrayals of Nazism be both bombastically exaggerated yet also watered down?

On the minus side… well the book is a product of academia, meaning it’s sometimes afflicted with the academic disease, i.e., good ideas buried in language meant to repel outsiders while congratulating insiders.

On neither the plus nor minus side… many of the essays are preoccupied with sex (rather unavoidable when discussing softcore pornography, given), and the collection as a whole can be repetitive (e.g., how many goddamn times are they gonna mention “Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS” and “The Night Porter”?).

In conclusion, though, I’m just kind of glad this book exists at all, even if it’s not perfect.