Hollywood and the Holocaust

Henry Gonshak

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2015
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781442252240
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Holocaust History

The Holocaust has been the focus of countless films in the United States, Great Britain, and Europe, and its treatment over the years has been the subject of considerable controversy. When finally permitted to portray the atrocities, filmmakers struggled with issues of fidelity to historical fact, depictions of graphic violence, and how to approach the complexities of the human condition on all sides of this horrific event.

In Hollywood and the Holocaust, Henry Gonshak explores portrayals of the Holocaust from the World War II era to the present. In chapters devoted to films ranging from The Great Dictator to InglouriousBasterds, this volume looks at how these films have shaped perceptions of the Shoah. The author also questions if Hollywood, given its commercialism, is capable of conveying the Holocaust in ways that do justice to its historical trauma. Through a careful consideration of over twenty-five films across genres—including Life Is Beautiful, Cabaret, The Reader, The Boys from Brazil, and Schindler's List—this book provides an important look at the social, political, and cultural contexts in which these movies were produced.

By also engaging with the critical responses to these films and their role in the public's ongoing fascination with the Holocaust, this book suggests that viewers take a closer look at how such films depict this dark period in world history. Hollywood and the Holocaust will be of interest to cultural critics, historians, and anyone interested in the cinema's ability to render these tragic events on screen.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Can Hollywood Get It Right?
• The Little Tramp Battles Hitler
• Actors versus Nazis
• Hollywood Fights World War II
• Hollywood Discovers the Holocaust
• Hollywood Judges the Germans
• Hollywood’s Holocaust Survivor
• The Holocaust on the Horizon
• Hollywood Holocaust Thrillers
• The Holocaust’s Non-Jewish Victims
• Choiceless Choice
• Spielberg Reinvents the Holocaust
• Moral Ambiguity in the Holocaust
• White Lies
• The Nazis’ Successors
• Mutant Holocaust Survivors, or the Anti-American Sin of Pessimism
• Kids Befriending Kids in the Holocaust
• Shagging Nazis and Other Postwar German Adventures
• No Sheep to the Slaughter
• Cartoon Jewish Revenge
• Where Do We Go from Here?
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Further Reading
• Index
• About the Author