Expressionism: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

At first glance the Doctor Caligari movie appears to be boring if we look at it from our current day’s perspective. However when we take in to consideration the time that it was filmed in, we can clearly see how it relates to that time period. There is a scene where Caligari goes to apply for a permit to operate a booth at the fair. He is very polite and patient until he noticed that the clerk is done attending the other people that where there. He gets up and goes towards the clerk official sitting on an absurdly large stool. The clerk yells at him to sit-down and calls him a fool.  After all the waiting is He is rudely dismissed by a minor official.

I choose this scene because it reminded me of my visits to the motor vehicle department. The clerks treat you like you are a bother to them and speak to you like you are a fool if there is anything missing or left unfilled on your paperwork. I also think that the clerk is showed in the absurdly large stool to portray his higher authority. He was elevated above Dr. Caligari to show that he had power over him. I believe the scene reflects the corruption of power in the German government and like the rest of the movie it shows people suffering the abused of the authorities. in this case the evil Dr, Caligari was trying to do the proper thing which is to apply for a permit to operate his both only to be ridiculed and denied his right to his per mint because the official disapprove of the show. In the same way the whole movie is about power and control.

1. Dr. Caligari has power and control over Cesar in the same way the German government had power and control thru the used of mass media also know as their propaganda machine.

2. The profit motive affects cultural production in the modern age in the same way it affected film production back then. The screenplay is change from what ever it was to something that will sell box-office tickets without regards to how those changes affect or completely change the intended message of the story. Like they say:, “it’s all about the Benjamins."

3. I believe the Frankfurt School's elitism regarding mass culture is simply part of what is normal. The only way people will understand what the Frankfurt school is trying to teach the public is if the people have a certain level of education, and so inevitably the message only reaches the few people who are educated enough to understand it.

4. I believe the three aspects of the film that relate to the attributes of the culture industry are first is  the fact that  original story intent is changed in the movie in favor for a n ending that can appeal to the masses and second because the change was drive to generate more revenue. Third  is the changing of the meaning of the story. By changing the ending of the story, Francis became a crazy person and Caligari   the hero of the story. In essence removing the anti-war message and reinforcing traditional authority.  

5. Kracauer interprets the film as a choice between chaos and anarchy because he believes that expressing freedom as the carnival is really the desire to go back to the pre-industrial past. and that the circular movements of the merry-go-round and the organ grinder's arm as he plays his music box are supposed to symbolize chaos.

6. There was increased pressure to develop the German film industry after the First World War because Germany's economy was struggling to survive due to the peace Treaty of Versailles which stated that Germany had to de-industrialize large segments of its economy. As a result Film was then seen as a very important export for Germany's economy.

7. I do not agree with the claim that expressionism breeds excessive inwardness and withdrawal. One only needs to look at the United States for example. We are made up of many cultures and we all express our individualism and at the same time we all unify by the same core believes of freedom and the pursue of happiness.

8.  According to Kracauer the film foreshadow the Nazi regime because it illustrated the unsolvable dilemma facing the German people during the 1920s. They had to choose between tyranny on the one hand and chaos on the other.

9. Praxis is the fusion of theory and practice. It relate to cultural criticism because it elicit the practical enrollment of the philosophers. Praxis calls on the cultural critics to get involve and shake things up and not just critique from the sidelines or from seclusion.