Friday, May 29, 2015

Case Study No. 1992: Unnamed Male Librarian (Der Untergang)

Hitler's Library
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Tags: Hitler Library funny
Added: 3 years ago
From: TheLooneytunes5000
Views: 80

[scene opens with a male "Nazi librarian" speaking to Adolf Hitler]
LIBRARIAN: [translated] I'm afraid you're going to have to shut up. This is a library.
HITLER: [translated] What!? How dare you tell me to "shut up?" You shut up!
[the librarian stares at him blankly]
HITLER: [translated] Besides, this is my library! That's a fact! You stroll in here and tell me to shut up, right after I name you Librarian of the Year? Nonsense!
[Hitler points at the librarian]
HITLER: [translated] You stink as a librarian!
[he begins pounding his fist on the desk]
HITLER: [translated] You're fired! You're fired! You're fired!
[the librarian speaks to him calmly]
LIBRARIAN: [translated] I was only following orders ... Your orders.
HITLER: [translated] And you think I didn't know that? I was just testing you! Good job!

---

From knowyourmeme.com:

Downfall, also known as "Hitler Finds Out..." or "Hitler Reacts To..." is a series of parody-subtitled videos based on a pinnacle scene from Der Untergang (2004), a German WWII drama revisiting the last ten days of Adolf Hitler's life and eventual suicide in his Berlin underground bunker. Due to the film's international success and Bruno Ganz' haunting portrayal of the Nazi dictator, numerous segments from the movie soon fell fodder to hilarious parodies on YouTube, spawning hundreds of anachronistically subtitled videos of Hitler getting upset over topical events and trivial gossip.

Origin
Der Untergang is a 2004 German war epic film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and based on the book "Inside Hitler's Bunker." In the climax scene, Hitler (played by Bruno Ganz) hears from his generals that the final counter-offensive against the Soviets never took place and Germany's defeat is imminent. Hitler then orders everyone to leave except the four highest-rank generals, who oblige and listen nervously to his breakdown.

Viral Instance
The earliest known subtitle spoof of Downfall was uploaded by YouTube user DReaperF4 on August 10th, 2006. Titled "Sim Heil: Der untersim" and subbed in Spanish, the video shows Hitler fuming over the lack of new features in the demo trial of Microsoft's Flight Simulator X, which was released in October 2006.

On August 30th, DReaperF4 uploaded the English sub version of "Sim Heil" after popular request in the comments, making the joke accessible to the rest of Flight Sim fans on YouTube. The original YouTube video was deleted upon copyright claim by the film studio on December 26, 2009, as documented by MIT's YouTomb project.

Spread
There are over a thousand estimated derivative videos with subtitles in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and many many other languages, typically discussing topical events and trivial news or gossip.

In April 2009, YouTube channel HitlerRantsParodies was launched to serve as an archival platform and forum for the parody community at large. As of January 2012, the channel remains in active service with over 560 uploads and 29 million views, averaging 29,000 views a day. However, many of the videos on the channel lost their original view counts after a wave of takedowns in April 2011.

Director's Approval
On January 15th, 2010, New York Magazine's entertainment blog Vulture interviewed Hirschbiegel, asking his opinion of how the scene has been used online:

"Someone sends me the links every time there's a new one ... I think I've seen about 145 of them! Of course, I have to put the sound down when I watch. Many times the lines are so funny, I laugh out loud, and I'm laughing about the scene that I staged myself! You couldn't get a better compliment as a director."

Production Company's Disapproval
Despite the film's director seeing the remixes in a positive light, the production company did not approve of their footage being used in this manner. On April 19th, 2010, TechCrunch, BoingBoing and LaughingSquid reported that Constantin Films began sending DMCA takedown notices to YouTube. On April 21st, the AP reported that Martin Moszkowicz, head of film and TV at Constantin films in Munich, finds many of the parodies distasteful and trivial in light of the seriousness of the Holocaust and World War II.

Resurgence of Downfall Parodies
Shortly after the beginning of YouTube takedowns, Downfall parodies saw its greatest resurgence in number of uploads, possibly as a result of Streisand Effect. By mid-2010, thousands of such parodies still remained online, including many in which a self-aware Hitler, angry that people keep making or taking down Downfall parodies.

During this extensive period of censorship, many contributors began applying the "mirror effect" on their parody uploads, flipping the original clip before adding subtitles, in order to bypass YouTube's visual-based copyright detection software. In October 2010, the Downfall Parodies Forum users reported that Constantin Film Studio put an end to its YouTube blockade on Downfall-derived parody videos, even placing advertisements on some of them.

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