In the post-WWII era, war films, comics, and pulp fiction often depicted fascists as the ultimate villains, and their casual killing was not only acceptable but actively encouraged, even in media aimed at children. From movies like The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Where Eagles Dare (1968) to TV shows like Combat! (1962–1967), the trope of the Nazi as a disposable enemy was firmly established. In British comics like Commando and Battle Picture Weekly, young readers were fed stories where British and Allied soldiers mowed down wave after wave of Germans with little moral introspection. The same went for American media, where heroes like Sergeant Rock in DC Comics or even Indiana Jones later on could kill Nazis with impunity, often with a quip or smirk. The portrayal wasn’t just about wartime propaganda lingering on, it was part of a broader cultural consensus that Nazis, as representatives of absolute evil, were beyond moral consideration. The idea that war films were cheap to make also played a role: stock footage, surplus equipment, and a clear, familiar villain meant studios could churn out films quickly and profitably. It wasn’t until much later, particularly after Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Band of Brothers (2001), that mainstream war media started portraying German soldiers with more nuance, distinguishing regular Wehrmacht from SS and showing the war from multiple perspectives. But for decades, gunning down Nazis was just good, clean entertainment, even for kids. It seems time to bring back old-school war films to Hollywood so as to reinforce this cultural firewall? A revival of simple, unapologetic Nazi-smashing stories because nuance ain't getting the job done.
Who was it who said, "the next war always starts soon after the last survivor of the last war passes away"...
There will be several similar sentiments but the back of my mind tells me it might have been Otto von Bismarck? saying very similar when warning people to not forget the horrors of war too quickly. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” is a quote by Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana. The quote appears in his 1905 book The Life of Reason. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare last year was pretty good. It should be re-released PG instead of R.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare only had a 15+ age rating in the United Kingdom, not their R equivalent.
Advocating violence (even subtly) while clinging to debunked falsehoods is the rhetorical kin of the Nazi Stürmer newspapers publishing the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a known antisemitic forgery, to justify pogroms. The Nazis didn’t merely ignore evidence the Protocols were fake; they weaponized the lie to dehumanize Jews, stoke paranoia, and normalize extermination.
You'd have made a fine Nazi. Trump weaponizes numerous lies to persuade you clueless dolts to attack the rights of minorities and neighboring countries.