The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Erich Fromm, etc etc

In analyzing the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I would like to draw upon two quotes from the biography of Erich Fromm. Both quotes reveal the depth of his research as well as profound insight into the problems of modern man. 
One of the first observations that can be made from the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the absurd and nightmarish ambiance of the fictional village, Holstenwall. Cinematically representing the artistic inspiration of the time, the film draws upon the realms of surrealism to be found in the German Expressionism and New Objectivity movements. 

It is quite obvious that we are not in the real world but in a dream. In the same way a dream never completely accurately recalls a place you might have lived in the past, but more often than not takes bits and pieces from your memory, of where you live now and perhaps a few other places you lived before, the village of Holstenwall is a jumbled mass of unrealistic and unproportional architecture. 

The central theme of the film seems to be (in)sanity. The question being, who is (in)sane? Is it the patient (Francis) or the doctor (Dr. Caligari)? 

In fact, many have dissected the plot further and believe the doctor is a symbol of the greater authority in society; And therefore the patient a symbol of the individual who is subservient to the authority figure. 

The warring ideals then become: Is the patient delusional? Are his experiences in fact nonexistent? Is it in fact the doctor who, though charged with overseeing and medicating society, is in fact poisoning society...Himself being insane? 

...Or, is it the patient who is insane? Perhaps the doctor is the omniscient "God-Father", who knows what is best for his children...Who can see what problems they have and how best to treat them? 

One of the most interesting things about the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is the influence it seems to have had on the psychological thriller/mindtrip genre, especially those whose basis is the question of (in)sanity, and even more so those who question insanity and/or personal freedom in a tightly controlled-by-the-government world. If the influence of this film is thus, then every film from The Matrix to Oblivion to Existenz to Total Recall to Requiem for a Dream to The Island to Shutter Island to Inception, etc etc has been subconsciously influenced by the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. 

"Fromm hoped to show the way to a psychologically balanced "sane society."

 One of the academic pursuits of Erich Fromm was in:
"Analys[ing] the tendency of modern emancipated man to take refuge from his new insecurities by turning to totalitarian movements such as Nazism."

This fits in very well with a theory I have that in some ways even our culture today, as multicultural as it is, is not immune to the effects of Nazism. 

It is not that I believe that our culture is necessarily racist; Not in a eugenics program sense. Rather, I see it as a form of Social Contract. Whereas Rousseau devised a Social Contract with a presumed beneficial mutual relationship between civilians (in cooperation with their government) and governments (in their dedication to serve the people), the Social Contract now has an inverted meaning. 

The Social Contract that exists now is a mutual agreement between the people to maintain whatever status quo has been mandated to them due to their race or sex or other demographic factors. Maintaining this status quo is in effect seen as a maintaining the order in our society. 

I will use famous people of African descent as an example. 

In my opinion, they are merely allowed to become celebrities if, and only if they, on more occasion than not, portray a negative stereotype that is then used to represent all people of African descent. 

The stipulation of their becoming a celebrity is then the "Selling out" of their humanity and the embracing of their socially contracted "Role". 

In this way, Nazism has taken a new form in America. Since ours is a changing face of diversity, we need a model of Nazism (edit: 2021. Wtf was I thinking here lol. Mega eyeroll.) that isn't racist but instead works within the current social paradigm. We need a face of Nazism that complements diversity.

Perhaps my analysis of these things merely uncovers the unfortunate nature of the "Way things are". But I think there is a lot more than merely the surface of things we see, especially concerning the rich and famous celebrity culture. Stereotypes that people are comfortable with are handpicked from out of the masses

Siddhartha

"What seems to separate the two is that Siddhartha has lived the life of a sinner, and through this experience as well as his religious experiences he has learned and experienced the oneness of the universe"

~ Barry Murdaco

 "Listen well, my dear, listen well! The sinner, which I am and which you are, is a sinner, but in times to come he will be Brahma again, he will reach the Nirvana, will be Buddha—

... all sin already carries the divine forgiveness in itself, all small children already have the old person in themselves, all infants already have death, all dying people the eternal life.  

...death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness 

... I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity, and needed the most shameful despair, in order to learn how to give up all resistance, in order to learn how to love the world, in order to stop comparing it to some world I wished, I imagined, some kind of perfection I had made up, but to leave it as it is and to love it and to enjoy being a part of it."

~Siddhartha

"Sinner" is a word that evokes powerful feelings in the West. I want to make a few distinctions between the Eastern and Western concept of sin so that we can understand these differences. 

First of all, the Western concept of "Sin", which is influenced by Christianity, is linked to the concept of "Worldliness". Basically, the idea is that we, man, are born with Original Sin. This is a predisposition to err on the side of bad that was brought into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Thus we are in an eternal struggle against this inherent evil. Those who strive to keep this original sin at a distance (By following God's Commandments) are called "Righteous". In Christian philosophy, they have attained "Brahma" by not sinning.     

However, taking a passage from Siddhartha: 

"The sinner, which I am and which you are, is a sinner, but in times to come he will be Brahma again, he will reach the Nirvana, will be Buddha"

We can see that the Eastern and Western concepts of Sin are vastly different. 

The best visual representation to understand the Eastern concept of Sin is the Ying Yang. It is a symbol of opposites. Good and Evil. Dark and Light. These opposites share an equal space. Both make nature complete, giving balance to the universe.  

This applies to the Buddhist concept of Sin because it intuits the full circle aspect of life. That is, there is a directly proportional relationship between the path of the Sinner, aka Atman (Man) and the path of the Brahma (God, or rather the God the Atman becomes through his journey). The process of going from one to another is catalyzed by experience. (In fact, it is more of a continuum than two separate paths. This what Siddhartha means by 'all small children already have the old person in themselves, all infants already have death, all dying people the eternal life')    

"I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity, and needed the most shameful despair, in order to learn how to give up all resistance, in order to learn how to love the world, in order to stop comparing it to some world I wished, I imagined, some kind of perfection I had made up, but to leave it as it is and to love it and to enjoy being a part of it."

Whereas Christianity more often preaches total avoidance of Sin, Eastern philosophy understands it as a necessary feature of life. In fact, there is no "Sin", no vice of life in the truest form except that which separates the Atman from his path in life.

Buddhism seems very neutral when it comes to designating an act a Sin. There do not seem to be many "Thou Shalt Nots". It is primarily about the individual's path; Which can change from one person to the next. It is only through experiencing life as an Atman that we can become Brahma. 

Ying and Yang. Each a necessary force of life.  

My own example of Brahma and Atman. 

I think this is best explained by saying that most of us cannot fathom what it is like to be homeless. I mean homeless in the sense of living through years of desperation. We can't fathom what it's like to be hopeless. Most of us have never found ourselves on the downside of low. 

I think there is a real barrier in perception between those who have always been pretty much financially stable and those who have never known stability. (Being broke for a little while doesn't count.)

I think it would be very much like discovering Brahma through Atman if more of us were aware of what life looks like through the eyes of the homeless by actually experiencing homelessness. 

Note that most of the negative comments on the homeless are usually by those who haven't been there themselves, despite how much they utter that the opposite is true.  

Furthermore, Eastern religion seems to lack a deity figure. The Buddha is more of an example of the model "Man turned God" than an object of deification. In this way, each follower can become his or her own God. Within the self is the potential to damn or save one's own soul; And not in the hands of an omnipotent and omniscient creator. Therefore, the only one who can truly know if you've come to the goal of your life is you.

Otto Dix, "Metropolis", 1927-28

Otto Dix was a German painter and printmaker, who was a part of the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) artistic movement. He born in Untermhaus, Germany. Through the nuclear and extended family unit he was exposed to art from an early age. For example, his mother, Louise Dix, was "A seamstress who had written poetry in her youth." He also frequented the art studio of his cousin, Fritz Amann, which cemented the young man's desire to be an artist. In addition, war also inspired him. In the First World War, he served from 1915 to 1918. Through his art he recounted the horrors of war, especially influenced by a "Recurring nightmare in which he crawled through destroyed houses."


The title of this piece is called "Metropolis". It was created sometime between the years 1927-1928.

The first consideration that must be given to this piece is in examining the size of each frame. Within the picture itself, there are three frames. The frame in the center is bigger than the other two. In fact, it is about the size of the other two frames put together. This places the viewer's focus on the central frame; Which in effect prioritizes both the viewer's attention and the order of importance of the frames.

The whole piece is named "Metropolis". Therefore, we conclude that each frame is a scene taking place in the same city. The picture in the central fame that commands our attention is located in a posh club of some kind. A retreat for the bourgeoisie. Appropriately, the scene is a lively one. There is music and dancing; Such is the life for the rich in every era. The women are dressed in the style of the day: 1920s Flapper. When we compare what is happening in this frame to the others, we see that this carefree attitude is rather a synonym for "Oblivious".

The other two frames represent what is happening outside. Perhaps directly outside of this club or in another place of the city. On the left, there is a man, disabled and probably homeless. There is also a man lying on the ground, presumably dead. Both the disabled man and the dead man are wearing clothes devoid of color. They are poor. They are likewise devoid of life, of the rich color that is used the paint the aristocrats. Seeming patrons of the club walk past the two men, one even turns back to them, with either a hint of a laugh and a smile or a look of disgust on her face. Either way, her tone is mocking. Oblivious.

The frame on the right is similar. People with colorful garb walk past a homeless man that has no legs. We do not see his face but the hands covering his visage say that is distraught. Yet no one pays attention. No one cares.

From the information in all of the frames, we can gather the sense of social responsibility, or lack of, in the bourgeoisie. They are concerned with nothing other than their own feelings. They can have a good time yet watch the world fall to pieces around them.

"Metropolis" is a prime example of the New Objectivity movement. It is Dadaist in its brutal, almost fatalistic, honesty about the nature of the class structure and the complete antipathy of wealthy classes. From a Nihilistic perspective, it unmasks the ugliness of society and the baseless "Morals" therein. In fact, just as Nietzsche sought to expose the anti-life values of Christianity, Dadaism seems to want to expose the anti-life sentiment of corrupt capitalism; a system that is not concerned with the greatest benefit of all humankind and one that does not mind turning the other cheek in the face of the underprivileged.  

Dada Manifesto

One of the first things I noticed about the “Dada Manifesto” is its sheer and utter honesty. It reminds me of two free form styles of writing, one known as “Free Verse”, the other called “Stream of Consciousness”. The latter is more of a way of letting the words flow without trying to control them or their meaning. However, both styles are related to a sense of freeing one's self from poetic norms.

The tradition can be traced back to the Beat Generation, specifically in writers like Allen Ginsberg.

An excerpt from Allen Ginsberg's Howl:

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,

dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,

angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night”

Ironically one of my favorite poets/songstresses employs this style (Patti Smith).

Patti Smith's Babelogue (From the album 'Easter'):

"I haven't fucked much with the past, but I've fucked plenty with the future. Over the skin of silk are scars from the splinters of stations and walls I've caressed. A stage is like each bolt of wood, like a lock of Helen, is my pleasure. I would measure the success of a night by the way by the way by the amount of piss and seed I could exude over the columns that nestled the P.A. Some nights I'd surprise everybody by skipping off with a skirt of green net sewed over with flat metallic circles which dazzled and flashed. The lights were violet and white. I had an ornamental veil, but I couldn't bear to use it. When my hair was cropped, I craved covering, but now my hair itself is a veil, and the scalp inside is a scalp of a crazy and sleepy Comanche lies beneath this netting of the skin. I wake up. I am lying peacefully I am lying peacefully and my knees are open to the Sun. I desire Him, and He is absolutely ready to seize me. In heart I am a Moslem; in heart I am an American; In heart I am Moslem, in heart I'm an American artist, and I have no guilt. I seek pleasure. I seek the nerves under your skin. The narrow archway; the layers; the scroll of ancient letters. We worship the flaw, the belly, the belly, the mole on the belly of an exquisite whore. He spared the child and spoiled the rod. I have not sold myself to God."

The quote I chose from the Dada Manifesto is:

“I don't want words that other people have invented. All the words are other people's inventions. I want my own stuff, my own rhythm, and vowels and consonants too, matching the rhythm and all my own.”~ Hugo Ball

In essence, this is the meaning of Dada. The word itself is nonsense. It is an “International word” whose meaning changes from country to country; And from person to person. Basically, “Dada” can mean anything you want it to. The artist is the creator.

The repression of art by the Nazi regime indubitably helped to create this sentiment. Those artists affected by World War I and II went on a quest to re-discover who they were. This time they didn't have the proverbial Big Brother breathing down their shoulder, telling them how they could feel and how they could express that feeling through their art. Creating their art and the philosophical foundations on which their movement stood was like learning to walk again. Learning to think again. Becoming human again.

Almost as a rebellious afterthought, the Dadaist sought to discombobulate the foundations of art in theory and practice and to piece it back together in a manner suiting the individual (As he or she wanted). Therefore, as no two people have the same fingerprint, the meaning of Dada literally changed from one person to another.

In fact, if there is one unifying theme that all of the Dada artists have in common, it is that they sought to convey a message; Very often a political one. Many Dada works are a scrapbook-like collection of cut-out words and images, rather than and in comparison to the expertly crafted and detailed works in the other artistic genres of their day, such as Expressionism, Realism, and New Objectivity.

This quote reminds me of why I admire non-carbon copy art, especially music. I love the idea of feeling another person's experiences through their words and music. If there is a lack of experimentation in music, such as in the oversexualized or watered down genres that are popular on a mainstream level, there is an almost a numbing effect. We listen to them but we don't feel them. Songs go in one ear and out of the other.

Nowadays, a lot of music is carbon copy because it can be easily marketed to the masses. Obviously there are many exceptions. This is just a generalization. But I also think it used to be more true a few decades ago than it is now. (Experimental music is more lucrative now).

I can't remember their name, but I remember hearing a story about a music executive that listened to a band, noted its Heavy Metal sound and wanted to bring them in for a record deal. But upon seeing that they were of African descent took back the decision because he didn't know how to market them.

The Music industry is still in some ways based on its own set of Classical notions; That there are certain types of people who listen to and make certain types of music and that music that sells can only be made in a prescriptive formulaic way (Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, etc).  

German Society

According to the CIA World Factbook, Germany has a very low population growth rate at about -0.19%, placing it in 212^th place in the world. Although the population numbers about 81,147,265 million people as of July 2013, placing the county in 16^th place in the world, the contraceptive prevalence rate between women aged 18-49 is 66.2%. The contraceptive rate of a nation is an “Indicator of health services, development, and women’s empowerment. [But] it is also useful in understanding, past, present, and future fertility trends, especially in developing countries.”

Germany also only spends roughly 5.1% of its GDP on Education. Another 11.6% is given to Health Expenditures. 8.5% of its youth workforce is unemployed (Ages 15-24). Also, the population spends an average of 16 years in school (School Expectancy). But ages 15 and over can read and write(99%).

The ethnic makeup is 91.5% German.
The religious makeup is Protestant 34%, Roman Catholic 34%, Muslim 3.7%, unaffiliated or other 28.3%.

There is 100% Sanitation and Clean Drinking Water in Rural and Urban areas.

Christianity as Antiquity

“Christianity as antiquity.-- When we hear the ancient bells growling on a Sunday morning we ask ourselves: Is it really possible! This, for a jew, crucified two thousand years ago, who said he was God's son? The proof of such a claim is lacking. Certainly the Christian religion is an antiquity projected into our times from remote prehistory; and the fact that the claim is believed - whereas one is otherwise so strict in examining pretensions - is perhaps the most ancient piece of this heritage. A god who begets children with a mortal woman; a sage who bids men work no more, have no more courts, but look for the signs of the impending end of the world; a justice that accepts the innocent as a vicarious sacrifice; someone who orders his disciples to drink his blood; prayers for miraculous interventions; sins perpetrated against a god, atoned for by a god; fear of a beyond to which death is the portal; the form of the cross as a symbol in a time that no longer knows the function and ignominy of the cross -- how ghoulishly all this touches us, as if from the tomb of a primeval past! Can one believe that such things are still believed?”

It's very interesting that a great many philosophers state the obvious. Therefore, their insights are profound...Yet obvious at the same time. Or maybe not obvious...But common sensical in a way that is perhaps too profound for most, and thus makes it less obvious. I don't understand how a single religion, and not even the oldest, could have mesmerized the imaginations of people for so long that it is accepted as the irrefutable truth. Nietzsche says of Christianity and its spiritual tenets, “The fact the claim is believed- whereas one is otherwise so strict in examining pretensions” is an unthinkable hypocrisy. I don't disagree. “A god who begets children with a mortal woman” is a recurring theme is almost every mythology around the world. Yet stories of Hercules are relegated to fiction. Creation stories, dubbed “Myths” also exists from around the world. For example, in the Roman writer Ovid's Metamorphses, in the First Book after an Adam and Eve-like pair named Deucalion and Pyrrha have suffered a flood of Biblical proportions:

“They [descend] the steps, covered their heads and loosened their clothes, and threw the stones needed behind them. The stones, and who would believe it if it were not for ancient tradition, began to lose their rigidity and hardness, and after a while softened, and once softened acquired new form. Then after growing, and ripening in nature, a certain likeness to a human shape could be vaguely seen, like marble statues at first inexact and roughly carved. The earthy part, however, wet with moisture, turned to flesh; what was solid and inflexible mutated to bone; the veins stayed veins; and quickly, through the power of the gods, stones the man threw took on the shapes of men, and women were remade from those thrown by the woman.” 

 

This passage explains how, after the Flood, Deucalion and Pyrrah create more human beings by "Throwing the stones of their mother behind the back". 

I will admit that I count among Ovid's Metamorphoses one of the earliest recollections of "Religious experiences" of my youth. I knew of the Bible, but the work of Ovid and other similar tales like the Epic of Gilgamesh really opened my mind to the powerful imagery of the creation of the earth and the life of early man that is found in all cultures. 

One tribe in Africa may have hundreds or thousands of such tales or revisions upon an original tale. According to the Boshongo(A Bantu tribe): 

"In the beginning there was only darkness, water, and the great god Bumba. One day Bumba, in pain from a stomach ache, vomited up the sun. The sun dried up some of the water, leaving land. Still in pain, Bumba vomited up the moon, the stars, and then some animals: the leopard, the crocodile, the turtle, and, finally, some men, one of whom, Yoko Lima was white like Bumba." For more stories, http://www.mythome.org/creatafr.html .

The point is that all of the scholarship that is given to academia, especially the experimental methods of Science, is not given to Christianity. Perhaps to its history as a religious institution, but not to its spirituality. We accept that other religions, though we respect them, are largely based upon pseudoscience; Based on things that could have never been, although they make good material for Sci Fi/Fantasy. But Christianity is always considered infallible.