Censorship,+say+what?



When Hollywood makes a film it is mainly for money of and to present an image. During World War 2 we needed heroes. You know the clean cut all American kid doing his part for old glory and to stop the godless Hun’s and japes. Hollywood has produced several films involving submarines with such stars as Tyrone Powers, Clark Gable, Cary Grant and let’s not forget the Duke. In these nice clean subs with the clean cut image they presented the image the government wanted to present to the America public. In 1973, Lothar- Gunther Buchheim published a book called Das Boot. The book is a semi autobiographical about his adventures on a U-Boat in 1941. The book was made into a film produced by Munich’s Bavaria studios under Wolfgang Peterson. For the film a class VII-C full size, sea going replica was constructed by the original builders for the film. [|U-boat Types], http://www.uboatwar.net/uboattypes.html [|The S Boats - Gallant Ladies of the Past - A Historical Tribute] http://thesaltysailor.com/s-boats/s_history.html

Filming began in July 1980. To help his actors convey the claustrophobic conditions found in a real U- Boat, Peterson insisted on filming within the actual conditions of the ship, maybe seven feet across. So the scenes shot inside were taken in an actual sub of the 1941 era. In the beginning of the film prior to setting out we can see supplies all over the place. There were two bathrooms and one was full of supplies. You had no room to move. These ships were small and slow in the beginning of the war. A crew would consist of maybe two officers and sixteen enlisted. Prior to a cruse these men were clean shaven but following a cruse they had beards, even American crews had beards (Barns and Nobles, A pictorial history of W.W.II) when they returned. This film shows an actual account of life on a German sub at the beginning of the war. The American navy had less subs then the Germans and they were at it longer then we were. So, I can see no difference between an American, British, Jap or a German sub during the war. The conditions would be the same. But, here comes Hollywood to the rescue. Now let’s look at the American subs during the war. There is plenty of room, fresh air and no beards. The clean cut image is even preserved in what was called a “Pig Boat”. And, even the image of the German on a submarine was presented in a different light. In the film “The Enemy Below” with, Robert Michum as a commander of a destroyer going against a U-Boat. The Germans are seen as dirty and sweating presenting a less then favorable condition for the Germans. Yet, this would be an actual presentation of life on a sub in any navy. In films Hollywood reminds me of the Golden Rule, He who has the gold makes the rules. And to get the gold present the right image so is seeing believing. In the early days of film and of TV censorship was strictly enforced. In the early days of TV if you said the word dam it was in reference to a structure that had a lot of water on one side of it and forget seeing a bra of any sort in any way that was a no- no. In the 50’s we had Senator Jo McCarthy hunting down the red menace so America can be a safe and wholesome place to live. In the 60’s there was a break and things opened up a little and the rules were relaxed. On the TV we had Laugh-in and a little place called Vietnam on the TV. One made you laugh and the other had to make you wonder. We had seen protest of all sorts against the war and those who contributed to it. It seems like those images did make a lot of people step back and think. Yet, today we lost Laugh-in and we are back in a Vietnam without the jungle and the TV coverage. I can remember seeing an image of a picture with a lot of flag draped box’s on the back of a cargo plane not so long ago. The Government did not like that picture and the person who took it was in a lot of trouble, why? Are we being spoon fed the reality of others? Do they know better then we do? A man once said “An uneducated mass is easy to control.” It was said during the later part of the 30’s in Munich and the man’s name was Adolf Hitler. Does the movie industry hold that much sway over the public. Can the news service be censored to present an image that is favorable to those elected officials who call themselves the government? What do you think, do we have the right to know what is going on?

Censorship, say what?