Ah, that must be it then, I’ve heard it attributed to Rammstein and the (now defunct) youtube link said Rammstein and I don’t know their sound well enough to pick them out and say “hey this is/isn’t Rammstein” so I was probably just mistaken.
To fear something gives it power; to mock it strips it of power. It seems clear that this sentiment is deliberately behind much of the Mel Brooks Hitler comedy - mock and humiliate the Devil and he is rendered impotent. Rage at him and the hatred only makes him stronger. Brooks has had enormous influence in comedy, and he represents a powerful sensibility in showbiz; hence American comedy has legitimised Hitler humour in a way Germany has not found possible.
I was going to say the answer to the question of the OP had to be Mel Brooks. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard him talk about what you describe, referring to To Be or Not To Be and why he remade it, though of course he’s done Hitler parody even better.
The best video of Tool’s Die Eier von Satan has to be this one.
I think he’s funny because he’s clearly a doofus. All that yelling, and the moustache, etc. I mean, if you put him in a modern day social environment, I don’t think he would fare that well. And yet he became the leader of a large nation, and most people looked up to him.
kelly5078 and Maiira were spot on regarding Stalin and Mussolini.
Now I’m seeing Carlos Mencia playing Benito Mussolini. And it kinda works for me.
Well, Hitler is mocked in modern Germany as well. Of course there’s a bit of a different perspective, and things like the downfall rants don’t work as well when it’s difficult to shut out the speech and concentrate on the subtitles, but I don’t know anyone who would be offended about foreign Hitler jokes and there are quite a few homegrown ones as well.
Some of the best ones are form a parody show called switch reloaded, combining the German version of the Office (Stromberg) with Hitler parodies. Just search youtube for “Obersalzberg”, here is the first episode.
And there’s another example of a German parody that was even translated to English - I’m sitting in my Bonker
Also, according to a German actress whom Hitler had flirted with, he had really bad body odor too.
Hitler is an iconic embodiment of someone who gets their way by getting pissed off.
This is something we see frequently in everyday life. A small dog can bully a big dog simply by having a foul temper. An idiot can decide what plays on the TV or what restaurant a group goes to by being more assertive than those around him. Children can dominate indecisive adults by throwing a fit.
This was not the only trick in Hitler’s repertoire, but it’s a big reason he’s become an archetype.
It’s a tactic that is more obvious and inherently absurd than gaining power through quiet plotting and political manipulation.
It’s ridiculous, obvious, effective, and in Hitler’s case unspeakably horrible. It all adds up to “danged funny.”
Allegedly he had horrible table manners and his diet gave him uncontrollable chronic flatulence.
But at least he got to eat “prodigious amounts of cake.” If I were dictator, I would do no less. Flatulence be damned.
In Hitler’s younger days he studied some theatre. It was in vogue at the time for actors to exaggerate hand gestures and other body movements. This way they could be read from the back of an audience. Watch some silent films and you can see this. Big gestures, almost over-acted.
Hitler figured that if he could mimic these motions, he’d have a dramatic when speaking in front of large crowds. Today it just looks dumb.
How did he smell? Awful!
And of course nobody told Hitler about this if they liked breathing.
Herr Flunky(entering Hitler’s office): Ach! Vat’s zat schmell? It schmells like…
Hitler(evenly): Like vat?
Herr Flunky: Like un Gentle mountain stream, Mit lots of pretty flowers.
Heh, I must admit that the thought of Hitler ranting and raving with his fists waving in the air - all while farting loudly - makes me snicker a bit.
Hitler is funnier because he is the greatest danger we had in the 20th Century. Oh sure there were people just as evil, Stalin for one, but Hitler was PRO-evil, not reactionary.
We used to have all sorts of dictators, from Franco, Tito, Catstro, Mussolini to the African’s Gadaffi, Bokassa and Idi Amin but they were all small compared to Hitler
All those guys took over a country and pretty much stuck to killing off their own people. Stalin was only able to take advantage of Hitler’s defeat to expand. He didn’t do nothing till he was safe behind Hitler.
Hitler was the dictator that reached beyond his borders to spread terror. This made him the devil that could actually get you. Sure Japan reached into China, but outside of Tojo, there really was no one identified with Japanese militarism as much. Heck more people today probably remember “Tokyo Rose,” than “Tojo”
Hitler = Evil = Funny
Hitler was a gas - the mustache, the staring eyes, the screaming and raving, the fits…the farting (I believe he was more the silent but deadly sort).
And he was a strict vegetarian.
I especially liked Hitler in the role of Hillary Clinton during the '08 campaign.
“Ze people haff stolen my ELECTION!!!”
Hitler’s actually a better rapper.
Hey – someone could do that with the video – use the original subtitles, but just add a lot of fart noises!
A related question: did Hitler ever actually have any public speeches where he *wasn’t *ranting, raving and yelling?