Thoughts & open letter. #allesdichtmachen

Dear 53 actors,

 

I congratulate you on your action! I was very happy to watch your short films and I was happy about the way you brought your creativity to a necessary social discourse.

 

Please don’t let yourself be put on the defensive. There is no reason to be public now

to kneel in front of a media inquisition tribunal. You don’t have to justify yourself!

 

The force of the reaction of our media landscape, which is peculiarly uniform and robust in terms of content, is quite astonishing: Exactly those (whether representatives of public broadcasters, commentators from Bild to Spiegel / FAZ / SZ and so-called media experts) who permanently use the terms democracy , free expression of opinion, pluralism, social engagement in the mouth and write the defense of this highest good on your own flags, torch a shitstorm fireworks from the textbook of opinion management on you. Would you like some examples?

https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/panorama/schauspieler-und-ihre-corona-kritik-alles-dicht-machen-ist-so-schaebig-dass-es-weh-tut/27124112.html

https://www.fr.de/meinung/kommentare/allesdichtmachen-jan-josef-liefers-ulrich-tukur-corona-krise-theater-film-kunst-90472803.html

 

So what!

 

A short, highly recommended illustration based on the example of the Nobel Prize winner Heinrich Böll:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghmjeghbUZM

 

I do not want to overlook action and reaction, but at least it slightly reminds me of three archetypes of political intimidation from “above” towards critical artists in history:

 

a) the American McCarthy era (“Have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?”) in the 50s

 

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthy-Ära

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eJ2OXn__EA

 

b) The reaction of the GDR elites to the letters of protest against the expatriation of Wolf Biermann in 1976 (“weakening of socialism against the imperialist opponent”)

 

https://www.jugendopposition.de/themen/145338/proteste-der-ddr-prominenz

https://www.1000dokumente.de/index.html?c=dokument_de&dokument=0213_bie&object=translation&st=&l=de

 

c) The smear campaigns against alleged “RAF sympathizers” in the 1970s in the FRG. (“The real arsonists”)

 

You haven’t done anything other than publish your thoughts. You have exercised your right to express your opinion, and that at a high level in terms of content and aesthetics! Perhaps some of you underestimated the consequences. This should encourage you and ALL of us to question what is offered to us as “natural”, “correct”, “reasonable” etc. in a far more complex and critical manner.

DON’T BE intimidated (neither by the media, by politics, by your agencies …, by whoever …). You have set an example. Nothing more, nothing less!

 

With great respect for your work

Sincerely,

 

Harald Blüchel (composer)