One thing I really resent, as a Wagnerphile, is the constant
assertion that his anti-semitism pervaded everything he did.
It’s really annoying, even when you take much worse things
into account. No one likes to point out that Hitler designed the VW Bug. So why
does Wagner’s anti-semitism have to account for EVERYTHING?
Designed by Hitler. You're welcome.
One of the worst casualties of this is the description of
the dwarves Alberich and Mime, from “Der Ring Des Nibelungen.” Alberich,
cockteased one too many times by a flock of Mermaids, steals their treasured
Rhine gold, and renounces love to forge a ring that’ll give him absolute power.
He terrorizes the other dwarves until the Gods rob him of
his accumulated hoard, including the Ring. They pay that to the giants Fasolt
and Fafner for their constructed castle, until Fafner kills his brother for the
ring and hoard, and uses the Tarnhelm to turn into a giant and guard the ring.
Later, Mime raises Siegfried to kill the dragon, until
Siegfried kills him for attempted poisoning, which was to offset a prophecy
that Siegfried would kill him in the first place. OPERA!
Unlike Wagner’s late villains Beckmesser and Klingsor? Those
were made when his thinking had kinda solidified.
Really, I don’t presume that he tried to make them Jews. If
he thought Jewish things were evil, then obviously when he tries to create evil
people, the ‘reprehensible’ traits that come to mind are traits of Jewish
culture and stereotypes.
It’s a vicious cycle. He hated Jews, and his villains are
evil and look Jewish, and so his villains must be Jews, and you can tell he
hated Jews because the villains are so evil, and the villains had to be evil
because he plays them as Jews. Really circular logic there!
However, I’ve been much impressed by Wagner productions that
try to reclaim them from Jewish stereotypes. Beckmesser in the Lyric Opera’s
2012-13 production of “Meistersinger,” by Bo Skovhus (whose acting I already
admired from his “Fledermaus”) plays him for comic relief – as a particularly
nasty Thurber figure for whom everything goes wrong. Soles too thin, song
bumbled, etc. He likes rules and can’t adapt. It’s not hatred of Walther, it’s
love of tradition, and sputtering befuddlement when the world changes.
The Metropolitan Opera, however, did Mime as a fat,
reprehensible slob who sweated profusely (which he would, in all that leather
under stage lights). I don’t remember who the tenor was…
Compare to the Seattle Ring this year, where Stefan Vinke
did him as muscly and exasperated.
Some of the evidence is the dwarves living underground and
liking naiads; their greed; Siegfried’s complains of Mime’s “nodding and
blinking” and general hunchedness and ugliness…
They’re not total greedy jew stereotype thieves, bro. And,
Sieggy, I think you’re the one being the asshole here. Wagner just assumed we
would sympathize with you no matter what…
Alberich’s address of Mime as “die dummen dieb” (the stupid
thief) – Alberich projects his own warped intentions on his brother. Mime (if
he did want to steal the helmet) would have been doing it out of protection. “Nimm
das fuer dein diebesgeluest!” (This is for your thieving thoughts). Voicing
yourself, Alby?
His abuse makes me MORE inclined to pity Mime during “Siegfried’s”
scenes of his twisted scheming… it’s not just sibling rivalry, but also
self-protection and a bit of revenge.
But if we’re gonna call them Jews, then the entire race of
Nibelungs would have to be similar Jewish stereotypes.
And they’re really not! Just look at what Mime tells Loge:
mit ihm [der reif] zwingt er uns alle,
der
Niblungen nächt'ges Heer.
Sorglose Schmiede,
schufen wir sonst wohl
Schmuck unsern Weibern,
wonnig Geschmeid',
niedlichen Niblungentand;
wir lachten lustig der Müh'.
ENGLISH:
With the
power of the ring, he has overcame us,
The nocturnal
race of the Nibelungs.
Carefree
smiths,
We once
created
Jewelry for
our wives,
Wonderful trinkets,
Dainty things
for the little nibelungs,
And gaily
laughed in our labors.
See, I don’t
see many anti-semites describing Jewish culture like that. ^^
Incidentally,
Wagner’s complaint against Jewish music in “Der Judenthum des music,” that the ‘Jew’
has “no true passion to impel him to artistic creation,” can be applied
remarkably well to “Die Feen.”
It has the same problem as a lot of student
films – the artist doesn’t have any urgent need to say anything, so it comes
out as trivial babbles. These kids had, as Henry Rollins said, “three meals a
day and Charlie Brown bedsheets.”
I'm not gonna put an actual student film in here for you to make fun of...
I refuse to
trust stereotypes I haven’t observed myself.
The only
jewish stereotype I’m going to tell you guys –
The little
kids seem to subsist MASSIVELY on a diet of goldfish crackers.
I went to a
Jewish preschool, and I’ll be damned if I don’t remember all the kids having
giant bags of goldfish crackers. My family’s Jewish friends with small kids,
and the younger siblings of the Jewish guys I hang out with… it seems to be a
requisite that the kid has their hand in a bag of goldfish crackers.
Not going to
claim this as a stereotype, because my view is of course limited (being
goyische). I’d love your stories about this.
(Seriously,
this production was awesome. James Morris, Johann Boltha, and Bo Skovhus… what’s
not to like?)
