One of the art house theaters in Berlin is putting on a Clint Eastwood festival this month, and on the spur of the moment one night last week I went to see Million Dollar Baby. I had never really had much interest in the picture, since I figured as a boxing film it would be a) full of sports cliches, and b) violent and unpleasant. But it did win the Best Picture Oscar a few years ago, and the deal was sealed when I read in a synopsis that its heroine, played by Hilary Swank (whose performance in Boys Don’t Cry was incredible), was supposed to be 31 years old, just like me. Maybe it would be the inspiring story of a 31-year-old who makes something of herself, I suspected.
It took me a while to get into the picture–the dialogue seemed pretty lame at first, and Eastwood frankly seemed like a bad actor. (I have only seen him in a few other movies, a long time ago, like Unforgiven.) But I became quickly engrossed in the story. In case you haven’t seen it yet, don’t read the rest of this post below the stars (SPOILER WARNING!). But do go rent this movie. It is exceptionally well-made, and though simple and direct in plot and dialogue, ends up as one of the most powerful, thought-provoking films I have ever seen.
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For those who have seen it, you will no doubt recall the horror of the climactic scene between Hilary Swank’s character and her cruel-beyond-cruel East German opponent. Watching the film in Berlin, I found it a little odd that the boxer was supposed to be from East Germany. First, I thought (although maybe I missed some signs to the contrary) the movie was supposed to take place in the present, when East Germany was no longer around. Second, the boxer was seemingly of African or at least mixed descent–not your typical German look.
What was going on here? Which typical American stereotypes of Germans (and particularly East Germans) did the author of the story behind the movie, or of the screenplay (if this was not in the original story), have in mind when making the villain East German? That (East) Germans are rough and have no respect for rules? That they have a wild, even insane streak? That they are somehow less than human?
These stereotypes could have their roots in images of Germans as Nazis, or simply in outdated fantasies constructed on the other side of the Iron Curtain about those strangers in the East. Regardless, I can imagine many of the people I have met who grew up on the Eastern side of the wall would be offended by their association in the film with such wanton, sadistic barbarism.
