Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Takes a Page out of Hitler's Playbook

In 1937, the Nazi Party presented two contrasting art exhibits. The first was the Great German Art Exhibition in the House of German Art in Munich, Germany. It presented the Nazi ideal of Aryan art. Adolph Hitler gave the opening address, so that the connection between art and political ideology would not be lost on the public.

A day after the opening of the Great German Art Exhibit, a second and less grand exhibit opened in Munich, Germany at the Institute of Archeology. This exhibit, also curated by the Nazi party, was called Die Ausstellung "Entartete Kunst" - The Degenerate Art Exhibit. The collection at this exhibit served as a warning to the German people, showing them what kinds of art and artists to avoid because according to the Nazis, it was deemed dangerous, vulgar, and non-Aryan. The "degenerate" artists were described as cheaters, incompetent, decadent, and weak of character. The Degenerate Art Exhibit and its contrasting juxtaposition with the Great German Art Exhibit - together were intended to inflame antisemitism and further the idealogical propaganda of Hitler's National Socialist German Workers' Party.

I learned about this powerful and terrifying episode in modern history from my mother, Art Historian and Judaic Studies Faculty member Dr. Shelley Karen Perlove, who teaches a course on Nazis and Art at the University of Michigan - and who has presented stand-alone lectures on the very topic of the dual art exhibits in 1937. From Dr. Perlove (my mom!) I learned how museum curators in the Third Reich intentionally manipulated public opinion to promote and perpetuate Jew hatred.

This is why I was particularly disturbed today to read Michael Kaplan's excellent article "Motion Picture Academy Museum Fixes Its Problem of Excluding Jews By Demonizing Them." Kaplan describes how the curators of the The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures chose to present Jewish contributions to the Hollywood film industry as a separated exhibit, with no integration into the context of the industry or its impacts as a whole. The small but permanent exhibit is titled “Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital.” Separating out the contributions of Jews to the film industry as a form of "historical segregation" in the museum would be offensive enough. But there is more. Kaplan describes how the stand-alone exhibit overtly presents the contributions of Jewish professionals in the film industry as being immoral. Kaplan reveals that Jews in the exhibit, unlike their colleagues in the remainder of the museum, are described as frugal oppressive tyrannical ableist racist homophobic womanizing predators.

These are all just 2024 words for...degenerate.

Upon reading Kaplan's article, I must say that it appears as if the curators of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures have essentially taken a page right out of Hitler's playbook. The parallel is frightening. By abusing curatorial power, the Motion Picture Museum presents two opposing views of art - one pure - the other degenerate, and in doing so, intentionally weaponizes antisemitic tropes to manipulate the public into blaming Jews for society's worst sins.