ADL Calls Zee TV To Remove 'Hitler' 4m Title - Page 5

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/h-for-hitler/880120/

H for Hitler

This furore was only to be expected, given how painfully freighted words like Hitler and Holocaust are, and how generations of artists, writers and filmmakers have struggled, and failed, to find the right language. For many, it is a principled refusal to express the horror of those events in any artificial medium. As Czeslaw Milosz put it: "The immensity of events calls for restraint, even dryness, and this is only fitting where words do not suffice." Sometimes, this enforced delicacy can be oppressive, as when they resist any film that touches on the Holocaust, even well-intentioned documentaries, for their aesthetic and ethical lapses. However, the instinct must be respected ' the unique horror of Hitler cannot be turned into facile material for a movie.

It must be remembered that in the context the Zee TV show is intended for, Hitler is just a mild word for a dictatorial person, Mein Kampf is casually sold on pavements and Nazi excesses are merely a schoolbook memory. However, that is no excuse for insensitivity. Now that the channel has been reminded of its responsibilities towards diverse audiences, it must rectify its mistake and find a more acceptable title.