No one understands the power of cinema more than a dictator. The way movies can manipulate filmgoers to laugh, cry, and jump out of their seats in fear can be quite an attractive tool for controlling hearts and minds. Hitler and Stalin knew how to push propaganda to moviegoers in an effort to gain support for their respective pursuits. But propaganda is easy, art is hard. And while Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany both had robust film industries, neither would ever reach the heights of the West. Yet in a small east Asian country lived a film lover and future dictator who thought differently. He believed that cinema could both serve the state and garner international attention and acclaim. On today's episode we’re going to discuss how one despot yearned to legitimize the film industry of his little nation state and the extreme lengths he would go to do so. So let's start up the projector for Dictator Cinema: the Films of North Korea.
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No one understands the power of cinema more than a dictator. The way movies can manipulate filmgoers to laugh, cry, and jump out of their seats in fear can be quite an attractive tool for controlling hearts and minds. Hitler and Stalin knew how to push propaganda to moviegoers in an effort to gain support for their respective pursuits. But propaganda is easy, art is hard. And while Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany both had robust film industries, neither would ever reach the heights of the West. Yet in a small east Asian country lived a film lover and future dictator who thought differently. He believed that cinema could both serve the state and garner international attention and acclaim. On today's episode we’re going to discuss how one despot yearned to legitimize the film industry of his little nation state and the extreme lengths he would go to do so. So let's start up the projector for Dictator Cinema: the Films of North Korea.
Show business is notorious for being a demeaning, cruel, and humiliating industry, even under the best of circumstances, but for someone affected by various forms of dwarfism, the situation can be especially grim. While admittedly, there have been inroads within the last few decades for little people to achieve success in film and tv, but the public image of them has scarcely improved since and neither have the roles. Why is that? On today's episode we’ll attempt to find out. So join us today as we have a big discussion on little people.
Slums of Film History
No one understands the power of cinema more than a dictator. The way movies can manipulate filmgoers to laugh, cry, and jump out of their seats in fear can be quite an attractive tool for controlling hearts and minds. Hitler and Stalin knew how to push propaganda to moviegoers in an effort to gain support for their respective pursuits. But propaganda is easy, art is hard. And while Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany both had robust film industries, neither would ever reach the heights of the West. Yet in a small east Asian country lived a film lover and future dictator who thought differently. He believed that cinema could both serve the state and garner international attention and acclaim. On today's episode we’re going to discuss how one despot yearned to legitimize the film industry of his little nation state and the extreme lengths he would go to do so. So let's start up the projector for Dictator Cinema: the Films of North Korea.
