A pivotal scene for me in the 2015 German satirical comedy Look Who’s Back was when Hitler was getting the computer and internet tutorial from Franziska and Googled “world supremacy”. The montage of that first experience of entering the world wide web rabbit hole, with cuts to Hitler’s fascination was priceless. It was that moment of adaptation Bernays (1928) speaks of when he wrote “The man who would most effectively transmit his message to the public must be alert to make use of all the means of propaganda.” (p. 167). You can see in the cutaways to Hitler’s face that he immediately understands the power of this medium for propaganda, even to the point of noticing it’s German qualities. That same look of recognition is later mirrored on Fabian’s face when Hitler is recognized by Franziska’s demented grandmother who looks him in the eyes – the windows to the soul. In this way, I believe the film attempts to predict that perhaps only human contact and the lessons of history can overcome evil leaders and the worst aspects of both propaganda and humankind. The look of recognition is once again present in the final scene of the movie within the movie on the face of the actor who is playing Fabian, when Hitler speaks from behind him after he’s supposedly been shot and falls off the roof. We can’t get rid of him because he is a part of all of us. So, what’s it to be folks? Can we change that ending or not?
That's What She Said 