Comments on: Dressing up as Hitler is not cool

By: yasmin powell.

yasmin powell. — Sat, 09 Jul 2005 10:05:00 +0000

why did this happen. terrosists should be arrested not be let out doing it all over again. a lot of people have died and lost families. stop this now. what have we done 2 them.

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 15 Jan 2005 04:21:00 +0000

I must confess John I stole it from Martin Amis review of the England soccer team in the early 1980s.

"It is all too easy to blame Ron Greenwood. Yet I think we should blame Ron Greenwood"

By: Marcus Pinto

Marcus Pinto — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 11:09:00 +0000

I think you underestimate him. He may have got out of a family trip to Auschwitz and it was probably his best chance of avoiding the long stint in the military which he has been pushing back so far. He has also beaten his brother to claim the public’s attention. And best of all, he will have a good excuse for having to dress up for fancy dress parties.

By: john b

john b — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 10:45:00 +0000

It's easy to be harsh, but we must be.

When I can be bothered, I'm going to put this as SBBS's new strapline.

By: Matthew Turner

Matthew Turner — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 09:08:00 +0000

It’s easy to be harsh, but we must be. The only way in which the absurdity of the hereditary Monarchy that rules us can be exposed fully is to make a big play of things like this. There’s a reasonable chance (indeed it is why Harry exists if you listen to Monarchists) that one day he may be the King, and as his Father has shown us the Royal Family is not like fine wine, ie they don’t mature with age.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 08:36:00 +0000

It shouldn’t be that we should "penalise the stupid" as people can’t help having a low IQ (just like I can’t always help getting lost due to my complete lack of sense of direction!) but why not "penalise the insensitive" as that character flaw is definitely one that could be, and should be, addressed. And I do think that people are blowing this whole event out of proportion…just because Harry dressed up as Hitler, doesn’t mean he’s a neo-nazi or similar, just as when peeps dress up as porn stars for fancy dress it doesn’t mean we necessarily aspire to be like them. For all we know about the fancy dress event, he may have been wearing that get-up as a way of mocking Hitler. I think it’s a classic case of pure insensitivity and failing to think about the cosequences of actions…with terrible timing…the 60th anniversary of the memorial of the holocaust. Oh dear.

By: dave heasman

dave heasman — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 07:37:00 +0000

Nice letter in the Independent this morning, wondering how Eton College tackles the prejudice/exclusion/stereotyping issues. I hope the Head gives a response – there’s actually a chance that he will, he’s fairly new & relatively clued-in.

By: Rob Huxtable

Rob Huxtable — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 07:19:00 +0000

Not sure I can let Harry of the hook as easily as others seem to (although I disagree with the storm in the teacup the media have generated around this affair).

He's been raised to understand his responsibilities to the country, he's been raised to understand his face will always be public and therefore should tread more carefully than the rest of us.

His only saving grace is that he's also been raised to have a deep mistrust of the media, and of high level politics (his mother in the house of Windsor for example), hence one can possibly account for his rebelliousness (however, I don't see this as an act of rebellion, just insensitivity).

But his true punishment will come when he attends Sandhurst and all the other officers-to-be give him the moniker "Harry the Nazi" for the rest of his military career.

And why shouldn't we penalise the stupid? If it encourages people to be less stupid and more thoughtful, I'm all for it...only problem is that the size of the crowd is inversely proportional to its intelligence.

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 04:40:00 +0000

That's a fair enough point, and yes, we probably shouldn't penalise people for their stupidity, or I would have been strung up on Putney Bridge by now.

Please continue to be gratuitiously mean about Phil the Greek. That is all.

By: john b

john b — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 09:23:00 +0000

DH – no, was just being gratuitiously mean about Phil the Greek.

Jake – not sure I agree. There is a valid place of fascist dictators and Nazi symbolism in humour (cf The Producers). This certainly isn’t it – but Harry is a not-very-bright, not-very-grown-up young man, so I think he can be forgiven for failing to appreciate the difference…