Never Forget to... Lie?

Marzynski, Marian, dir. Never Forget to Lie.  PBS Frontline, 2013. Film.

     In the documentary film Never Forget to Lie, filmmaker Marian Marzynski, a child survivor of the Holocaust, ventures into previously unexplored territory: his childhood memories of the Holocaust.  Composed of emotional interview clips and footage of places in Warsaw, Krakow, Treblinka, and other areas in or around Poland, the film revisits Marzynski’s past. Marzynski uses the stories of other child survivors as fragments around which he tells his own story, a story Marzynski kept inside of him for the majority of his life.  Yet as difficult as it was for Marzynski to finally share this private information with the public, he felt obligated to, so that as sections of the Warsaw ghetto are even now being turned into condominiums, the world would never forget what transpired during the Holocaust.  By travelling to the places of his and the other survivors’ youth while allowing them to tell their stories, Marzynski captures the pain and suffering unleashed by the Holocaust in a startling and indelible way, while lending an interesting perspective to the true meaning of family, love, and sacrifice.

     Marzynski’s jarring perspective is captured in the documentary’s title: Never Forget to Lie.  Although a counterintuitive phrase that seems to defy logos, the title makes perfect sense relative to the ways in which the Holocaust turned social and behavioral norms upside-down.  It was this fanatical time that Marzynski recaptured in memories and footage, and one of the most prominent ways he did so was through juxtaposition.  By revisiting the past from the present and subsequently juxtaposing footage from “then” and from “now,” Marzynski was able to show that while time can erase something’s physical remnants, it is incapable of fully removing emotional scars.  This juxtaposition was complimented by a mixture of black and white photographs and footage with sharp, color images, as well as by deliberate intangible gestures: hugging, handholding, and other tender, emotional gestures in such ravaged, violent places as the Warsaw ghetto and Treblinka concentration camp.  In the paradoxical ambiance thus created, Marzynski was able to convey one of the film’s most important themes: that despite the hardships and unspeakable horrors of a past, there is always hope for a brighter future; for this reason, the past must always be remembered.

     And remembered it will be, for Never Forget to Lie’s estimable creation of pathos through emotional testimony, archival footage, and the presence of heirloom photographs and artifacts ensured that Marzynski’s enduring messages remained in the audience’s minds.  The majority of the film took place in Warsaw, Poland, largely under the context of a reunion/conference of child Holocaust survivors.  This organized gathering established credibility (ethos) for Marzynski, and subsequently made the survivor testimony seem unequivocally authentic and cinematically unembellished (what the survivors themselves perhaps added or changed to their memories is impossible to know for sure; however, the filmed renditions themselves did not seem to have been coached by Marzynski).  The survivor testimony was extremely poignant; Marzynski captured on camera what for many of the survivors was the first time they had either voiced their memories aloud or revisited the places of their memories.  Outbursts of raw emotion—tears, shaking, minor hysteria—marked the telling of the interviews and solidified their lasting impact on the audience.

     The interviews were further enhanced by Marzynski‘s deliberate location of them, generally in front of decrepit and plain buildings.  This placement forced the survivors’ words to become the focus of the interviews, and did not permit them to be overshadowed or distracted from by the surroundings.  Also, for almost the entire documentary the camera was placed at eye level with those speaking.  By purposefully placing them on the same level as the audience, Marzynski was able to humanize them.  Occasional side-view shots of those being interviewed added a sense of humility to the documentary, because it made it appear as if Marzynski was granting the interviewers some privacy.  This resonated especially with the audience, putting again into context how difficult it was for the survivors to speak of their pasts.

     Furthermore, Marzynski worked hard at establishing certain associations between objects, sensations, and the audience throughout the film.  The inclusion of artifacts such as Marzynski’s father’s watch and a landlady’s book of all the tenants to whom she rented apartments helped the sense of loss and connections through time to become more tangible for the audience.  Finally, the mixture of Polish and English language and normal background noise with only hints of music gave the film in its entirety an unedited, authentic, and purposeful air.

     Above all, one of the most outstanding elements of the film was its somewhat abrupt ending.  This masterfully mirrored how the Holocaust changed Marzynski’s and so many others’ lives, and how despite the questions people will constantly be asking about what happened during the Holocaust, one can never know for sure what the world could have been without the loss of so many lives.  The ability of Marzynski to so powerfully recreate these sensations within the audience is what truly set apart this film from many other Holocaust themed works.

What was the point?

     “Your toe?  What do you mean, you have to “do your toe” by this Sunday night?”  No, I remember explaining to my mystified parents.  My TOW, not my toe.  An assignment I was already dreading, for not only would it entail critically and rhetorically analyzing various works, but would also require doing so on a weekly basis.  What fun.  Unenthused, I set out each weekend to conquer my TOW, a mindset that consequently revealed itself in my writing.  Yes— while I did my TOW dutifully every weekend, my initial entries were hardly more than generic works that simply listed each piece of the “TOW guideline sheet.”  Heavy with summary, these first entries were largely explanatory and seemed to include bits and pieces of rhetorical analyses as mere afterthought.  An audience and author’s purpose were explicitly defined in these early TOWs, which all seemed to follow the same cut-and-dry pattern: simple hook, introductory information, summary, intended audience, rhetorical analysis, and the author’s purpose.  As weeks turned to months and I continued to slog through this weekly chore, I couldn’t help but wonder: what was the point?  Was I actually gaining anything useful from this experience?

     Turns out I was.  Slowly, subconsciously, my TOWs were morphing from simple, amateur writing to more mature, thoughtful prose (in tandem with their increasing length).  As I began to perceive the TOW guideline sheet less as a crutch and more as a guide, I noticed the focus of my TOWs shift from summary to analysis.  A flow became present in the writing between what the author said, my impressions and analyses, and back to the author’s intended purpose.  It seemed less and less as if phrases were stuck haphazardly into the TOW, but rather as if they belonged there, in their natural place beside other analysis and transitional words.  I stopped “doing” my TOWs and started crafting them; stopped analyzing the same few rhetorical devices and began to extend my analyses into the plethora of devices out there.  I noticed marked improvements in my thesis statements and the overall flow of my work; it seemed as if I had begun to master the art of expression, not just of my own thoughts but also of translating into my own words what I perceived to be other authors’ beliefs and techniques.

     Granted, there is still much room for improvement.  I still wrestle with the “consequence” aspect of my thesis statements, and I know that I can always improve and expand upon the sources of my TOWs as well as the devices through which I analyze them.  Sometimes, it still feels as if I’m simply writing sentences to make sure I include all of the TOW’s necessary components, and at other times I sense a rushed conclusion, or a string of sentences that isn’t quite cohesive.  Yet gaining this appreciation for myself as a writer and a more solid understanding of my place in the community through my analysis of the rhetorical elements that surround me in daily life is certainly one of the best rewards that the TOW assignments have provided me.  I understand the purpose of these TOWs was significantly to help prepare students for the AP Exam, and while I cannot say that I used any of my TOWs in either the Mock or actual AP exam, I know that the rhetorical analysis process itself I used in constructing my TOWs certainly helped me on 5-10-13.  Furthermore, the ability to rethink an author’s purpose and find subtleties in works and expressions is a valuable skill that I know I was able to hone through these TOW assignments.  Therefore, it is clear to me now that I benefitted from completing a TOW every weekend.  Although I could not grasp initially how much I was to grow as a thinker and writer through these assignments, I am appreciative now of the diligence and work I put into each TOW, for now I have a much more solid understanding of not only the world around me but also of myself.

"A Child's Wild Kingdom"

     It may come as a surprise to some how inundated American children’s culture is with animals.  Animals—rather, often, the cute, storybook versions of their wild counterparts—litter the literature, toys, pictures and clothing that young children are exposed to.  In his New York Times opinion piece entitled “A Child’s Wild Kingdom,” Jon Mooallem, a contributing author to the New York Times Magazine as well as to other publications, delves into the psychological aspects of this phenomenon.  In examining why children over other groups are particularly drawn to animals, as well as how children’s mannerisms may resemble those of animals, Mooallem effectively shows how adults can use animals to represent the types of people they hope their children will grow into.

     Before delving into these comparisons, however, Mooallem creates the backdrop of a child’s animal-centered world for the audience through careful usage of imagery, statistics, and other types of data.  In describing the pages of children’s storybooks where animals are given human characteristics and shown portraying human actions, Mooallem shows rather than tells the audience how animals are used in humanlike ways in American culture.  Additionally, by supporting almost all of his assertions with evidence from scientific experiments and other forms of research, Mooallem makes it clear to the reader that he is a credible source of information (ethos).

     Moving beyond the mere content of Mooallem’s piece, one can see the ways in which he skillfully and subtly draws attention to various points in order to further his main argument about the role of animals in children’s lives.  In describing this trend, Mooallem writes, “I’m not arguing that seeing a link between kids and animals is an exclusively modern phenomenon — that it’s some anxious, overcompensatory affectation of nature-deprived Americans, like those elaborate stone shower stalls, made to look like waterfalls and grottos, or the Paleo Diet…” By explaining vividly what he does not think the trend is, Mooallem subtly characterizes for the audience what he does think it is.  This strategy makes it very difficult for Mooallem’s points to be argued against, another asset that contributes to the sophistication of his writing.  He tends to present points in a suggestive, rather than definite, manner, consequently inviting self-doubt upon his claims and making it more difficult for the audience to feel strongly against his claims.

     This unique writing style helps Mooallem’s points to stick with the audience, anyone familiar with and/or interested in learning about psychological trends dealing with children and animals.  Perhaps the feelings and mannerisms of children are embodied within animals; only more conclusive and comprehensive research into the matter, as suggested by Mooallem, will tell.