Hitler Mashups

(Somewhere there must be a variant of Godwin's Law about the first blog post to mention Hitler signaling the end of something, but I can't find it, and besides, I thought the content below was funny -- tasteless, but funny)

I am fascinated by mashups or remixes or digital derivative works or whatever we call them this week. The abundance of digital content, combined with great tools and free distribution yields what seems like (and probably is) a never ending stream of mixed and re-mixed content.

A couple of months ago, I saw a great remix of a pivotal scene from The Downfall: Hitler and the End of the Third Reich(film), in which Hitler finally comes to realize that war is lost. Except in remix, the subtitles replace the conversation with one concerning the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray format war. Since then, this scene seems to have been re-remixed many times, but the unwritten "rule" is to stay within the "person finally realizes that the game is up" genre. It may not be haiku or a sonnet, but it's still a formulaic art form.

I think that this one spoofing Hilary Clinton is the best.

Note: Many of these videos seem to be pulled off of YouTube from time to time, due to a copyright complaint from the creators of the original movie. Boo. Searching for bluray hitler etc. will easily find the goods.