Press Conference: "I think he did some wrong things. He's not what you'd call a good guy but I understand much about it and I sympathize with him a little bit." This was part of what Lars Von Trier said that has caused uproar among the Cannes community and cineasts worldwide. But personally, I fail to see what is so wrong.
When Cannes was originally created by the French government, it was in opposition to the other major festivals at the time that they believed were merely propaganda. Over the years, however, Cannes has gone from being a French, international film festival to being an American, international film festival in France. It's no surprise "The Tree of Life" is this years Palme d'Or winner as films from the US have won significantly more times than any other nation. With films like 'Pirates 4' and 'Kung Fu Panda 2' premiering here in 2011, it seems Cannes is eating more and more out of Hollywoods hand..though this has always been the trend.
So when Cannes decides to take any 'official' stand point, it must be taken into consideration that there is a heavy American influence. When Cannes declared Von Trier a 'persona non grata', I can't help feel that this was Hollywoods call. Von Trier has always been anti-Hollywood...as am I. Dogville being the perfect statement in favor of his view. Was the call of 'persona non grata' bias, based on Von Triers' distaste for Hollywood? Of course this is not the reason the Cannes Festival gave. It is because he insult people who are in favor of an equal society. Of course it does seem coincidental that the remarks particularly targeted Jews, when the owners of the top eight studios in Hollywood are Jewish. Of course it is still racist to call Hollywood and Jews by the same name, but I can almost guarantee had the remarks be about people of the Muslim faith that the same action would not have been taken. Why does the world castrate Von Trier for making such stupid and meaningless comments, when the same people who took offense celebrated the death of a human being. When Osama Bin Laden was killed people celebrated!! In my opinion celebrating someone death is far more seriously offensive. Fuck Hollywood who promote racism with propaganda films like Brothers, Restrepo, Hurt Locker, et all. How about Cannes declares the Hollywood studio 'persona non gratas' because they seem to constantly lack the ability to portray foreigners without being patronising or offensive.
On a level of humanity I think it is a shame the society cannot take responsibility for what happened the actions of World War 2 as the result of human actions. We are all capable of what Hitler and his followers did. Hitler is a human being and if we cannot sympathise with him on a human level then we share the ignorance of racists. I agree with Von Trier on this. However I would never make any conscious attempt to offend anyone based on religion or creed.
Final word: It is a sad day when a film makers personal life becomes more interesting to the world than his art. On that day he is merely a celebrity.
