MovieChat Forums > American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein (2010) Discussion > Question about Girl crying scene

Question about Girl crying scene

posted 14 years ago by xiquillo
8 replies | jump to latest

I can't really understand the scene when the girl starts crying. At first I thought she might be just "offended" as a typical neo-con by Finkelstein's criticism of the so-called Holocaust Industry. However, she makes reference to people in the audience, to nazis and to Germans and the guy behind her shouts something like "the Jews did not take oaths against the Germans", but I don't understand the meaning of this sentence in this context. I'm not a native English speaker so I might be wrong about it. Did anyone understand what all this mess was about?

[–] canadamelody 14 years ago

She was a JDL plant. They go to or did these events and try to create a distraction from the issue. NF says this does not happen anymore and people
are listening better now.

[–] johnburke222 14 years ago

I think she had German parents. Whatever she was talking about, she made herself look like a spoiled idiot in need of attention.

[–] jumpingsomeoneelsestrain 14 years ago

I don't know what the hell she or the yelling guy were talking about. It was strange. I think the "the Jews did not take arms against the Germans" is supposed to be a comparison to the Palestinians taking arms against the Israelis. So, by that guy's standards Palestinians should just take Israel's violence and wait for it to stop.
Sorry, I don't know exactly what the crocodile tears girl was even talking about. It is very possible, that, as said above, she is a Jewish Defence League plant.

***I can't help it if I wanted to, I wouldn't help it even if I could."

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] itchyfriend9 13 years ago

I was confused by this scene, as well, mainly because the girl's words were nonsensical, but also because it was taken out of context and we're never shown what Finkelstein actually said in his speech to make her say what she did.

[–] sensimene 13 years ago

I've been trying to find the entirety of that speech but I haven't had any luck. The Democracy Now! debate with him and Alan Dershowitz is available on youtube.

[–] fwsauerteig 13 years ago

I was confused about this as well. What was her background? The comment about some of us being German threw me off.

[–] lattar1 11 years ago

The whole scene is bizarre. I've seen it on youtube as well, and I can't understand the point she is trying to make, although I doubt there even is one. I think she was communicating that people with german background find discussions relating to nazis offensive.

I'm kind of fed up with the constant 'I'm so offended'/'that's so offensive' cries that seem rampant in American media culture.