The Nasty Girl: Revisionist History
The Nasty Girl (1990), directed by Michael Verhoeven, critices commemoration by showcasing how the memory of the Nazi’s in Sonja’s hometown was altered. Sonja's journey throughout the film is about her struggle to get the information necessary to write a paper on her hometown during the Nazi era. The closer she gets to the truth about who was or was not a Nazi she faces more hurdles. Some take it as far as violence. During the film’s ending, as Sonja refuses to be silenced, it prompts one to think about their own place in history. Sonja's ending of running away from the mob that turned from hate to love to hate again could be emblematic of the fact that revisionist history may not actually be necessary to move forward morally. Instead, a more measured approach should be to discuss history from a removed perspective.
In the film the townsfolk take a direct approach to revising their history. They, by word of mouth, take events from the past and alter them to suit their own current needs. Those needs include but are not limited to creating a sense of moral superiority over others since they claimed to be the only town to resist the Nazi’s. These people were not just all too willing to forget the past but furthered their moral grandstanding for supposed ‘resistance’ during the Nazis regime. By exposing the town's past atrocities Sonja forces the people of her town to process their “historical amnesia”. However, it may be too soon to label it as such.
Some may suggest that it was less “historical amnesia” but a more deliberate turning away from the past. The key factor here is the documents detailing the true past of the town still existed. One may ask themselves, why not just destroy the documents? People of her hometown did not conveniently forget the past because they are ashamed of their actions. They simply meant to sweep it under the rug. They had actions go unpunished. This falls under the category of historical revisionism where one party alters the telling of historical events to make one side or another seem better or without fault. In the article by David Lenin he clearly describes a narrative typically used in historical context and memory culture; an “us vs them” mentality. He goes on to state that “a lack of proper documentation” can lead to “the group’s exclusionary nature” (Levin 87). In other words, one is able to add or take away from who is a part of their in group and outgroup when retrospectively looking at historical events. Yet, one must consider the fact that the documents containing the truth were not re-write, lost or destroyed. They were meant to be found.
The finding of the documents by Sonja could be a simple plot convention; something necessary for the story to move forward. On some level this may be the case as it is true in other countries genocides, specifically speaking of Spanish colonization in the Americas, records were often altered. It is common knowledge in any decent history class of Spanish colonization that many of their records were altered, changed or lost, to make the Spanish conquistadors seem better. However, as per our lectures, this was not the case with the Nazi’’s. They were meticulous record keepers and such documentation would have been kept.
In the case of The Nasty Girl specifically Sonja finding the documents is not just a story convention but a reflection of reality. So then that begs yet another question, why not have those difficult conversations about the past atrocities? It is possible to discuss history from a more removed perspective. The adults in Sonja’s life could have done this. Some may argue that they did, by making the town removed from the Nazis but that is not what is trying to be conveyed in this paper. By a “removed perspective” this paper is trying to surmise the idea that one can discuss the facts of the Nazi era objectively. It is possible to teach the facts without such emotion in them immediately after the atrocities have taken place and as the generations go on the empathy needed for this becomes less and less. Yet, that does not seem like a true solution either as empathy is arguably the biggest necessity in understanding both why people identified themselves with the Nazis and why Jews were targeted in the Holocaust.
It seems as though there is no winning in this case. Walking through the steps of removing oneself from history can lead to a lack of empathy and a revisionist history. In Sonja’s case if Sonja’s town had been open about their past and their own misgivings, perhaps the next generation, Sonja’s generation might have been more forgiving. Yet, that would require accountability and admitting wrongdoing. The context in which Sonja was growing up makes it difficult to discuss what a better solution other than being open and honest could have been. In today’s modern context, there is only one true solution, to simultaneously acknowledge the past and also empathize with those who struggled. Taking a more realist perspective, The Nasty Girl is a film that does exactly that. Sonja, in the film empathizes with the Jewish man in her hometown but also takes a need introspective look at the town's legacy.
Works Cited
Levin, David. “Are We Victims Yet? Resistance and Community in The White Rose, Five Last Days, and The Nasty Girl.” The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory, vol. 73, no. 1, Jan. 1998, pp. 86–100, https://doi.org/10.1080/00168899809597362.
Verhoeven, Michael, director. The Nasty Girl. 1990.
