“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”
– Robert Frost
I watched Leni Riefenstahls Triumph of the Will, a very controversial film on Hitlers 1934 Nuremberg Rally put on by equally controversial Toronto film connoisseur, Reg Hartt, at the Cineforum (a make-shift theatre in his home). The movie blew me away. It was a powerful, real-life portrayal of Hitlers propaganda machine and the horrifying consequences of mass media manipulation. An eerie chill went through my spine as I saw aerial footage of column after column of endless soldiers marching through the streets of Nuremberg. Little German boys and girls hailing the Fuhrer with innocent smiles and outstretched hands of youthful idealism. Little German youths beating the drums of death. Hitler parting a sea of loyal soldiers. And watching a nation mesmerized by the spell of this diminutive, unassuming, and rather plain looking monster.
What really hit me though was Reg Hartts commentary after the movie ended. A lady had kept coming to the viewing of that movie, over and over again. She had attended the viewing over...