April is Hitler-iffic on Cinemax. First, a documentary that presents the groundbreaking hypothesis that Hitler's repressed homosexuality might have been a motivator for his campaign of violence aginst gays:
Nearly 60 years after his death, Adolf Hitler continues to hold a perverse fascination for the public, with more than 125,000 books about his deeds and dementia, and numerous films and TV shows seeking to uncover the hidden motives that may have fueled a madman. But could the Nazi dictator - who was responsible for one of the worst campaigns of anti-gay persecution in history -- have concealed one explosive secret? Could Adolf Hitler have been homosexual?
From the team of Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, THE HIDDEN FUHRER: DEBATING THE ENIGMA OF HITLER'S SEXUALITY examines the revelations about Hitler that were made in the best-selling book "The Hidden Hitler," by German historian Lothar Machtan by using recently discovered archival documents, rare footage and photos, and interviews with authors and experts who discuss Machtan's work.
As if there's any doubt. That SS look was hot hot hot.
Rumors about Hitler's sexuality have been around since before the end of the war. There's the one about how he died a virgin, even given his 11th hour marriage to Eva Braun, as well as the often floated gay allegations. I don't agree that such examination has no place in the historical record of WWII and the Third Reich. Researching the reasons behind Hitler's extermination of Jews, gypsies, and homosexuals isn't analagous to Usenet debates about Michael Stipe or Kevin Spacey, after all.
Having said that, I note with some trepidation that the show is produced by the same duo behind HBO's Shock Video and MTV's special on Plushies and Furries. I'll probably check it out, but I won't be surprised if The Hidden Fuhrer is more Hitler: The True Hollywood Story than the BBC's The Nazis.
More promising is Blind Spot:
In 1942, at the height of World War II, Adolf Hitler hired 22-year old Traudl Junge as his private secretary. At the time, the naive Junge viewed the Fuhrer as a surrogate father figure, a gentle man in private, who was nothing like the crazed rhetorician of his speeches. But as the Nazi regime teetered on the brink of destruction, Junge became a firsthand witness to Hitler's plunge into delusion, apathy and depression.
Speaking out for the first time after more than a half-century of silence, Junge sheds new light on the private life of Adolf Hitler.
Junge died a day after Blind Spot's premiere. Guess she had some things to get off her chest.