History Fridge / InglouriousBasterds

* Landa's smug invocation of "if the shoe fits you must wear it" foreshadows his own fate. [[spoiler: he's forced to wear a swastika cut into his forehead. He betrayed the Nazis, but the metaphorical shoe fits, and fits well.]]

* Its obvious that Landa speaks fluent French, English, German, and Italian. So why does he insist on switching to speaking English with Monsieur Lapadite, using a the paltry excuse that 'His French is running out'? [[spoiler: because, as he later remarks, the people underneath the floorboards don't speak English. He switched to English right about the time he went from a pleasant milk based conversation to one that involved Jews and hiding places.]]

* When [[spoiler: the Nazis are killed]], it is during a violent propaganda movie in which a 'war hero' slaughters hundreds of Allied troops, which invokes cheering from the Nazis. However, after watching the film which is almost a parody of an American propaganda movie, a thoughtful viewer might realise that he has just watched [[spoiler: two Allied 'heroes' slaughtering Nazis]], which is almost inevitably enjoyable for your average viewer. Tarantino is highlighting the way the violence cinema in cinema brings out the worst in people, providing the violence is directed toward AcceptableTargets.

* When Donny Donowitz beats a German solider to death with a baseball bat, the image is reminiscent of the scene in the Stanley Kubrick film ''2001: A Space Odyssey'', where a primitive hominid beats to death a hominid from a rival tribe with a bone. The scene in Kubrick's film is scored to Richard Strauss’s composition ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', which is based on the book of the same name by German philosopher Freidrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche's book describes the rise of the “super man” in human affairs, a concept that is reflected in Kubrick's film through the depiction of the early "human" learning to dominate others through superior intellect and will. Nietzsche’s book had been adopted as a key philosophical text by the National Socialist party in Germany, who interpreted it as addressing the superiority of the German/Aryan races and their capacity to dominate other, inferior, races of Europe, including the Jews. Therefore, the image of a Jewish-American soldier beating down a German soldier appropriates Kubrick's image to create a highly ironic reversal of the "Nazi" interpretation of Nietzsche’s text.

* The real Fridge horror is the fact that the Holocaust was happening at the same time as the events in this film, even if Hitler gets killed to create an AlternateUniverse millions of people still died and the Basterds for all their bravado did nothing to actually stop it or save those lives. There's no guarantee that Hitler's death would stop it, it could halt the extermination(but not the Nazis attempts to delete and bury the evidence and try and kill remaining survivors). Furthermore, even if Hitler and the Nazi High Command are dead, there's no guarantee that the Nazis would fall. It's likely that the people behind the Operation Valkyrie plot would come to power and while they would depose the Nazi Party and call for a peaceful end to the war, its not likely that they'll return vast swathes of conquered territory or prosecute war criminals.

** Though, in RealLife, the Japanese were ready to surrender by the time of the atomic bomb. It's just America was so angry, they wanted to make a statement of power and the Japanese attempts to surrender were to [[TooDumbToLive ''Joseph Stalin'']]. It's possible a more peaceful surrender agreement was reached--though, this being Tarantino, I wouldn't bet on it.

* The real Fridge horror is the fact that the Holocaust was happening at the same time as the events in this film, even if Hitler gets killed to create an AlternateUniverse millions of people still died and the Basterds for all their bravado did nothing to actually stop it or save those lives. There's no guarantee that Hitler's death would stop it, it could halt the extermination(but not the Nazis attempts to delete and bury the evidence and try and kill remaining survivors). Furthermore, even if Hitler and the Nazi High Command are death, there's no guarantee that the Nazis would fall. It's likely that the people behind the Operation Valkyrie plot would come to power and while they would depose the Nazi Party and call for a peaceful end to the war, its not likely that they'll return vast swathes of conquered territory or prosecute war criminals.

* If everything goes 100% ideal in the aftermath of Operation Kino, and the European Axis (Germany, the Italian Social Republic) capitulates, then America gets to turn around and throw massive quantities of men and material that would have been committed to the Western Front at the Pacific. Good news for the Chinese in Manchuria, bad news for the Americans, because they are going to be at Japan's doorstep ahead of schedule and before Little Boy and Fat Man are ready to drop. In other words, America would go forward with Operation Downfall, the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands, which had a fatality estimate in the Megadeath range, would likely end up depopulating large areas of Japan, and could have involved chemical weapon attacks on both military and civilian targets.

* When Donny Donowitz beats a German solider to death with a baseball bat, the image is reminiscent of the moment in the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey when the primitive hominid beats to death a hominid from a rival tribe with a bone. The scene in Kubrick's film is scored to Richard Strauss’s ''Thus Spake Zarathustra'', which is based on the book of the same name by German philosopher Freidrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche's book describes the rise of the “super man” in human affairs, and this concept is reflected in Kubrick's film through the depiction of the first "human" learns to dominate others through superior intellect and will. Nietzsche’s book was adopted as a key philosophical text by the National Socialist movement in Germany, where it was widely interpreted as addressing the superiority of the German/Aryan races and their capacity to dominate other, inferior, races of Europe, including the Jews. Therefore, the image of a Jewish-American soldier beating down a German soldier seems to use Kubrick's image to effect a highly ironic reversal of the conventional interpretations of Nietzsche’s text.

* When Donny Donowitz [[spoiler: beats a German solider to death with a baseball bat]], the image is reminiscent of the moment in the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey when [[spoiler: the primitive hominid beats to death a hominid from a rival tribe with a bone]]. This scene in Kubrick's film is scored to Richard Strauss’s ''Thus Spake Zarathustra''. Strauss’s composition is based on the book of the same name by German philosopher Freidrich Nietzsche, which describes the rise of the “super man” in human affairs. This concept is reflected in the depiction of one hominid learning to dominate another through superior intellect and will. Nietzsche’s book was adopted as a key philosophical text by the National Socialist movement in Germany, where it was widely interpreted as addressing the superiority of the German/Aryan races and their capacity to rise above the other, inferior, races of Europe, including the Jews. Therefore, the image of the [[spoiler: Jewish-American soldier beating down the German]] seems to use Kubrick's image to effect a highly ironic reversal of the conventional interpretations of Nietzsche’s text.

* When Donny Donowitz [[spoiler: beats a German solider to death with a baseball bat]], the image is reminiscent of the moment in the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey when [[spoiler: the primitive hominid beats to death a hominid from a rival tribe with a bone]]. This scene in Kubrick's film is scored to Richard Strauss’s ''Thus Spake Zarathustra''. Strauss’s composition is based on the book of the same name by German philosopher Freidrich Nietzsche, which describes the rise of the “super man” in human affairs. This concept is reflected in the depiction of one hominid learning to dominate another through superior intellect and will. Nietzsche’s book was adopted as a key philosophical text by the National Socialist movement in Germany, where it was widely interpreted as addressing the superiority of the German/Aryan races and their capacity to rise above the other, inferior, races of Europe, including the Jews. Therefore, the image of the [[spoiler: Jewish-American soldier beating down the German]] seems to use Kubrick's image to effect a highly ironic reversal of the conventional interpretations of Nietzsche’s text.

* Carving a swastika into a forehead isn't actually all ''that'' horrific, in the long run - even 1944 reconstructive surgery was capable of removing it. The victims might still have a noticeable scar after surgery, but the original shape wouldn't be visible. It's possible that Raine didn't know about that much about cosmetic surgery. Even if he did know. he might have just wanted to scare his victims.

* FridgeBrilliance: when [[spoiler: the Nazis are killed]], it is during a violent propaganda movie in which a 'war hero' slaughters hundreds of Allied troops, which invokes cheering from the Nazis. However, after watching the film which is almost a parody of an American propaganda movie, a thoughtful viewer might realise that he has just watched [[spoiler: two Allied 'heroes' slaughtering Nazis]], which is almost inevitably enjoyable for your average viewer. Tarantino is highlighting the way the violence cinema in cinema brings out the worst in people, providing the violence is directed toward AcceptableTargets.

* FridgeLogic: Carving a swastika into a forehead isn't actually all ''that'' horrific, in the long run - even 1944 reconstructive surgery was capable of removing it. The victims might still have a noticeable scar after surgery, but the original shape wouldn't be visible. It's possible that Raine didn't know about that much about cosmetic surgery. Even if he did know. he might have just wanted to scare his victims.

* FridgeHorror: If everything goes 100% ideal in the aftermath of Operation Kino, and the European Axis (Germany, the Italian Social Republic) capitulates, then America gets to turn around and throw massive quantities of men and material that would have been committed to the Western Front at the Pacific. Good news for the Chinese in Manchuria, bad news for the Americans, because they are going to be at Japan's doorstep ahead of schedule and before Little Boy and Fat Man are ready to drop. In other words, America would go forward with Operation Downfall, the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands, which had a fatality estimate in the Megadeath range, would likely end up depopulating large areas of Japan, and could have involved chemical weapon attacks on both military and civilian targets.

* Q: Why was Shosanna the only Dreyfus to manage to make a run for it, in Chapter 1?
-->A: [[spoiler: She was the only one in her family who knew English!]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQncV8eYOBI#t=76 As demonstrated here.]]

* Its obvious that Landa speaks fluent French, English, German, and Italian. So why does he insist on switching to speaking English with Monsieur Lapadite, using a the paltry excuse that 'His French is running out'? [[spoiler: because, as he later remarks, the people underneath the floorboards don't speak English. He switched to English right about the time he went from a pleasant milk based conversation to one that involved Jews and hiding places.]]

** Its obvious that Landa speaks fluent French, English, German, and Italian. So why does he insist on switching to speaking English with Monsieur Lapadite, using a the paltry excuse that 'His French is running out'? [spoiler: because, as he later remarks, the people underneath the floorboards don't speak English. He switched to English right about the time he went from a pleasant milk based conversation to one that involved Jews and hiding places.]

** If Major Hellstrom recognised Stiglitz, then it's likely he just didn't want to cause a fuss with that many people present.

** Everyone in that bar was either drunk or just not looking at him. People tend to not see what they don't expect to see anyway. Stiglitz probably doesn't look that different from a whole lot of German soldiers either, come to that.

* Fridge logic: how did no-one in the basement bar recognise Stiglitz? Landa recognised him, and it's shown in an earlier scene that not only did Stiglitz murder thirteen Gestapo officers, he was arrested and the story printed in at least one newspaper. It's highly likely that large amounts of people saw his photo, either in a newspaper or on a wanted poster. Although it's possible he was recognised and everyone chose to ignore it, that's highly unlikely.

* Landa does not, in fact, strangle Bridget Von Hammersmark for treason. He strangles her because he was already planning to defect and let the Basterds kill Hitler--and already planned to cast himself in the role of the planner and hero. The role that Bridget herself had, in fact, occupied. He killed her so that she wouldn't be able to take the credit or expose that he wasn't really the mole in the Third Reich.

** Possible FridgeBrilliance here: in some traditions of Kabbalah, there's a belief that particularly holy people, such as Moses, have letters of the name of God (YHWH) shining from their foreheads, whereas particularly evil people have demonic signs. What Aldo's saying might not be "You'll have this (the swastika scar) for the rest of your life" so much as "You can't take this off because I'm just showing you for ''what you are''."

** If anything, the practice at least leaves MENTAL scars. [[CaptainObvious Seeing all your comrades get slaughtered by eight members of the so-called inferior race, getting cut in a grotesque and painful way, and only being left alive so you can tell your horrible tale must be horrific.]]