Wednesday - December 28, 2011

 King Kim II: Born to Salute and be Saluted

Baby Kim II with mummy and daddy (about 2 years old). Saluting authority requires precision and sharp angles.

King Kim II in 2011. When one is in authority one doesn't have to salute anybody but one does acknowledge the salutes of others, even if it is rather perfunctory and flaccid. See the excellent study by Tilman Allert, The Hitler Salute: On the Meaning of a Gesture (Henry Holt, 2008) where this very point is made. Hitler often gave very lackadaisical and sloppy salutes when others saluted him. The angle was also very important, either above or below the heart, straight arm or bent arm.

All this saluting was mocked brilliantly by Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940) including the different salutes for the saluter and the salutee.

[Adenoid Hynkel is "The Phooey" (Der Führer)]

["Benzino Napaloni" (Mussolini, il Duce)]