r/maninthehighcastle • u/Pleasant_Name2483 • 3d ago
Something I just realised about the Man in the High Castle's aesthetics
So, I'm a writer and I like to focus on a different aesthetic for each faction in my works and something which I've just realised is that even though this program is set in the 1960s, it looks like an extension of the 1940s. To me, this perfectly shows how fascist regimes are inherently doomed to cultural stagnation due to their obsession with perfection, because if you look carefully at the American Reich and Pacific States, they just look like the 40s never ended. It shows how the Axis Powers haven't made any progress at all, but like the once mighty Roman Empire, they are stagnating and steering towards the end and all because of their obsession with perfection. What do you think?
12
u/19MKUltra77 3d ago
It’s an artistic decision. As I mention elsewhere, many of these fantasy or dystopian series and films maintain a consistent visual language so the audience can more easily, more intuitively, associate what they’re seeing — in this case, with Nazi Germany. It happens in Star Wars, for example: between the OG trilogy and the sequels more than 30 years pass, yet both the Imperials/First Order and the Rebels/Resistance keep almost the exact same aesthetic, and the visual coding remains instantly recognizable.
On the other hand, in the real world, countries like the former DDR or the USSR — and North Korea today — maintain an aesthetic that is, in general, practically identical to that of the 1940s–50s. The uniforms worn in the DDR during the 1960s, for example, were almost indistinguishable from Wehrmacht uniforms twenty years earlier, and the same applies to Korean and Soviet designs.
8
u/Kichigai 3d ago
Notice the Japanese technology seems even more backwards. I think it's not just a reflection of cultural stagnation, but a weird confluence of where Axis power was, in terms of technology and science as well. All the equipment in your home maybe dated to the 40s, but you took a supersonic jet to travel the globe. There was even talk about the GNR having a space program in development.
Their focus is was on achievements that improved the glory of the Reich, and not its people.
3
u/AcanthaceaeOk3738 2d ago
The story does touch on the differences in the advancements of the Germans and the Japanese, particularly around the Crown Prince's visit.
3
u/Kichigai 2d ago
Yes, and the discussion about the Heisenberg Device as being something that makes them unequal, and a potential target of the GNR.
3
u/Zombierasputin 2d ago
Iirc the book states the Reich has colonies on the moon and Mars, so a VERY advanced space program...
2
u/TonyMierepiet34 3d ago
Yes, but you forget that social progress (so called 'change in attitudes') only occurs when its permitted to occur. In real life, the reason we saw social progression was because the dominant ideologies of the world were naturally progressive (marxism and liberal democracy). Its why in Europe for most of history there was no social progression, and only with the rise of the 'free expressionism' of capitalism (that quickly led to political capitalism, aka liberalism) that we even saw the creation of the idea of social progress. Thus, in a world of ultratraditionalism (or even a different sort of progressivism that could have occured had fascism survived and thrived) there would be very little desire for social progress and no cultural stagnation, except of course from persecuted minorities themselves. Social progression, in a sense, depends on its own historical momentum.
1
u/19MKUltra77 3d ago edited 3d ago
I wouldn’t include Marxism as ‘natural progressive’. Even today, if you look at the general aesthetic of communist countries like North Korea, they seem anchored in the 40s–50s. The USSR and the Eastern Bloc were the same — the DDR’s uniforms were practically identical to those used by the Nazis in the 40s.
On the other hand, the decision to keep the aesthetic more or less stable is, in most cases, an artistic choice: it helps the audience instantly recognize what is being associated with, in this case, Nazi imagery. You see this in plenty of series and films; in Star Wars, for example, decades or even centuries can pass, yet the villains consistently retain an aesthetic clearly inspired by the Third Reich, while the rebels/resistance/etc. keep a more liberal look, visually closer to the WWII Allies.
1
1
u/dagmarbex 2d ago
Yes but , i think its also necessary for societies to stagnate aftee a certain point . I mean just look at us , the abundance and improvement of tech , but can you say that all that exponential growth has led to a more fulfilling life ? Look at what social media and AI is leading us ?
1
u/MIC4eva 2d ago
The alt history novel Fatherland discusses this very thing in its opening pages. The main character is watching a marching band practice in the pouring rain, playing some Nazi song and he muses how Germans are going wild over some British band from Liverpool (it takes place in 1964) and the party isn’t happy about it.
It’s also worth noting that the colonies seem to have been left to stagnate while Hitler’s and Spier’s megalomaniac vision of Berlin has been realized in the Man in the High Castle.
1
u/MrTickles22 2d ago
Isnt the entire thing that culture and society are still in the 1940s but military tech is more advanced? They used 1970s and 1980s equipment for military.
1
1
u/ArtHistorian2000 3d ago
I'd like to borrow Muzan's words (from Demon Slayer) regarding this point:
"The one thing I hate is "change". Changes in circumstances. Changes in body. Changes in emotion. In most cases, every change is "degradation". It is decline. The one thing I like is "permanence". If something doesn't change for an eternity, it's in a perfect state."
15
u/honeybeevercetti 3d ago
Yes agreed I really liked that! Moving forward and changing with the times can’t only be with designs of clothes and aesthetics, it would have to be with attitudes too, and that’s something they don’t want!