Gernot and Strudel is another great American Dad episode. Unfortunately and given the meager rating this episode got so far, the plot appears to be flying to high for most viewers. This episode was by no means a mocking of Klaus or German culture. It was much more a mockery of Communism and more precisely the Socialism of the former Eastern Block, especially Eastern Germany.
I am not sure to what extent this was the intention by the writers, it may very well be a lucky shot intending to characterize something completely else. One indicator would be that it was about a German children's show and not about an Eastern German one. Irrespective the intentions: What you see in the episode is Eastern Germany in a nutshell. The place was exactly like that including the character deficits it created among its citizens.
Klaus' inability to share was the last thing I expected to see on a show like American Dad. But I myself being born shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in Western Germany, have made plenty of experiences with Eastern Germans who were socialized in Eastern Germany and who showed exactly that: The inability to share even simple material things. It was particularly the generation born between around 1965 and 1975 which had this defect and who couldn't just overcome after the end of Communism. Those born before were socialized into a society that still wasn't 100% on line. Those who were born after were young enough to change their way.
It may seem crazy - and it certainly was, after all we're talking about a closed mental asylum with psychotic house rule(r)s - but since the lack of even simple material things like pens or scratchpads was normal in Communist countries, owning such a consumer item was equal to money. Accordingly, if you took the pen to write a note with it without asking for permission prior to that, they were as angry and possessive as if you just took their wallet and bought something for yourself. Even after the reunion of Germany with consumer goods flooding Eastern Germany's shelves, they still couldn't overcome the reflex of protecting what little was theirs.
Interestingly, this reflex was not universal. There were plenty of goods that were as abundant as in Western Germany. Cigarettes and alcohol for example. You would expect those to be items as or even more precious than a simple pen. But since they were deemed essential by the leadership to have their subjects escape a little from their life of low expectations, a shortage of (cheap & tasteful as dirt) alcohol and tobacco was never in sight.
Overall, I cannot but give this episode 10 stars. Picking up such a tiny detail and turn it into the main plot for an episode deserves nothing less. And while Family Guy keeps shooting low politically, American Dad holds up the torch lighting out the dark corners in society's underbelly. I hope more viewers will appreciate this effort, while even be decently funny.
I am not sure to what extent this was the intention by the writers, it may very well be a lucky shot intending to characterize something completely else. One indicator would be that it was about a German children's show and not about an Eastern German one. Irrespective the intentions: What you see in the episode is Eastern Germany in a nutshell. The place was exactly like that including the character deficits it created among its citizens.
Klaus' inability to share was the last thing I expected to see on a show like American Dad. But I myself being born shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in Western Germany, have made plenty of experiences with Eastern Germans who were socialized in Eastern Germany and who showed exactly that: The inability to share even simple material things. It was particularly the generation born between around 1965 and 1975 which had this defect and who couldn't just overcome after the end of Communism. Those born before were socialized into a society that still wasn't 100% on line. Those who were born after were young enough to change their way.
It may seem crazy - and it certainly was, after all we're talking about a closed mental asylum with psychotic house rule(r)s - but since the lack of even simple material things like pens or scratchpads was normal in Communist countries, owning such a consumer item was equal to money. Accordingly, if you took the pen to write a note with it without asking for permission prior to that, they were as angry and possessive as if you just took their wallet and bought something for yourself. Even after the reunion of Germany with consumer goods flooding Eastern Germany's shelves, they still couldn't overcome the reflex of protecting what little was theirs.
Interestingly, this reflex was not universal. There were plenty of goods that were as abundant as in Western Germany. Cigarettes and alcohol for example. You would expect those to be items as or even more precious than a simple pen. But since they were deemed essential by the leadership to have their subjects escape a little from their life of low expectations, a shortage of (cheap & tasteful as dirt) alcohol and tobacco was never in sight.
Overall, I cannot but give this episode 10 stars. Picking up such a tiny detail and turn it into the main plot for an episode deserves nothing less. And while Family Guy keeps shooting low politically, American Dad holds up the torch lighting out the dark corners in society's underbelly. I hope more viewers will appreciate this effort, while even be decently funny.
