Karl Marx wrote that history repeats itself, “the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” If he’d lived in our day, he might have said the same thing about Adolf Hitler. Once the Nazi leader was the solemn embodiment of evil, cruelty, and hatred; he was a warning and a moral lesson. Now, he’s a joke. Thanks to internet meme-makers, Hitler is famous for disco dancing and looking like cats. Hitler: He has a dumb mustache. He’s excitable. He’s funny.
Making Hitler funny can be a way to diminish, mock, or insult him; humor and irreverence can challenge evil. But they don’t necessarily challenge fascism. Ironic, aestheticized, anti-establishment Hitler is in many respects congruent with the original irreverent, anti-establishment aesthetic of the Nazi Party. That’s an aesthetic that the alt-right has consciously tried to recapture today. As a result, funny Hitler and his modern acolytes often have the last laugh.
