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[personal profile] seekingferret
Title: Mayn Kindershe yorn
Song: "Beltz, Mayn Shtetele" by Jewdyssee
Vidder: seekingferret
Fandom: X-Men Series
Content Notes: Holocaust!
Length: 2:35
Responsible for the lack of consistent title block from vid to vid: seekingferret
Summary: Erik Lehnsherr, Survivor, Mutant, and Yid



(Download of the vid at Critical commons, free account needed)

I've tried a number of times to vid Magneto, and this one is not quite a success either, but it's close enough! I originally thought that since Jewdyssee's cover of "Beltz, Mayn Shtetele" is a dance song, I could submit this for Club Vivid, but as soon as I actually started vidding it became clear that this is not a vid you want to dance to. Wayyyyy too much Holocaust.

But somewhere a few layers of meaning down, I think there's something interesting in this combination of music and image. When you try to add Erik's Jewishness as a specific, concrete element of his identity, you get a version of Erik that I don't think we see much of in fandom. Sometimes it reveals a method to the madness. Some of his mustache twirling becomes deeper than villainy for the sake of villainy. Sometimes you even understand and sympathize with his goals.

You get a Magneto who has never forgotten his childhood lessons, for whom the act of using his powers is among all the other things it is, an act of memory. I think that's why this song works, because it is a song about memory, performed in a dying language. And because Jewdyssee gives it a couple of extra layers of emotion beyond just mournfulness, it becomes responsive to the memories instead of just being about the memories.



Beltz, Mayn Shtetele

Music: Alexander Olshanetsky, Jacob Jacobs Lyrics: Burstein, Lith-Frey, Roman

When I recall my childhood,
I feel like I am having a dream.
how does the little house look,
which used to sparkle with lights?
Does the little tree grow which I planted long ago?


Beltz, my little town!
The little house where I spent my childhood!
The poor little room
Where I used to laugh with other children!
Every Shabes I would run to the river bank to play with
Other children under a little green tree.
Belz, my little town!
My little town where I had so many fine dreams!

sending love

Date: 2018-07-01 10:35 am (UTC)
littlecatk: chest with coins. the coins show a star (Default)
From: [personal profile] littlecatk
This is a great video, the songs upbeat way is definitly an interesting contrast
(listening to something in yiddish is always weird because my brain tries to listen to in german and i get some things that way but others really throw me out of the loop)
I think the "Every Shabes"-part with the lighting of candles was my fav bit but its all very intense.
Thanks for making and sharing this!

Re: sending love

Date: 2018-07-02 06:26 pm (UTC)
littlecatk: chest with coins. the coins show a star (Default)
From: [personal profile] littlecatk
thats a great way to say it!

(no subject)

Date: 2018-07-01 10:59 am (UTC)
jack: (Default)
From: [personal profile] jack
Wow, that was moving.

(no subject)

Date: 2018-07-02 04:12 pm (UTC)
ghost_lingering: Minus prepares to hit the meteor out of the park (today I saved the world)
From: [personal profile] ghost_lingering
There's such a cognitive dissonance for me with the opening of this vid that works really well, because it matches the cognitive dissonance of watching Magneto painted as an out and out villain in moments when I don't think it's that cut and dry.

The song would make a great dance vid in another vidding iteration though.

(no subject)

Date: 2022-06-21 08:10 pm (UTC)
salinea: (Default)
From: [personal profile] salinea
Very cool vid!

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