Strength Through Manipulation

I mistakingly chose to watch "The Wave" part 1 video. Yes the dialogue was cheesy (a common theme among 80's movies) and yes the way he got the message across was cheesy as well, however this movie brings up a good point. The point is that Hitler did not brainwash his people, which is the common misconception in my point of view with students studying Hitler's rise to power. Instead, he successfully manipulated the people he ruled over, using his under ranks as tools for popularity, and his speeches for political momentum. I guess, and I wont stand too strong with this claim, that the teacher is similar to Hitler in the way that he used phrases to gain the people's approval. This experiment was a good one in the way that it encapsulated a small part of Hitler's rise to power. However, I do not feel that this video is the best representation of Hitler's beginning of the third reich. It over simplifies an event too complicated for a class experiment.