ABSTRACT
This chapter aruges that paradox further by showing how, in practice, formal and political interpretations are constantly and inevitably intermingled in the way we interpret texts or films, even when we think that we are actually privileging either aesthetic or political/ethical readings. In her famous 1975 essay 'Fascinating Fascism', Susan Sontag denounced the pervasive influence in contemporary American culture of what she described as 'fascist aesthetics'. The contrast between these two positions is made even more striking by the fact that the texts seem to respond to each other, even though 'Fascinating Fascism' never acknowledges Sontag's previous argument. Fascinating Fascism' stages an opposition between Sontag's own political interpretation of Riefenstahl's films and another position, attributed to 'the most influential voices in the avant-garde film establishment', which seeks to rehabilitate Riefenstahl in the name of aesthetics. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in this book.
