Reich Recasts Hilarious Nazi Antics with Friends Theme

70 years later it’s still impossible to avoid constant daily reminders of the existence of the Nazis. That’s a good thing, of course, in the sense that we should collectively never forget the atrocities they committed, but also something of a double-edged sword, in that, per Godwin’s law, literally every single thing that ever happens is automatically compared to the Nazis.

Just look at every other comment on any blog post on this site for a quick reminder. It’s gotten to the point where I honestly wonder how long it will be before a generation of young people think of Hitler not as the 20th century’s greatest monster, but as that guy from the funny memes online. Ten years? Twenty tops? Tomorrow?

We all remember the “Hitler reacting to things” meme from a few years back, in which scenes from the film Downfall were given incongruously translated subtitles – with hilarious results! And while the appeal of that cliché wore off before long, it’s with a guilty conscience that I admit that this latest mashup of Nazis and pop culture from the Spanish-language comedy group Marca Blanca, is probably the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while. Depressing too, yes, but funny all the same.

It’s a reimagining of the TV series Friends, called “Reich,” with video footage of high ranking members of the Nazi party –- Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Goring, and Braun –- yucking it up, playing in the water, and having the time of their lives.

It’s the banality of evil with a laugh track, which is a pretty good way to describe the original sitcom itself, come to think of it.

Watch below, via Marca Blanca:

UPDATE: Here’s another popular video reimagining Ace of Base’s music video for “It’s a Beautiful Life” with, well… horrific imagery:

— —
>> Luke O’Neil is a self-loathing journalist and blogger in Boston whose work has appeared in Esquire, Slate, The New Republic and many others. Follow him on Twitter (@lukeoneil47).

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.