Das Leben der Anderen

Das Leben der Anderen or The Lives of Others (as it is called titled in English), is a movie that we have been watching in History class for the past three days. It is a movie about East Germany in 1984 but more specifically about the Stasi and a German writer. In East Germany during this time period the Stasi spied on people, specifically artists and writers, to make sure that they are loyal to the state. Writer and artists were the ones usually watched because they are able to make public statements through their art or literature and the Stasi don't want that so if the artists and writers do something they don't like they arrest them.
I thought this movie was very interesting because I didn't know very much about this and East Germany in the '80s. I didn't know anything about the Stasi so it was very fascinating learning about something I had no idea even existed. I want to work for the CIA when I grow up and by a secret agent but after seeing this movie I saw how what these spies were doing really effected people's lives in a huge way and how corrupt the government can be. I don't want to work for a corrupt government and I don't think that our government is bad but neither did the people who became part of the Stasi. When man, Wiesler, who was the one who spied on the writer, was just doing his job and what he thought was right but he was still made to look like the bad guy (although not at the end). Government and power can really fog your vision on your own morals and what is right and wrong. I also think that it was a good introduction to our government unit. The movie shows one form of government that I didn't know a lot about. I actually don't know very much about a lot of things that have to do with the government in foreign countries so I am very excited to start this unit.