Cabaret Theses

Berlin - In Berlin during the Great Depression, the ubiquitous poverty and fear of communism set the people of Berlin up for Nazi influence.

Nearly all of the characters were poor, but Sally epitomized those who had no wealth. Although (or perhaps because) she lived in a small apartment, she would do anything to get it or to feel like she was wealthy. For this reason, she lets the rich man take him around because his presence exudes wealth, and he showers gifts upon her. Other people who were just as poor turned to the cabaret to forget about their poverty for a moment, illustrating how readily people would turn to something, anything, other than this. We saw communist political posters all over the wall, but all of them had been vandalized or torn apart which shows the public's collective hatred of communism. Both of these illustrate how the public's hate of one thing that push them naturally towards any other alternative that is within reach.

The Nazis - Because of the Nazis' popularity - especially among the youth - in addition to their violence, the growing majority was able to silence any dissent and turn those who were reluctant into submissive followers.

In an earlier segment of the movie, a man who kicked a Nazi out of the cabaret for asking for donations was secretly beat up in order to eliminate those who were willing to go against them. Another form of influence that the Nazis used was shown in the scene where the Nazi boy begins to sing. He sings a song with lyrics intended to empower the Nazi party, and while the enthusiastically supportive youth first begin to stand up and sing along, everyone feels obliged to sing along once more people begin to stand up, in fear of being singled out. Whether people wanted to or not, if they didn't, they would exist in the uncomfortable minority, so they made a simple decision to go along with everyone else.

Cabaret - In the movie, the cabaret presents a farcical exaggeration of the horrors that exist outside of the cabaret's escapist sanctuary.

The movie makes it obvious that the cabaret's shows mirror the events occurring in Berlin through the abrupt cuts between the parallels. However, the cabaret exists as a self-aware parody, and it lightens the actual events so as to turn people's heads away from the real problems.