Jabba Rants

Another day in the life of… well, me!

Fare Dodger

Today, in one of my German classes, we watched a short film and then wrote an essay on it. I thought the movie was great and found that it had made it’s way onto youtube. There is a slight idiomatic play on words in the title, as it is called “Schwarzfahrer“, which literally means “Black Rider”, but really is referring to a fare dodger, just as “Schwarzarbeiter” (black worker) refers to someone who “works under the table” or dodges income taxes.

The film is about 10 minutes long, but the end makes it worth every second of built-up anger that one feels towards that woman.

April 5, 2007 - Posted by jabba | Humor, Language | | 6 Comments

6 Comments »

  1. yes, yes, yes thank you! I watched this film years ago. thanks for reminding me of it.

    Comment by Evenson | April 6, 2007 | Reply

  2. Funny how they use the “Schwarzfahrer” term to play with the color of skin as well (and eventually cook a snook at all those who think he must be the culprit here, due to his being black).

    I wonder if (some) Americans would find this clip offensive (seeing it somewhere else than in a German culture class), in spite of its clear anti-xenophobic message.

    Comment by Fred | April 9, 2007 | Reply

  3. cook a snook?

    Comment by Evenson | April 9, 2007 | Reply

  4. Ahm, “cock a snook” — a translation of “eine Nase drehen” that I got from leo.org and… unfortunately… misspelt.

    Comment by Fred | April 9, 2007 | Reply

  5. Yeah the subtitles are the best part. I like the way they translate some stuff. The version we watched in class translated “Hottentotten” as “jungle bunnies”. The hand-out we received translates it as “hottentot”, as does leo.org. ;)

    Comment by jabba | April 9, 2007 | Reply

  6. Der Negger hat meine Karte aufgefressen.

    Comment by Trabba | April 10, 2007 | Reply


Leave a comment