The show is fascist on many levels. First things first, I have only watched up to the middle of the fourth season (I think? IDK, but it wasn't the end), but I know how it ends.
In the first three seasons it's more subtextual. The way characters get torn to pieces by inhuman monsters reminds me of Starship Troopers, which is very obviously a satire of fascist propaganda. It shows that the humans of this world are treated as insects, whose only goal is to serve the state. The Scouts is almost a death cult in that respect.
However, once we get to the fourth series it really kicks off.
spoiler
We learn that the inhabitants of Paradis are (Germanic) Eldians, the decendents of titans who are said to have fought a horrendous war against the resto of the world in the past. For this, they are treated as second class citizens, and made to live in ghettos and wear armbands so that everyone else can recognise them. The Marleyans, who were apparently the worst treated of the Eldians' subjects in the time of the Eldian Empire, insist that the Eldians be kept under close surveilance, so that they are never able to rise up again.
However, it is implied that perhaps the Eldians weren't as bad as everyone says they were, and Eren wants to call the Marleyan's bluff and genocide the rest of the world anyway.
Now, lets look at the metatextual aspects at play. AoT is a Japanese programme, and the Japanese were allies of the Nazis during WWII who committed numerous war crimes which went completely unpunished. There is also a blatant holocaust analogy here with the ghettos and armbands. Being as the Eldians are meant to be Germans, and that they are treated as second class citizens because of something they are alleged have done in the past, the implication is that the Japanese (Germans via the Eldians) should be let off the hook for the crimes they committed in the past. The fact that Eren wants now to do it properly, and that we are meant to root for him, is essentially the "it didn't happen, but they deserved it and it'll happen again" pol meme. In a weird way, this also means that the Marleyans are somewhat justified in being suspicious of the Eldians- they are indeed planning to destroy the world. Or one of them is, at least. The fact that the mistreatment of Eldians is what makes Eren want to call their bluff reminds me of the whole "black people made me racist!" thing you sometimes see on the internet.
The icing on the cake here is that the ones punishing the Eldians now are the one who were being subjugated in the past- following the analogy, this would be the Jews. The idea of Germany and Japan being continually punished for the crimes of WWII is a common one amongst nationalists and neonazis, and having the Jewish stand-ins be the ones doing the oppressing is pure anti-semitism.
yeah, once i got to season 4 or whenever the whole "secret" was revealed, I just realised they were doing a "oh no, now they're white genociding us as punishment! kinda makes you think they deserved it, huh?" and really lost interest
The show is fascist on many levels. First things first, I have only watched up to the middle of the fourth season (I think? IDK, but it wasn't the end), but I know how it ends.
In the first three seasons it's more subtextual. The way characters get torn to pieces by inhuman monsters reminds me of Starship Troopers, which is very obviously a satire of fascist propaganda. It shows that the humans of this world are treated as insects, whose only goal is to serve the state. The Scouts is almost a death cult in that respect.
However, once we get to the fourth series it really kicks off.
spoiler
We learn that the inhabitants of Paradis are (Germanic) Eldians, the decendents of titans who are said to have fought a horrendous war against the resto of the world in the past. For this, they are treated as second class citizens, and made to live in ghettos and wear armbands so that everyone else can recognise them. The Marleyans, who were apparently the worst treated of the Eldians' subjects in the time of the Eldian Empire, insist that the Eldians be kept under close surveilance, so that they are never able to rise up again.
However, it is implied that perhaps the Eldians weren't as bad as everyone says they were, and Eren wants to call the Marleyan's bluff and genocide the rest of the world anyway.
Now, lets look at the metatextual aspects at play. AoT is a Japanese programme, and the Japanese were allies of the Nazis during WWII who committed numerous war crimes which went completely unpunished. There is also a blatant holocaust analogy here with the ghettos and armbands. Being as the Eldians are meant to be Germans, and that they are treated as second class citizens because of something they are alleged have done in the past, the implication is that the Japanese (Germans via the Eldians) should be let off the hook for the crimes they committed in the past. The fact that Eren wants now to do it properly, and that we are meant to root for him, is essentially the "it didn't happen, but they deserved it and it'll happen again" pol meme. In a weird way, this also means that the Marleyans are somewhat justified in being suspicious of the Eldians- they are indeed planning to destroy the world. Or one of them is, at least. The fact that the mistreatment of Eldians is what makes Eren want to call their bluff reminds me of the whole "black people made me racist!" thing you sometimes see on the internet.
The icing on the cake here is that the ones punishing the Eldians now are the one who were being subjugated in the past- following the analogy, this would be the Jews. The idea of Germany and Japan being continually punished for the crimes of WWII is a common one amongst nationalists and neonazis, and having the Jewish stand-ins be the ones doing the oppressing is pure anti-semitism.
yeah, exactly. it reifies the anti-semitic conspiracy theory about the Jews controlling the world.
yeah, once i got to season 4 or whenever the whole "secret" was revealed, I just realised they were doing a "oh no, now they're white genociding us as punishment! kinda makes you think they deserved it, huh?" and really lost interest