Friday, December 15, 2017

The Polka King on Netflix


4 comments:

  1. Regrettably, Bieganski lives on. As Americans, we learn next to nothing about Poland’s compelling history, rich culture, and practical contributions to Western civilization. Consequently, Bieganski’s negative stereotype fills the common void through repeated transmittal, reinforcement, and unwitting acceptance as absolute truth.
    Note to Polonophobic Netflix content providers: Either provide content about Poles and Polish Americans that’s factual and relevant or provide similarly false and derogatory content about other ethnic Americans. In the event you find yourself incapable of identifying said groups, kindly contact me for recommendations.

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  2. I’d like to back off my comment posted above. I (perhaps a tad too quickly) had assumed this was another fictional, Hollywood-ish production meant to evoke laughter by gratuitously denigrating the Polish.
    I didn’t realize the film was based on the documentary “The Man Who Would Be Polka King”, which tells the rags-to-riches story of the rise of Jan “Lewan” Lewandowski, who immigrated to America and became a polka star.
    Having done a little research, I found that, at his height, he was worth millions of dollars. He had his own radio and TV show, and enjoyed a 10-year stint at Trump’s Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. He also led vacation groups to Italy for private audiences with Pope John Paul II.
    Unfortunately, he also ran a Ponzi scheme that sold unregistered investments in his polka business and promised fans they could double their money in five years. As it happened, he spent or lost all of their money. Lewan was then convicted and spent six years in state and federal pens.

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    Replies
    1. Yes sure - this is based on fact. But it was chosen and green lighted because Lewandowski was a crook. If Lewandowski's story was something positive it would not have been made.

      Delete
  3. Hello,

    I'm not offended that Americans made a movie about some Polish fraudster. I'm worried that they will use that opportunity to ridicule all Poles as "Borats" and make fun of our customs, culture, language, and probably also our cuisine.
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but other minorities in the USA are not treated in such disrespectful way.
    I compared posters of two movies about "Ponzi scheme" frauds. There are obvious differences.
    Links below.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Polka_King
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Lies

    ReplyDelete

Bieganski the Blog exists to further explore the themes of the book Bieganski the Brute Polak Stereotype, Its Role in Polish-Jewish Relations and American Popular Culture.
These themes include the false and damaging stereotype of Poles as brutes who are uniquely hateful and responsible for atrocity, and this stereotype's use in distorting WW II history and all accounts of atrocity.
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