Edition: U.S. / Global

'THE PRODUCERS'; Source of Mockery

Published: May 6, 2001

To the Editor:

J. Hoberman's article ''When the Nazis Became Nudniks'' [April 15] suggests that Mel Brooks used ''whistling past the graveyard'' humor to mock Hitler in ''The Producers,'' much as he mocked the Spanish inquisitor Torquemada in his ''History of the World, Part I.'' This kind of humor derives from synagogue Purim plays in which the would-be genocidal Vizier, Haman, is usually played by a child in oversized but portentous clothes and Chaplinesque shoes, topped by Haman's death-signifying tricorn hat. The murderous villain is reduced to a clown who makes us laugh, and his mythic importance is deflated.

By further reducing Haman to a seasonal pastry, the tricorn poppy-seed filled Hamantaschen, evil incarnate is minimized to snack food.

Since Hitler's malevolence has transcended religious and national boundaries, perhaps a pastry chef somewhere could devise a delicacy in the shape of a swastika? It might prove popular in the once-occupied countries of Europe, like a Napoleon.