THE MORAL AND ARTISTIC INVOLVEMENT OF COCO CHANEL AND LENI RIEFENSTAHL WITH THE NAZI REGIME

CONCLUSION

As a consequence of their commitment to their careers, Riefenstahl and Chanel appear to be in support of the Nazis, which we are intuitively disgusted by. Through this, Riefenstahl and Chanel illustrate the complexities of the aesthetic and moral value of art and why we struggle to conclude whether their talent excused their actions.

Image: Vogue

The women, nonetheless, were morally responsible for their actions despite circumstantial moral luck and the banality of evil. Yet, their desires to advance their careers were not morally justifiable acts. Although some actions were understandable, such as in Chanel's desire to save her nephew, it does not mean that the action, itself, was morally right.

Moreover, Riefenstahl's and Chanel's talent and art do not excuse their actions as horrible people can produce fabulous work. Though the art itself can be aesthetically worthy of appreciation, I argue that it does not make the art morally good by recognising its beauty but distinguishes the artist from the creation; separating the aesthetic value from the morality of the work itself.

Nonetheless, there remains a complexity in applying moral questions to the cases because the notion of morality is not a fixed sense of values to all individuals due to differing cultures.

Even if the aesthetic value is untouched, it is important to consider moral and aesthetic considerations and honour, in their memory, the victims targeted by Nazi collaborators. I realise that this dissertation raises many vital questions that I do not touch upon: Does the representation of the characters in Riefenstahl's Tiefland affect the moral value of the film? Is it appropriate for Chanel to have evaded punishment, and would she have been as successful if her Nazi collaborations were made public at a sooner rate? These questions underline the importance of the research of this dissertation and our evaluation of something beyond aesthetic considerations into moral condensations.

Nevertheless, the collaborations of Riefenstahl and Chanel illustrate the support these women had for the Nazi regime, no matter whether they were opportunists over believers of the ideology. Therefore, their wartime actions illustrate that we should not neglect the moral aspect of value when assessing the art of Riefenstahl and Chanel.