Word of the Day #3: Whipsaw

Pronunciation:

\ˈhwip-ˌsȯ, ˈwip-\

Function:

transitive verb

Date:

1842

1 : to saw with a whipsaw 2 : to beset or victimize in two opposite ways at once, by a two-phase operation, or by the collusive action of two opponents whipsawed by inflation and high taxes>

With a whipsaw, two opposing sides go back and forth to reach a greater goal of cutting the wood. This thought led me to think of Russian director Sergi Eisenstein's idea when creating his great montage films: Thesis+Antithesis=Synthesis.
His inspiration for this idea came from Japanese kanji characters. Many of them put symbols together in order to create an idea. For example, dog+mouth=bark. The most famous scene from Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin (1925) is the Odessa steps sequence which is all about conflict. However, Eisenstein believed eventually a balance would be reached and there would no longer be an antithesis. Hence, the end of the film sees celebration as opposed to another conflict.
In Germany, one could say the thesis of post WWII was the capitalists, the antithesis was the communists and the the synthesis was the wall. By 1989, the thesis was the communists, the antithesis was the capitalists and the synthesis was the fall of the wall. Of course, it is much easier to identify these factors in retrospect. Additionally, I hope Eisenstein was correct in believing eventually there would be a peace and hopefully that stability is now.

Sources: Cook, David. A History of Narrative Film, 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004. p. 148-150