Nietzsche and Modernism

Although Nietzsche isn't responsible for creating modernism, his philosophies were representative of the concerns and uncertainly of the modernist artists. Nietzsche and the modernists shared a dark outlook on society, one that he had called in his works "sick" and weak due to the constraints put upon them by the Christian church, and traditional values that had gone unquestioned for too long. To truly realize oneself, you must break free, denounce this imposed morality and search deep inside to develop into your own person.

Nietzsche realized that in the time of the modernist movement, certain people in Europe had begun to break free of these societal restraints, and experienced nihilism, yet he acknowledged that the common man would never be able to move beyond this slave mentality. The common man was weak, he resented his peers and superiors for things they had that he did not, and in return, fell up the existing societal value structure and the church as a crutch. Christianity gave these people a false sense of hope that if they lived their lives according to the rules set forth by their book and their leaders that they would at the end of their lives be rewarded. To most people, this is what they were looking for, guidance, to be part of something that would pay off in the end, they didn't have to undertake the daunting task of trying to make sense of the world, and ultimately realizing that there is no sense to be made of it. As a result of this, the social structure in Europe remained stable and for the most part content. When things seemed to go horrible wrong in ones life, they would turn to the church, and their misguided belief that there was a reason for everything and that God would take care of them as long as they didn't disrupt the fabric of their existence. In the periods before modernism (and to an extent up to this day) this was the widely excepted view of how things should be.

Although Nietzsche denounced Christianity, he praised Jesus as one of his ideal Overman. Jesus did not follow the set path, instead he created his own rules. In process he achieved a following, because it's in the nature of the weak to follow one who exhumes power and confidence. The church moved to capitalize on this power, but creating its own power structure, complete with a documented list of rules. These people, so awed by their "savior" saw it necessary to continue to praise him after his death, and turned to the house of god to do so. When you have a group of people subservient, it is natural that those in positions of power above them will use this to their advantage. What started