Scatter Brained

THE PARENT TRAP
Not coincidentally, it was a Ger-
man, Erich Kästner, who wrote 
The Parent Trap
  (
Das Doppelte 
Lottchen,
 adapted for American 
fi lm and television at least fi ve 
times). Identical twins (the Ger-
man people) have been sepa-
rated since birth by their divorced 
parents (the Federal Republic of 
Germany and the German Dem-
ocratic Republic). Determined to 
bring them together again, the 
twins must chase away a rival 
for their father’s affection (the So-
viet Bloc) by convincing her that 
living with the naughty twins isn’t 
worth it (via mass demonstrations 
and civil unrest).