Just what the hell is the deal with Lars von Trier, anyway? And, more to the point, what’s the deal with people wondering what the deal with him is? Granted, it was stupid of him to make those comments at Cannes this year about sympathizing with Hitler and identifying as a Nazi (while Kirsten Dunst looked on in horror). But what do people expect? For decades, he’s cultivated the persona of being a self-styled outcast and straight-up asshole. It’s like he’s following in the footsteps of someone like Werner Herzog: developing a persona that makes his name itself a selling point (Jason Anderson wrote about this in this week’s Grid, with regards to Herzog).