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For Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the motivation behind creating films, as he did so prolifically between 1966 and 1982 , was essentially political. It was through this medium that he felt most able to contribute to the debate over the ever-changing internal politics of his nation, Germany, and to the universal debate over sexuality and gender roles that was emerging as laws and taboos on these subjects began to be reassessed and liberalised. Never opting for simplicity over controversy, it comes as no surprise, therefore, that Fassbinder should choose to explore the issue of racism in Fear Eats the Soul (henceforth referred to as FETS) at a time when Germany was choosing to direct its pent-up anger against Gastarbeiter . In a country that he considered ‘too conservative, conformist, ‘spießerhaft’ and charged with latent violence’ (Elsaesser, 1996: 25), he also deals with the issues of ageism and crossing social boundaries. I would like to explore how Fassbinder effectively employs the concepts of contradiction, contrast and exploitation in this film, i.e. concepts which are fundamental to an understanding of his work and world and which serve to provoke and unsettle the spectator. I will also show how the audience’s