Ezra links to philosopher Slavoj Zizek’s critical review of the excellent movie The Lives of Others, drawing special attention to this passage:

Like so many other films depicting the harshness of Communist regimes, The Lives of Others misses their true horror. How so? First, what sets the film’s plot in motion is the corrupt minister of culture, who wants to get rid of the top German Democratic Republic (GDR) playwright, Georg Dreyman, so he can pursue unimpeded an affair with Dreyman’s partner, the actress Christa-Maria. In this way, the horror that was inscribed into the very structure of the East German system is relegated to a mere personal whim. What’s lost is that the system would be no less terrifying without the minister’s personal corruption, even if it were run by only dedicated and “honest” bureaucrats.

Now, one perfectly good response is, as Ezra notes, that a major part of what’s wrong with such regimes is just that the whims of the whims of the inevitable corrupt apparatchiks can ruin lives unchecked. But perhaps a slightly more obvious one is: What movie was Zizek watching? Yes, the particular investigation this film follows begins with a personal vendetta, but it’s just not true that the East Germany depicted here seems as though it would be hunky dory but for the proverbial rotten apples in an otherwise good barrel. The sense of fear, suspicion, and mistrust is shown as pervasive, and it’s suggested that the only exceptional thing about Dreyman’s being under surveillance is how long it took. When the writers and intellectuals conspire to have a dissident essay published, they take extraordinary, paranoid precautions—not because they’re aware Dreyman’s been targeted by a powerful romantic rival, but because they all take for granted that they’re probably being watched, and that dire consequences will be visited upon anyone voicing an unpopular opinion. The systemic horror Zizek is talking about is right there if he cares to look for it—it’s not what directly drives the key events of the plot, but it provides the backdrop against which those events make sense.