This movie has been described as Herzog's take on the American Dream, and there is some overt USA bashing, but it is much more complex than that, as societies are not easily characterized. For instance, the gangster-pimps that terrorize and brutalize Bruno and Eva in Berlin are very much reflections of the Gestapo mentality and the feeling of being trapped and helpless in your own homeland. They are more fortunate than Nazi victims in the ease of their "escape" to America but unlike most of those refugees in the 30's and 40's, Bruno is unable to assimilate and contribute. He expects instant riches and does a little work for the horny hillbillies that give him a job but is still full of anger and paranoia. This is due primarily to his obvious faults, alcoholism and maybe paranoid schizophrenia, and not to the American system. All 3 of the German transplants are shown to be highly intelligent and cultured beyond the hellish railroad town they are plopped down into, and the obvious solution would have been for Bruno to seek employment as a musician, as he is very talented in that regard, but the dramatic arc of the story demands that he lose everything including Eva, and blame America and the insipid characters he is forced to deal with, and do something drastic, which he does. Eva knew that America is the same as every place: if you want a good life, you've got to work hard for it, using whatever tools & gifts you possess. But Bruno is too damaged to apply this principle, and this is the tragedy of "Stroszek" and of Bruno S.
The scene with the premature baby and the doctor is one of the greatest I've ever seen. It is just amazing, the character of that tiny infant, and shows Stroszek the fundamental power that he lacks, the tenacious nature of humanity to hold onto not only fellow human beings, but also to life itself.
The coin-operated live animals in the end represent not only cruelty and lack of compassion, but the obsessiveness of the American pursuit of entertainment. I personally felt more compassion for these creatures as victims of a system than I did for Bruno, who was pretty much doomed before he came to America.
