What You Can Learn From The Media

You may sometimes wonder why I even bother watching all those stupid Russian mini-series with my parents if I think they are such a waste of time. The truth is, however, that although plot-wise, they are indeed extremely underwhelming, they do provide a lot of interesting food for thought in other ways. Structurally, they provide a very good glimpse on the mainstream consumption of entertainment in Russia today. So what are some of the interesting elements many of the mini-series have in common?

Well, let's leave aside the purely romantic mini-series. Most of the rest are action or mystery. And they feature the following trends:

1) Old-fashioned "traditional" Russian names are in vogue, as opposed to the modern, slightly cosmopolitan ones. That's a reflection of an actual trend both in the society and among celebrities and other public figures naming their kids, and definitely tells me a thing or two about the growing nationalism in the country.

2) Jews are disproportionally represented in these mini-series. There's at least one in each one I watch. As a rule (with nary an exception), they play either comic-book style villains or equally ridiculous idiots in sycophant roles. You don't see intelligent Jews in leadership roles. They are either cowards, victims of their own stupidity, or crafty, sneaky villains, who are nevertheless much stupider than their Russian counterparts or foils. The message of this predominant role of Jews in the popular TV programs has got to be overwhelmingly negative, and since the mainstream population is already is at least somewhat brainwashed, xenophobic, and not without its biases, this covert anti-Semitism serves only to stir up these feelings in the crowd. Americans likewise are criticized and portrayed as greedy, materialistic, stupid, or plain evil and horrible. Though mostly really stupid. Russians, whenever they have a choice, prefer to return to Russia rather than staying in the United States.

3) Quite surprisingly, the authorities are portrayed in an extremely negative way. Corruption, alcoholism, violence, torture - you name it, whatever you can expect in an undemocratic power structure is very graphically portrayed in all these films, and much worse than you can imagine. The militia (police forces) are frequently shown as completely incompetent or in a very negative light, and oligarchs and high government figures are often shown to be in cahoots and the source of the prevalent organized crime and poverty in large cities and beyond. I find that surprising, because it runs so counter to the official Russian policy of closing down political programs, news channels, and radio stations which dare to criticize the government in any way. Add in the recent series of assassinations, targeting sources of criticism for prominent officials and you'll understand why I'm surprised the government allows and even encourages these extremely graphic mini-series to be produced so freely.

On second thought, however, the agenda behind the free mass production of this type of entertainment is probably quite wise. It's fiction and it does stir up some strong feelings of disgust with the system... but at the same time, FICTION of all things is a great way to let off steam the population might otherwise waste on political meetings or newspaper articles. Instead of discussing specific political developments, events, or figures, people wind up sitting in front of the TV, discussing the latest mini-series, and kvetching about the system in general, how bad and scandalous everything is, how you can't trust the police or the government or the utterly corrupt legal system... and then doing nothing about it, because that's how things are. Letting off steam at the TV set leads to much greater ACTUAL political apathy, which is EXACTLY what the government and authorities want.

The worse the FSB (formerly KGB), the militia, the DA's offices, the judges, and the system in general are portrayed, the happier people are feeling that their country is so open about criticizing its problems, so democratic, and the less likely they are to take any constructive action to FIGHT any of these things. Why discuss the depressing, boring, ridiculous politics and the fat, sleek, and utterly inane faces of the politicians when you can discuss the handsome young heroes of your favorite films on TV? Yes, these mini-series are planned to be both escapist and a CHECK on the inevitable sentiments. And someone who doesn't read the newspapers from the outside and not actually following what's happening in real life, someone who takes out a movie, will probably say: "Wow, it's pretty bad. But it's a good thing they are showing this stuff. People know what's going on. They are going to do something about it." Basically, producing these mini-series is just hot air, empty rhetoric. Dictatorship in our age has grown smarter... Complete, North Korea-style dictatorship is no longer necessary to control the population and lead in a certain direction, when covert manipulation is so much easier and effective... and so much better at preventing outside criticism and intervention.

Disgusted,
Irina