Russian mobster movie
© Columbia PicturesFra The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti), den russisk tyv af pansrede vogne.
Propaganda er en dødelig gift, som Andre Vltchek beklager:
"Hvordan opnår vi sejr? Hvordan overbeviser vi masserne, disse miliarder af mennesker. Hvordan åbner vi deres øjne og får dem til at se at det Vestlige regime er uærligt, toksisk, giftigt og destruktivt? Det meste af menneskeheden har tillid til Imperiets propaganda, den propaganda som ikke kun spredes af massemedierne, men også af populærmusik, sæbeoperaer, sociale medier, reklamer, forbrugskultur, "fashion trends" og mange andre åbenlyse midler: kulturelle, religiøse og mediejunk, som leder til total følelsesmæssig og intellektuel sløvhed og som administreres ligesom et stærkt vanedannende narkotika, regelmæssigt og vedholdende."
Jeg tror, jeg har svaret til Mr Vitcheks spørgsmål, eller i det mindste en del af det. Vi er nødt til at vise hvordan Imperiet hjernevasker de unge og manipulerer med deres tanker, følelser og meninger ind i voksenalderen. En del af problemet er, at folk ikke anerkender, når noget faktisk er propaganda og, eller selvfølgelig, den bedste propaganda er den, som ikke anerkendes som sådan.


Kommentar: I danske medier er der mange eksempler på daglig dæmonisering af Rusland og dets præsident. Faktisk skifter det lidt, men lige nu er det altså Rusland og Præsident Putin, der er trendy. De mest konsistente serverer dagligt små og stor stikpiller, som kan blive helt vanedannende.

Tag for eksempel denne artikel fra Berlingske der giver sig ud for, at bringe noget for dagen om Hitler og ender med, ved en elegant henvisning til en tidligere kronikør, at tvære Rusland og Putin. Artiklen har sikkert ret i, at vi gentager noget historie, og måske også noget, der kan minde om problematikker fra WW2, men har de glemt, hvilken rolle Rusland og Danmark spillede?

Delvist oversat af Sott.net fra:
'The Russians are coming!' As long as Russia refuses to bend to the U.S. Empire, it will be demonized across all media


A fundamental component of American propaganda is the creation and maintenance of an enemy, one clearly differentiated as an outsider or "other", by race, religion, or customs. As for Russians, they have incurred the wrath of the U.S. ruling class like no other - first because the Soviet Union led the world socialist movement which threatened the capitalist system, and now because the Russian Federation resists U.S. world dominance. What gall!

Americans have been conditioned to fear, despise and condescend to all things foreign, but none so much as Russia and Russians. This happens in a number of ways, for instance by evoking a sense of the exotic or foreignness by slipping Cyrillic letters into the titles of movies, novels or other propaganda. Also, Russians are perpetually portrayed as being excessively stoic, sinister, duplicitous, oafish and even as cold-blooded monsters. (Remember Ivan Drago from Rocky IV "I must break you?")

That was the 80's, but movies continue to feature scary Russian mobsters, oligarchs and politicians. In he opening sequence of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 a maniac is stealing an armored car. He has a barbed wire tattoo on his forehead and it took me a while to realize he was Russian because all he did for five minutes was snarl and roar unintelligibly. Spider-Man finally corners him in an alley, disarming and subduing him and using his web-slinger to pull down his pants, revealing polka-dot boxers; for a brief moment you can see a hammer and sickle tattoo on his leg. Nice touch. "This not end, spider!" the Russian thug shouts just before being knocked unconscious as in a cartoon.

In The Equalizer with Denzel Washington there are more evil Russian mafiosi wearing-heavy facial tattoos!

Even NYT and Guardian journalists, while making clear that they are no friends of Russia, could not help but find the ubiquitous Russian villain nauseatingly cliche.

From The Guardian:
"The way Hollywood sees the world today, nothing could possibly be scarier than crossing swords with the Russians. On film, Russians [sic] gangsters will stop at nothing. They will kill your family, they will kill your girlfriend, they will kill their own employees, they will kill high-ranking members of the New York Police Department and, if you get them mad enough, they will kill your dog."
And this from the NYT:
"Screenwriters even managed to vilify Russia in "Gravity," a movie that features only three on-screen actors and takes place almost entirely in orbit. The space debris that imperils the American astronauts was caused by a Russian missile."
According to these journalists, Hollywood is simply catering to consumer demand, which of course is ridiculous. Assuming they believe what they write, they claim the hideous tattoos, ridiculously exaggerated accents, and screaming, slobbering and murderous ways are merely a coincidence. Well, they're coincidence theorists.

Without having to conduct an exhaustive study, I easily came up with over two dozen films, television programs and a video game that show Russians in a negative light. I had to search far and wide to come up with two Hollywood movies where Russians are portrayed, if not as heroes, then at least with some positive characteristics or a nuanced view: Eastern Promises and Predators (2010).

Her er en kort list af medieproduktioner som skildrer disse ondsindede Russere.
The Avengers

The Americans

A Good Day to Die Hard

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

The Tourist

Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy

Limitless

Jack Reacher

Safe

Salt

Gravity

Iron Man 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (video game)

Red Dawn (1984)

Rocky IV

Air Force One (with Gary Oldman)

Miracle (2004)

Child 44 (with Gary Oldman . . . again)

Rambo III

James Bond movies (going well into the 90's)

John Wick

The Equalizer

The November Man

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Assets