Photo: frame from the cartoon.
It is no secret that in many American serials And films Russia and the USSR are shown, to put it mildly, stereotypically. Vodka, herring, bears, vicious Russian killers (both men and girls), competitions with yokes, and so on. Sometimes it even becomes so funny that you think: is it really Mikhail Zadornov was right and the Americans are so stupid? Well, you can’t take it seriously. Or is it a subtle banter with an eye to the formation of a stable stereotype…
Here in the USA another series is out endless cartoon “family guy”, where the heroes go to Russia to return the account of the dog Brian, who was “hijacked” by the Russian hacker Ivan (well, not Elisha!).
Photo: frame from the cartoon.
So Griffins get to Chelyabinsk. And what do we see? Men drinking since early morning, fighting over a chessboard. Dullness, dirt, factory pipes. The dog is launched into space right on the street, and she greets the heroine Meg with an American accent: “Screw it!”. An onion seller (!) on a cart drunk as meat at 9.15. Every 10 steps, an American meets gopniks or criminals warming themselves by barrels of fire or squatting in front of bottles of vodka. More like Kiev Maidan. But no, this is how Griffins represent Russia.
Photo: frame from the cartoon.
At the same time, Meg herself, during an express tour of Chelyabinsk, as if in the musical “La La Land”, happily sings a song about the city: “this is an old, crumbling village, cold and gray.” She fell in love with our man (the most plausible moment).
Of course, it is difficult to expect common sense from the plot of a satirical cartoon. But this does not mean at all that the industrial Chelyabinsk should be shown as a provincial Chicago.
Photo: frame from the cartoon.
Okay, in the Our Russia program we lovingly described Chelyabinsk as so harsh that even Tambov wolves are afraid of Chelyabinsk cats. But why are the Americans slandering the capital of sewing machines? The State Duma of the Russian Federation also became interested in the issue.
“I understand that the artist has the right to his own vision, but this is a deliberately offensive artistic image that has nothing to do with reality,” emphasized Yana Lantratova, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education. Would I like my son to see this cartoon? No. I’d rather show him the incredible beauty of Turgoyak Lake, Zyurateul National Park, Ignatievskaya Cave, Arkaim. This will help him draw conclusions about the region. Such cartoons are deliberate work against our country. Information war through works of art. In books, textbooks, films and even cartoons, they deliberately create the image of Russia as a country where everyone is dissatisfied with life, they drink, use drugs, and take bribes. I hope that the management of the TV channels understands this and will limit the display of some stories.
Photo: frame from the cartoon.
The deputy emphasized that culture in the Ural region is on the rise – and it was Chelyabinsk producers who released two cinematic super hits of recent years: Cheburashka and Kholopa (we are talking about Anton Morozenko, Dmitry Permyakov and Mikhail Tkachenko).
