I went to investigate the public comments around Heated rivalry - you know, you make a show with a russian protagonist, you include the 2014 Sochi Olympics practically during which russia invaded another country, you include scenes in Moscow, you include some russian minister, you romanticize the russian language - it is a romance story. It goes without saying that you gloss over the war. So what do you say in public about your stance on the political situation?
As it turns out, you say absolutely nothing.
And it looks like there is no demand for it either. Googling "heated rivalry russia" gives articles about how well the actor spoke russian without knowing the language, and approximately a thousand seemingly copy-pasted articles about how brave and stunning russians are for pirating and watching the show.
like, a whole page just of these
I've had a day to cool down about this, so I am not so annoyed now. Still, it's appalling, what an incompetent reaction to a nuanced situation.
how surprising it is that a show with sympathetic portrayal of russians is beloved in russia! how brave for russians to pirate a show, like they have been doing for decades! it is so revolutionary that they like our show in russia, maybe next time we will cater directly to them, and instead of brushing over the war we will call the occupied Ukrainian territories "liberated"!
Maybe then the russians will go out on the red square waving rainbow flags. Is that what you really expect?
From where I'm standing it seems more likely that they'll feel validated in the feeling that russian culture is good and inoffensive, it will confirm to them that the West loves russian culture and still welcomes them. It will just make them feel better about themselves. None of this inspires any kind of change.
I try a different approach and Google "heated rivalry ukraine", thinking that this, for sure, will have to give out some results about the war.
"in Putin's Russia watching heated rivalry is an act of rebellion and hope"!!
Hope that with the power of homosexuality they can bomb more Ukrainian hospitals?
I think huh, I wonder how they go around to mentioning Ukraine if this is their (mindnumbingly stupid and/or manipulative) angle.
Well, here's how:
"In 2022, Russia launched its war against Ukraine and adopted yet another repressive law against LGBTQ+ people. Coming out in Russia can now land you in prison."
The invasion is only important as a context in the struggle of russians. There is no other mention of Ukraine.
The russian flag has been banned in the Olympics and is now associated with countless crimes against humanity - let's edit it over this photo of the actor. Let's talk about how tough it is to live in a country that started a long bloody war. This must be so hard for you.
Here is a random comment from a Russian photographer, for some context:
(post from @wordswithoutaworld)
I think now it is clear that the media is enamoured with russia, despite the mounting evidence of war crimes. It is now counter-cultural and romantic to talk about LGBTQ+ community in russia. It is cool to ignore the people they murder just one country over.
What this is doing, is creating free soft-power propaganda for russia. The show creates sympathies for russian people, makes the audience empathetic - and that would be fine, on its own, if the real-world russians didn't all collectively come together to keep the war machine running and murder as many Ukrainians as possible.
Does that russian Lena who pirated the show also work in a missile factory? - at least some of them do.
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