NATALIA, AMERICA, AND THE COLD WAR.
tensions between russia and america were high ——— the nuclear threat, the ideological war, all added to a feeling of general unease as people licked their wounds after two vicious world wars. fuelled by fear, the concept of the soviet peril was taking roots into the hearts of the american people, fuelled by the ever growing ( and ever real ) threat of soviet spies behind the border. the stakes were high; faced with weapons they knew very little about, both sides unwilling to concede, for the first time since humans knew how to wage wars, the weight of it was felt most acutely by everyday folk. this was a new type of conflict, one played out outside the battlefield.
at the peak of the cold war, a third of the united states barred russian visitors from entering; this included long island, most of northern california, and nearly all the east coast of florida (xx). while some of this must have been an attempt to save face and not give the communist bloc canon fodder for propaganda, with how this supposedly haven of democracy was treating its people of colour, some of it was based very much in the “red scare”. the russians, while not different in appearance, were still other and the fear of communism alive and thriving.
that being said, russians and members of the communist bloc who defected in the us were not treated badly. on the contrary, they were seen as ‘wins’ for the americans, and ( justifiable ) proof that the east was this big bad monster propaganda portrayed it to be. stalin’s own daughter defected to the u.s., calling her father a “ moral and spiritual monster ” so it was rather obvious that the russian people were not content. that wouldn’t be the case for natalia. but her situation was far more complicated than that of many who ran away from an oppressive regime.
natalia ( madame natasha ) first came to the u.s. in 1959, at the peak of the cold war and during the second red scare (1947-60), and, for all intents and purposes, she was what everyone feared the russians to be. she was the soviet peril. there to steal confidential technology, to seduce and destroy. she was to destroy america from within. and . . . she almost did ——— until she met clint. while the first renditions of natasha’s character portray her as clumsy and unsure of herself, she was good at what she was doing. later renditions will shape natalia into a deadly creature, reminiscent of her namesake, abandoning the almost deer-like birth of the black widow. and yet the truth is universal: she was a threat. she may have switched sides, and she may have saved the world with the avengers, but her attempted assassinations of tony s.tark and the spywork done for the ussr will not vanish as quickly, if ever, from the collective mind.
we see that kind of attitude reflected on her in dd1964 #83 when, accused of murder, the prosecution led by foggy n.elson stops at nothing to charge her for first degree, despite the fact that it would be inaccurate. or when she tries to help the young warriors overthrow corruption in amazing adventures 1970 #2 and #3, she is accused of harbouring and preaching communist ideologies. mistrust follows her like a shadow, regardless of which side she is on, and it’s that mistrust which in turn makes her less willing to put her trust in others.
natalia had always been an outsider ——— even within the rigorous parameters of the soviet society, which led to brainwashing and conditioning. and being an outsider shaped who she is as a person: her own woman, first and foremost. it’s what makes her so deadly, too. she does not need approval, she does not care what the public thinks about her, and it never affects the decisions she makes, allowing her to keep a level head and an objective view during periods of crisis ( like the first civil war ). and it’s what makes her blend into the shadows, because in order to belong everywhere, you must first belong nowhere. ( bw2014, #3 )
ellievsbear
kaledo-art
jacobvanloon
jbbartram-illu
dailybridgerton
origamiaround
baratheonpilled