i just need to put on paper how insane the experience of watching heated rivalry is to me as a russian-speaker because...
the nuance in the choice of russian words?
a gay show that has russian in it?
ALL THE THINGS SHE SAID? like i know this song is iconic for a lot of queer people around the world but in russia in early 2000/10s it was the queer anthem
you get to see the experience of someone growing up queer in russia and moving to the western world where technically you are supposed to have more freedom and yet are still being haunted and tied to a box and are now also facing western homophobia
how fucking hard it can still be to talk about your identity or parts of it
and how talking about it on this side of the world you're scared it will come back to bite you in the ass because it will somehow make it's way back to the grandparents or friends or anyone else who can't know back home
connor's magnificent russian (now, you can sometimes tell he's not a native speaker, but for a texan man to reach that level I have so much respect for him and the team that worked on the show to make that happen)
the way Ilya's voice is deeper than connor's because that's an actual thing that happens when you switch from english to russian, it goes deeper!
albeit brief, a pretty good look at the russian sports culture and culture in general. like Ilya's dad calling him lazy, giving him no encouragement just 'motivation' through belittling him and his achievements
while there is the context of being a professional athlete and his family life added to it, the way Ilya is expressive and outgoing during the season and when he goes back to russia you can see him retreat into his shell and become, at least on the surface, hard and emotionless
it's almost too much to process but it's so great
