Can Putin and the system beat Hollywood?

The Oscar is, of course, a cloaca of like-minded people, but personally, I think that our reaction to the prizes for the documentaries Navalny and On the Western Front No Change is a bit painful. After all, any of our reactions are painful, because it would be strange if it were otherwise. And the main regret for us is that the Western world still does not revolve around Ukraine entirely, not always and not entirely, even in these fateful times for us.

But I am convinced that a certain political logic can be found in this decision, which serves as a kind of 'Nobel Prize for Solzhenitsyn or Brodsky'. Tetyana Kohanovska wrote correctly: they think that the USSR still exists, and therefore, they should act in the logic of the Cold War and praise in every possible way the individuals and trends that undermine the current regime in Russia.

“The Oscar Committee's decision can be seen as a kind of political logic that serves as a kind of 'Nobel for Solzhenitsyn or Brodsky'. It seems to them that the USSR still exists, and therefore, it is necessary to act in the logic of the Cold War and praise in every possible way the individuals and trends that undermine the current regime in Russia.”

In addition, Navalny as a figure is being tightly tied to the West right now, when he is in prison. On the one hand, they are shaking up the Putin regime (you can see what is burning there even from Obolon), and on the other hand, they are linking Navalny to the West.

There is a third side: they are betting on their illusion of change in Russia. I don't think that the 'leftism' that our people criticize in every second entry today is so strange or shameful. This is the usual behavior of Western elites - to squeeze some opportunities out of illusions and to create illusions. And cinema is a world entirely made of illusions. So why not dream of some kind of personification of an alternative to Putin?

“It is a common behavior of Western elites to squeeze some possibilities out of illusions and to create illusions. And cinema is a world entirely woven of illusions. So why not dream of some kind of personification of an alternative to Putin?”

And, of course, they will lose strategically. In the sense that no modus vivendi in Russia will change. But tactically, for the sake of the "here and now" effect, every such decision harms the totality of Russian unity that Putin is feverishly constructing in his holy war against the West. He tells Russians: "This is a people's war". And then Hollywood comes to his defense and offers an alternative. Not some "tower of power", unnamed oligarchs or "office".

Can Putin and the system beat Hollywood? No, they won't. Can Hollywood be an instrument for undermining the internal Russian situation? Yes, it can. It does this all the time. Remember "Don't Look Up" just before the start of a full-scale war. No one can estimate the impact of this movie on Western societies just before February 24, 2022. But it definitely had one. It was unspecific, "illusory," invisible, but it was there. "The threat of the end of the world comes from Russia, look up at last, be vigilant."

Such bricks are precisely what we used to call "public opinion." Now the entire West has the illusion that there is an alternative within Russia. Moreover, the West is convinced that it needs not just one alternative, but a host of alternatives that will undermine and shake this stupid fascist lying monolith. A wedge is being pulled out with a wedge. Therefore, it is only an illusion - only hardcore.

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About the author. Andrii Bondar, writer.

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.