The Cold War Isn’t Over… Not In Hollywood At Least

By Richard Korshkov

Is the Cold War Over?

The Cold War ended in 1991, but you might not have thought that after seeing Hollywood productions like Chernobyl and Stranger Things.

Delve deep into your memory and think of any prominent villain in the history of American film… chances are that they stem from the snow and bear-ridden pits of Mother Russia. 

But why were Russians ever cast as the villain in the first place? Why are they still the villains now, and what effect does this have on American-Russian relations? Why does the Cold War still haunt us?

Well… The Cold War ended abruptly and without an ideal conclusion. Since then, tensions have been kicked under the rug and ignored. Hollywood’s hit movies and shows, in addition to media’s SNL skits and conspiracy theories, continue to poke at this hidden tension and cause viewers to develop an unfair and inaccurate image of Russians in their heads. 

Hollywood productions like Chernobyl and Stranger Things only work to further dehumanize the Russian Culture, something that has continued since the beginning of the Cold War and long after its end.

The Origins of the Russian Villain

For all those who somehow don’t know about the war that was never really an actual war, here is a quick summary of the Cold War:

After WWⅡ, Russia’s communistic expansion efforts became a problem in the eyes of the United States. So, the U.S. developed a containment strategy and scaled their defenses, specifically their nuclear arsenal. Russia then began to test its atomic bombs, and so the U.S. developed the hydrogen bond, which was even stronger. From then on, it essentially became a “my bomb is bigger than yours, don’t make me show you” argument for the next 30 years.

The introduction of the Russian villain started in 1959 with the launch of animated Russian spies Boris & Natasha into Rocky and Bullwinkle. The United States was in the midst of the Cold War against what was then the Soviet Union, so it was only a natural and rational train of thought to incorporate Russian spies into a kid’s television show to turn everyone against the Soviets. Seriously, what better way to convince Americans of war efforts than by infiltrating the minds of adolescents and their parents through a humorous and “innocent” TV show?

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Rocky and Bullwinkle pictured on the left, their Russian nemeses pictured to the right.

From then on, many action movies in Hollywood worked to antagonize Russians, with the most prevalent movies coming out towards the end of the Cold War with the releases of Rocky Ⅳ and Rambo Ⅱ. Rocky Ⅳ created one of the most infamous Russian villains of all time in Ivan Drago, who boxed toe to toe with the American, Rocky Balboa, in a glorified and epic match. Rambo Ⅱ’s primary villain was Russian Lieutenant Podovsky, who was a ruthless and violent Soviet commander fighting against America in Vietnam. Regardless, both of these productions all made sense. After all, we were at “war” with Russia, so it would only be logical to spread propaganda that would work to create an us versus them mentality.

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Rocky fighting Ivan Drago in Rocky IV pictured to the left, Russian Lieutenant Podovsky from Rambo: First Blood Part Ⅱ pictured to the right.

The Cold War Still Haunts Hollywood

Fast-forward 28 years and Hollywood still pushes the agenda of Russian villainess into numerous action movies with no actual reason for doing so. The Cold War is over, and the relationship between the two countries is stable… well, as stable as they can be with the type of leadership in both Offices at the moment. And the worst part? Hollywood now portrays Russians to be more stupid and heartless than ever.

The third season of Stranger Things (2019), one of the most successful television shows of the decade, uses a Soviet Union research team to play the primary antagonist. To summarize the plot of the TV show for those who are unaware, Russians essentially try to build a portal to a different dimension, where nebulous creatures lurk around every corner. They hope to utilize the dimension’s unknown potentials against the country’s enemies, specifically the United States.

Okay, Russians are being depicted as the typical villain once again. Nothing new, right?

Well, the show begins to become questionable when a “highly-esteemed” Russian scientist, Dr. Alexei, decides to betray his country and give up all the intel to their plans under one condition — he receives a cherry Icee. Let’s analyze that.

No Russian scientist or any scientist for that matter would make such an absurd request. As opposed to having him negotiate a deal that grants him immunity and protection from the Soviet Government, he merely requests a smoothie and turns everything he knows over instantaneously. The producers of the show, regardless of their intentions, humiliate Russian viewers by toying with the pride that they hold for their country while displaying Alexei, a supposed “genius’’, as a complete idiot who can be swayed by flavored ice. If Russians, such as Alexei, are continuously shown to be dull villains in every other film or TV show, the audience will only be more likely to see them this way in real life too.

By the way, he didn’t even get the cherry smoothie, he had to settle for a strawberry one, and they made multiple episodes from this ludicrous request, no joke. 

 Alexei from Stranger Things, Netflix

Now let’s take a look at HBO’s hit TV show Chernobyl (2019). The show bases itself around giving a realistic depiction of the events that took place in Chernobyl, during the time of the Soviet Union,  relating to the destruction of the city’s nuclear factory. The very first episode hits us with stereotypes typical of Russian nature: everyone is indulging themselves in endless amounts of vodka, and the KGB (the Russian equivalent for the CIA) seems to be personally surveilling the entire situation.

Neither of these things happened. When 300,000 people had to be resettled and had to deal with the everlasting effects of radiation, vodka was the last thing on their mind, and the KGB was not present, at least not in the proportion depicted in the show.

Now comes the most disheartening aspect of the show. In the show, the government used monetary rewards and vodka to encourage the miners, clean-up crew, and firefighters that came to localize the effects of the nuclear disaster, even though these actions were necessary to the survival of the city and its people. In reality, these deeds were done instinctively, bravely, and selflessly, without any need for monetary gains or recognition.

These workers knowingly risked their own lives to contain the disaster and save countless lives, but somehow Hollywood found the need to villainize their motivations through money and vodka? That is blatantly disrespectful. 

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Depicted above are images of the HBO TV show Chernobyl.

So, the Cold War is long over. However, we still see Hollywood taking their films back in time and depicting Russians as angry alcoholics whose only motivations to do anything in life are money and cherry Icees. How could haunting be any more clear?

If we define haunting as the means by which ignored and suppressed events of the past work to continuously impact everyday life in the present, look no further: this is haunting in plane sight.

Somehow, many can look past these awful remarks and claim that these are just the consequences that come with filmmaking, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true.

Isn’t This All Just a Parody of the 1900s?

No. To others, this all may go unnoticed. Not for anyone with a grain of knowledge about the Russian culture, especially those who hail from the country or have significant ties to it. Of course, after immigrating to America, we have taken the stance that we are Americans first and Russians second, but that doesn’t mean our heritage is any less significant. To see our culture constantly parodied, ridiculed, and stereotyped for something that it is not, is immoral in every sense.

Did you ever notice how most actors who portray “Russian” villains aren’t actually Russian? That’s probably because most Russians are not willing to accept a casting role that humiliates their own country and identity. We are a proud people.

So What, Hollywood Hurt Our Feelings? Big Deal.

Yea, it is a big deal. America’s perspective of Russians has only gotten more negative since the beginning of the Cold War, even though political tensions have remained relatively low. 

According to a 2019 Gallup poll, nearly 73% of Americans view Russians unfavorably. This is up from 25%, data found in 1991, the same year the Soviet Union collapsed and the cold war ended. Now in the past couple of years, numerous SNL skits and political theories have pointed to Russian involvement in the 2016 election. Now, as a Russian, I have some serious thoughts on this, but that’s something for a different time.

Graph displaying Americans’ Overall View of Russia

Even if we ignore these past few years of rising tension, the Russian disapproval rate has still skyrocketed through 2016. Why? Look no further than Hollywood. The content Hollywood produces serves as another media source and major influencer over the people that watch them. So, if Russians are consistently shown to be alcoholic villains for years upon end, as they have been, those who consume the media will go on to develop a negative opinion about Russians. It’s that simple.

So What Now?

The perception of Russians has not changed since the beginning of the Cold War, and if anything, it has only gotten worse. Hollywood can not and should not keep demoralizing the Russian Culture to the degree that they maintain now.

Recently, Hollywood has done a better job of making their film and shows more politically correct when they need to be, at least for every other culture. Russia not be treated any differently. For anyone who needs it, I can assure you that Russians are not humanless characters that drown themselves in vodka and carry an AK-47 with them as seen on TV. So, let’s all stop buying into that.

Next time you see an action movie that has a Russian villain behind it, which is very likely, don’t give in to Hollywood’s heinous efforts to dehumanize a culture. Enjoy the movie and embrace its characters, but don’t use their sorry example of a Russian to create an image of how an actual Russian behaves, looks or speaks. Maybe once we start recreating our perception of the typical Russian to see them as normal humans, Hollywood will begin depicting them in the same way.