Portraying The Russians In A Bad Light? Has Spielberg No Shame?

While watching the opening night premier of the latest Indiana Jones movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I knew that the Russian accents would incur some complaints. After all, a Russian accent erases all doubt that these characters are really meant to be Russians. And then, the people with these accents were responsible for evil deeds in the film. It’s common knowledge what nice guys the Russians were during the fifties and portraying them in a bad light is simply inexcusable.

Unfortunately, I was also able to predict all kinds of other things about this stupid and disappointing sequel. There wasn’t one “plot twist” or “surprise” that we didn’t see coming a mile away. Don’t worry; I won’t spoil it for you. Go see the movie yourself and impress your friends with your prophetic abilities. I guarantee, it won’t be hard. Yes, the movie is better than Temple of Doom but that wasn’t too difficult of an accomplishment. A documentary on a day in the life of a slug would also be better than Temple of Doom.

If only the Russians complained about the quality of the story, I could show them some sympathy. Instead, they were bothered that Communism was presented as a bad ideology. Hello, McFly! Any body home? I thought Russia got rid of its communism. Is there something they aren’t telling us? Or are they just nostalgic for the days of Stalin and Khrushchev?

I’d like to think the movie was trying to portray communism in a bad light. That would be a refreshing change for Hollywood and I would sure hate to see Spielberg apologize over an ideology that killed about as many people as the Nazis did. I suspect Spielberg had no such agenda. Probably, he just needed some villains that matched Indy’s aged persona. It was too late for World War Two and although we did have Muslim fanatics in the fifties, God forbid that Hollywood should portray them in a bad light. This left the Russians or the Martians and Spielberg had already made War of the Worlds (although we wondered at times if that movie had overflowed into this one).

Anyway, I’m babbling. Let me get to my point. If the Russians want people to view their country as one that promotes human rights, maybe they should experiment with some human rights. It’ll probably be a whole new experience for them. They might even like it. In the meantime they should just shut up.

NOTE: I’m waiting for somebody, unconcerned about the butcheries of Stalin, to be gravely offended that I used the word “shut up.”