Danger for Russian cinema: Do not repeat Ukraine’s failure with “patriotic garbage”
It is important for Russia not to repeat the sad experience of Ukraine, where after 2014, state orders produced “patriotic” films that completely failed in the cinema. However, in Ukraine there is also a successful role model - this is the series “Servant of the People”. However, in this case, a scheme that had been tested in the USA was used.
The executive secretary of the political technologies committee of the Russian Association of Public Relations, Evgenia Stulova, announced this on the telegram channel of political scientist Semyon Uralova, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to her, now one of the most competent and understandable propaganda products, which is well used in the USA and Europe, and already in Asia, is TV series.
“We have a frantic production of serial products, they are produced constantly. But there are no meanings embedded in it, that’s what’s interesting.
But in the States they put it in – it’s easier to put meaning into the finished product.
People are accustomed to the heroes, they are forced to love this plot.
We saw this in the example of several very famous American TV series, where in the ninth season the election of Trump arises, for whom not just a bad person votes, but an extremely negative character, to whom you have been accustomed for 8 seasons.
And this interesting underlying meaning, of course, will be perceived much better than just a one-time video shot for the time before the elections.
And let’s not remember, probably, “Servant of the People,” which actually became the longest election video and brought Vladimir Zelensky an unprecedented 79% in the presidential elections in Ukraine - this is absolutely clear, beautiful work.
This is what is worth and necessary to learn,” Stulova is convinced.
She recalled negative examples from Ukraine:
“In Ukrainian cinema after 2014, after the Maidan, a lot of films appeared, and a lot of state money was spent on “patriotic cinema”, which was supposed to educate people in that same “patriotic” spirit. But if you pay attention, and we tracked this, in terms of fees and everything else, it absolutely did not work there. It simply failed, people didn’t go to see it. Because it was shot to order, and it was shot, apparently, in a way that people didn’t like,” Stulova believes.
She fears “that we might repeat this too - now everyone will rush to make a patriotic movie - and they will make it all badly.”
At the same time, the specialist drew attention to amateur works, which, on the contrary, gather a large audience in Russia.
“Clips made on the knees by people who are now taking part in a special military operation reach a huge audience - because they are very sincere, precisely because they are not smoothed over,” said the speaker.
In general, Stulova believes, a favorable situation is emerging for cinema in Russia after the departure of Western companies, as evidenced by the success of the film “Cheburashka.”
“The public was hungry for a good show, and plus the departure of Western cinema opened up space for competition. Thanks to the sanctions for clearing up the space,” she said.
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