You think YOU'VE got lj drama?

Any way you look at it, the country that launched the boat that I was Fresh Off The, at age 13, Does Drama Better. More and Better. I mean, my motherland has got Dostoyevsky and bloody axe murders on your Hawthorne and his semiotic sanctioning, Our Revolution only lasted for seventy years, but you are just beginning to catch up with the Soviet achievements in mismanagement, propaganda and lies directly resulting in death, and you have had, like, two more centuries to work at it. You got Erin Brockovich, we've got Chernobyl. 9/11 was certainly done on an unprecedented scale, but the jury is still out on how much of it was an American doing, Immortal Technique's and Thierry Meyssan's stance on the subject notwithstanding. I mean, in Russia they used to execute people by impaling them on sharp poles through the anus, while the American version of shrill, blood-curdling catharsis just took its first baby steps with Mad Mel and his snuff film. Seriously. All you had before that was Bert the Turtle in Duck and Cover. And Clockwork Orange, which was nowhere near as violent as the book anyways. And before Bush's sock-in-the-crotch there was a Soviet joke about how a crocodile that ate Brezhnev would shit medals for two weeks.

I'm just saying. My Maderland (gendered thusly) is better at the show-stopping numbers than the Land of the Free. That's why we were unsurpassed in ballet and that's why we totally won the Space Race. McCarthyism? Please. Some people got blacklisted and the poor Rosenbergs were sent to the Electric Chair. Have you heard of the Bukharin trial? If you are not historically inclined, you can always read Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon for the existential Cliff's Notes, although seriously? The Bukharin trial transcript reads like 12 Angry Men spawned with your favorite Stoppard play.

But, on to the point. So, what's new this week in lj drama? What, someone got flamed because, like, passive-aggressive roommates can't sort it out in person and more than one lj per household becomes a liability? Some Wiccan cyber-curse duel at dawn? Misunderstood Furries? The always compelling point/counterpoint of "you a ho/no you a ho"? Let me fill you in on how lj drama is done, Russian-style. Now, I almost never write in Russian, but I read Russian journals and follow Russian communities. And I feel like sharing. Because Russian lj is a world of its own, and aren't you curious to peek inside the Iron Curtain? Think of this as an exercise in mimetic nostalgia.

There was a "lj celebrity" drugoi. He had a very interesting journal, mostly full of wonderful photographs. I haven't been following him for a long time, but I guess he upset a lot of people with his political views--which are your standard left constellation of ideas, namely pointing out the structurally fascistic nature of the Bush administration, drawing attention to the real number of the civilian deaths in the Iraq War, not turning a blind eye to the the atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians. Since by and large my fellow countrymen think Bush is awesome and Israel can do no wrong, and anyone concerned with Palestinian rights is an apologist for the terrorists, he had many "enemies." All of this came to a head when tretij decided to create an account solely to post pictures of drugoi's daughter as fake obituaries/necrologues--manipualting the images of her he took from drugoi's journal in photoshop to make it look like she a) OD-ed on drugs and b) was hit by a car. On the day before her 20th birthday, too. drugoi closed his journal and now it's a chain reaction through the Russian lj community, it's just like the Civil War, brother against brother, and all with an Israel-Palestine subtext, natch. Even many people who were vocally appalled with tretij disclaimed that they understood a desire to "punish" drugoi. For what? For posting photos of dead Palestinian children, I think.

Sample of the ongoing discourse (in translation, obviously):
(female) user: anyone on my friends list who is "friends" with tretij, get off my friends list
another (male) user, in response: god, why are women so emotional?

Someotheruser: drugoi felt soooo sorry for that Palestinian girl? Talking about the "inhumanity" of Israili soldiers? Well, that's why I don't feel sorry for him. And I don't understand any of our people that do.
Yetanotheruser: Yeah, too bad about the Palestinian girl, but it's not like I would rush to visit with her relatives
Someotheruser: If you went to visit with her relatives, she would have less relatives left after your visit.
Yetanotheruser: Yeah, but who would let me? ;)

On a broader note, I love my fellow Russian immigrants, I love their newly acquired jingoism and their long-established sexism, I love the fact that they can criticize Putin's dealings in Chechnya (so they are obviously capable of critical thought) but are unwilling to explore any parallels with any other imperial project, perpetrated by Bush's US or Sharon's Israel. I love the fact that many of them were dissidents outraged by the war in Afghanistan but now, fat and complacent with their American citizenship they assess anyone protesting Bush as either lowlifes or idiots (or emotional women). I love them so much that with a few exceptions I avoid them like the plague.

Standard disclaimer: if you are on my friendslist, obviously I am not avoiding you like the plague.