You think YOU'VE got lj drama?

[lapsedmodernist]

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.

Comments

[warpsmith.livejournal.com]

Have you ever been to any of Immortal Technique's shows? A friend of mine, an NYU student, says that they are incredible. He had IT sign his copy of Notes From the Underground.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

No, I've never been to an IT show, I only got into them over the summer, but if the opportunity presented itself I would certainly go.

[boymaenad.livejournal.com]

a favorite russian-american journal you probably wouldn't hate: tamperevident :)

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

just glanced at it; I like Chaos theory being used to make Christmas decorations! I will peruse it properly when I have more caffeine in my system.

*departs in search of coffee.

[slit.livejournal.com]

This is very interesting.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

it's also really sad in gross. In other words, as apropos and I call phenomena that is disturbing but interesting from a self-serving anthropological standpoint, it's "neat" (with very explicit air quotes).

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

I mean and gross.

[ex-increp708.livejournal.com]

Couldn't agree more. Dixi!

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

oooh, you got a link to something about Fomenko in your journal. My dad was just telling me about him and Nosovsky and the whole chronotron thing. It's next on my list of things to read/comprehent.

[ex-increp708.livejournal.com]

I don't want to bias your opinion in any way before you read about it, but as a self-proclaimed scientist :), I have to warn you.

I may be the worst pile of crap you will ever read, yet it is very entertaining :) At the same time, keep your heart open - who knows? The truth is born in a debate!

My 2c disclaimer :)

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

Oh, I am fully aware of the problems with that paradigm. But as an anthropologist and someone interested in historical narratives and their constructions, this is like candy. Insane historical candy.

[ex-increp708.livejournal.com]

Great! Then you'll stay strong :)

My interests are similar to yours then: political science, criminology, American Law and history :)

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

what do you do?

[ex-increp708.livejournal.com]

I'm a student. I'll graduate next year and will go to law school. Meanwhile, I'm working in a research institute.

My prof. interests are: American politics, criminology and Criminal Justice System.

How about you?

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

I'm a graduate student in anthropology focusing on the commodification of culture and ecotourism/cultural tourism in the Amazon.

[apropos.livejournal.com]

Crazy "neat"! I'm always really curious about the number of Russians there seem to be on LJ (I assume it's just because they've ported the interface into Cyrillic) and I just have to wonder what they're talking about when they're not being goth and dark.

Incidentally: remind me to tell you about the most-fucked-up-LJ-ever I randomly encountered last night. It was like the meta-livejournal.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

there are some amazing Russian journals, like drugoi's was, or neivid which I wish existed in translation so that everyone could delight in it. But a lot of them are like hyperconcentrated examples of the very things that frustrate me about Russian culture, and especially immigrant Russian culture.

What is the fucked-up journal?? Email me the link if you don't want to post it here.

[warpsmith.livejournal.com]

I also want to see this most-fucked-up-LJ-ever!

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

talk to apropos. I think she doesn't want to post it here.

soo..

[chelvis.livejournal.com]

does this mean that you don't really identify yourself as american, then?

Re: soo..

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

you mean, my "us" vs. "you"?

That's just for the discursive ease of this particular entry. But no, I don't identify as American. I don't identify as "Russian," either, mostly because in Russia that is an ethnic category I don't fall into, but even in the sense that it is used here, I suppose I have to identify as "Russian" more than as "American," because while I have choice about where to settle, I can't change where I was born/spent my childhood.

Interestingly enough, I do identify as a New Yorker.

[spawnsong.livejournal.com]

what in god's name is a furry?

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

essentially, people who get off on dressing up like Chewbakka.

Dan Savage addressed it better than I can:
http://www.thestranger.com/2002-08-08/savage.html

[seltix.livejournal.com]

jesus loves furries.

[mashuta.livejournal.com]

Hot-Damn, girl, you go with your bad self!!!
another trait of our oft-intolerable countrymen is the scathing and ruthless criticism that they seem to dispense with such ease, and often without provocation. I once checked out a russian rate-me website ("girls" - how-cute-am-i sort of dealie?) after looking at a similar american website - whereas most women in the US one were scoring around 7-8 average on the 1-10 scale, the russian site's average barely got above 4.. and the comments, the comments... "butchery" would not begin to describe it! oh, and the amazing sense of own importance (especially the men). Pup Zemli, vidite li!
Thankfully, my parents (with the exception of the Israel/Palestine issue) are pretty left on the American political scale - my mom once went on proudly announcing to everyone that her daughter laid on the cold ground for 10 minutes pretending to be dead to protest the war. You can imagine what kind of response that got from others in the 'burb community tho. oh well, it didnt hurt *my* standing any... hehe.
did i mention you RAWK?!

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/anthrochica/153897.html

It's not the criticism that bugs me as much as the constant bemused/cynical/patronizing amalgam of an attitude towards anyone who does not perform that same identical attitude. Which fits with the "pup zemli" syndrome.

My parents, thank god, aren't like that either (although some of their friends are, I touched on that here) also I make sure I keep them "educated." Last year I finally got my mom to read a primer on the I/P conflict and she was really interested and got a lot out of it. It helps that I share her opinion that a lot of non-Jewish critique of Israel is a thin veil/vehicle for antisemitism, which is why I prefer to deal with materials compiled and presented by Jewish groups for peace/justice.

What does your mom do?