[JohnPattillo]

I had prepared a draft of this post, but had put off editing for a while. Today, listening to the Meeting of the Minds on Socialism, I decided to edit and post it.

I highly recommend the TV series, The Americans.  The production companies are Amblin Television and DreamWorks Television. It was distributed on FX networks. It went through six seasons, ending in 2016.

The primary reason for my recommendation is not the high-quality acting, the very intelligent and tight script, the excellent cinematic production. All of these are first-rate. Rather, my reason, alluded to during the discussion on Meeting of the Minds, is as follows:

For 100 years, our ruling culture has steadfastly refused to address the nature of the Soviet Union. (I.e., the country that is now Russia: it is an open question whether or not, at this time, Russia bears essential similarities to the Soviet Union, or is just a huge garden-variety dictatorship). This is the first television series that I know of to thoroughly address this. Very few movies or TV series have done so. Alan Kors, mentioned by Dr. Binswanger in the MOTM, pointed out how the condemnations of Nazi Germany are unending (deservedly), with zillions of books, movies, tv shows, etc. About the Soviet Union? – virtually nothing.

Subtract all of the movies whose primary topic is the cold war struggle between our spies and theirs (and here too the message is often that the two sides are morally equal, or even that we are worse), and what is left? Not much. And there is some reason to think that some of the creators of The Americans held as an explicit belief the moral equivalence of America and the Soviet Union (see below re Weisberg). But their true estimate shouts out in just about every episode and every scene: the Soviet Union is bankrupt, corrupt, murderous, while America is free, open, benevolent, and phenomenally successful at living.

The series shows the Soviet Union as a deeply dishonest culture. Several characters represent Andrei Taganov-type people (on a much smaller scale), committed to and believing in the communist ideology and in the Soviet Union only to discover just how riddled with corruption it is.

It addresses, at least to some extent, the nature of the communist ideology as evil, but predominantly, the program shows it, i.e., it dramatizes it rather than discussing it (as a good script should).

The two protagonists (a husband and wife team of Soviet moles living and working in the U.S. during the Cold War) are shown as profoundly evil people acting on behalf of the Soviet Union. Ayn Rand has said that man is a being of self-made soul. One of the most riveting aspects of these two characters’ portrayals is the fact that we see two people consciously stifling their consciousness, evading what is in front of them—becoming and daily reinforcing their own dishonest minds.

According to IMBD, there were 19 writers, who contributed to anywhere from 1 to 75 episodes; there were 32 directors who directed from 1 to 9 episodes!!! It is not clear if the writing was done as a team effort, a collaboration, or if there was a primary writer for each episode, or what. Given this huge number of writers and directors, it is amazing that the series had as much consistency as it did. But it is clear that this resulted in some lack of coherence in the events and characters of the series.

Joseph Weisberg is credited as the creator and writer; he wrote 75 episodes. He is quoted as follows [on the former Soviet Union]: “There’s no question that repressive socialism failed, but unbridled consumption hasn’t exactly led to great satisfaction.” !!! Here is one more example of an artistic creator who is blind to his own values. He does not depict America as a country of “unbridled consumption.”  That is just a lip-service phrase that he parrots to appease his significant others. The sense-of-life projection of Russia and of America within the TV series is of a rung in hell vs. a clean wonderful place to live. (And note his weasel phrase: “repressive socialism”(!), to be contrasted with the beatific versions).

My wife and I found the series absolutely riveting.  It received several awards, but should have received much more attention.

Since, as Dr. Binswanger and many others have noted, today’s educators are not giving today’s students any idea of what the Soviet Union was like, this series can help remedy the gap.  It should be praised and promoted.

You can get it on Amazon, Netflix, Direct TV, and other sources.

/sb

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