On Sat, Mar 8, 2014 at 10:02 AM, Mark Jeffries <[email protected]>wrote:
> > The interesting thing is that RT has seemed to build its brand in the U.S. > as a progressive alternative to FNC (and the other cable news channels, > which the hardcore lefties all consider evil corporate). It would seem > that supporting Putin's homophobia would put a monkey-wrench in that brand. > RT will take whatever political slant the Russian leadership tells it to take. Russians journalists have a free press inasmuch as they can publish/broadcast anything (even outright lies) about anyone not in favor with the government. But to report such things on, say, Putin, is almost a guarantee of a prison sentence (the popular charges tend to be tax fraud related, which is easy since Russian tax codes are not really available to the public in any understandable form, meaning you as a citizen are almost always guilty of not paying something). Off topic, but I've learned an interesting perspective on the anti-gay laws passed in Russia before the Olympics. Some of my Russian friends told me their take on it, and I thought I'd pass it along. First, some cultural info: Generally speaking, Russians don't care what goes on in other people's bedrooms, and much of their day-to-day behaviors would include things we westerners would normally ascribe to the gay community. In clubs/discos, you are more likely to see women dancing with each other than men dancing with women. When Russian men are talking to each other, the custom is for their faces to be very close to each other... very, very close. And Russian men tend to physically connect with each other (lengthy two-handed clasped handshakes, hugs, pats on the shoulder, etc). What is not normal, however, is for any ostentatious display of affection or emotion, regardless of sexual orientation. Walking down the street, Russians rarely look up, and would consider it awkward if you as a passerby made eye contact... eye contact could even be seen as a sort of indirect threat. And unlike in America where people talk loudly to each other or on the phone in public, such behavior would again be seen as offensive or disrespectful by Russians around you. The reason I'm reviewing all this is because the theory my Russian friends proposed is that the Russian government passed their anti-gay laws as a sort of warning to those heading to Sochi for the Olympics. Using Americans in general as an example (again, regardless of sexual orientation), we tend to be loud and proud compared to the Russian people. Loud and proud people are risking an ass whooping by bellowing loudly and expressing public displays of affection, and if the public displays of affection are overtly homosexual in nature, the results might make for bad press during the Olympics. Essentially they feared every LGBT athlete would be carrying on like Pussy Riot, with screaming antics and demonstrations in the streets. My Russian friends theorized that somewhere in the Kremlin, somebody decided they could say nothing and risk multiple beatdowns of foreigners, or they could pass a law that on most days and in most towns would never need to be enforced to sort of serve as a warning to the visiting LGBT. To sum all that up, my Russian friends told me the laws were passed to potentially save the lives of LGBT, and within the cultural context, I can understand that theory. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
