"It is representing communism"
Lol no it's not
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Anyone Watching 'The Americans'?
Hey everyone.
I'm just wondering if anyone is watching the FX show (on ITV in the UK) The Americans? I've watched the entire first series and would wholeheartedly recommend it.
Basically the premise of the show is that it follows a married couple Phillip and Elizabeth, who are actually Soviet Spies / Sleeper Agents living in America during the Cold War era and under the Reagan Presidency of the 1980's.
The show is incredibly well written, and apart from the obvious drama caused by the whole spy/espionage side of things, you have the drama of two people posing as a married couple, with two children whilst also being Soviet agents brought together for their mission and not because of 'love'.
Honestly, I cannot recommend this show enough, and was just wondering if anyone else was watching it, especially considering it is representing Communism, the Soviet Union, etc even if it's only as its thematic backdrop so to speak?
"Without Revolutionary Theory, there can be no Revolutionary Movement"
― Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
“Philosophy is, in the last instance, class struggle in the field of theory.”
― Louis Althusser, Essays in Self-Criticism
"It is representing communism"
Lol no it's not
FKA Chomsssssssky, Skwisgaar, The Employer Destroyer, skybutton
You don't think so?
You don't think when character are given 'order's from Moscow', when characters disappear other characters, or make statments about how socialism 'can never work in American', that that doesn't influence peoples perceptions of things like Marxism, Socialism, the Soviet Union and yes Communism?
You are very naive if you don't understand that television is a site of social conflict and that the dominant ideology of capitalism is trying to sell us its version of the truth.
How characters are reflected in any televsion show is important, but I was just curious how comrades feel about this show, as not only is it entertaining (and enjoyable to watch), but it involves themes that are important to us as well.
"Without Revolutionary Theory, there can be no Revolutionary Movement"
― Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
“Philosophy is, in the last instance, class struggle in the field of theory.”
― Louis Althusser, Essays in Self-Criticism
While I have not watched it yet it did seem like a pretty entertaining premise for a show. For some reason I feel as though if it were a sitcom there would be infinite comedic possibilities.
Comrade Samuel: The defender of truth, justice and the un-American way.
I don't think he meant any sort of ideal communism, he means the bourgeois perception of communism. For a Marxist, the superstructure of society, e.g. TV, art, music is a reflection of the base, i.e., economic relationships which exist at the core of objective material conditions. So of course we can learn a lot about the society in which we exist by observing things like this.
I have been meaning to check it out, but TV is on the back burner at the moment.
"The people have proved that they can run it... They (the pigs) can call it what they want to, they can talk about it. They can call it communism, and think that that's gonna scare somebody, but it ain't gonna scare nobody" ― Fred Hampton
“Mao Zedong said that power grows from the barrel of a gun. He never said that power was a gun. This is why I don't need no gun to do my thing. What I need is some freedom and the power to determine my destiny” ― Huey P. Newton
Of course it represents what the bourgeois wants people to believe communism is.
It doesn't represent what communism is itself though.
Also, even if it were an accurate representation (not from a bourgeois perspective) of the Soviet Union it wouldn't be a good representation of what communism is, it'd be a representation of what state beaurocracy is.
FKA Chomsssssssky, Skwisgaar, The Employer Destroyer, skybutton
I have severe doubts that FX would allow any ideology that would help compromise its profits.
I have not seen it but I will watch some of it and repost how awful I think it is.
Or maybe how great. But I suspect awful.
Did you read my last post?
I agree, I am simply saying that we can learn a lot by observing our superstructure.
Also, OP wasn't implying that it was an accurate reflection of sovietism or communism.
"The people have proved that they can run it... They (the pigs) can call it what they want to, they can talk about it. They can call it communism, and think that that's gonna scare somebody, but it ain't gonna scare nobody" ― Fred Hampton
“Mao Zedong said that power grows from the barrel of a gun. He never said that power was a gun. This is why I don't need no gun to do my thing. What I need is some freedom and the power to determine my destiny” ― Huey P. Newton
I read your last post but wasn't trying to reply to it specifically
I sort of got the impression of the opposite but if I misread OP's statements my apologies
FKA Chomsssssssky, Skwisgaar, The Employer Destroyer, skybutton
I have the DVD of the first season in my Netflix cue. Looks to be intriguing. Would be interesting what divergence from the standard Cold War narrative will occur. 20 plus years have passed from the dissolution of the Soviet Union after all.
Thanks for the recommendation! I saw a preview for this show and it looked really interesting. I'll have to check it out.
It looks stupid
I started watching this the other day because of this thread and while it's entertaining, I find much of it to be over the top - such as the way the agents are reduced to breathless childlike wonderment every time they encounter a new instance of American conspicuous consumption and how every single character who is sympathetic to the Soviets is because of their natural tendency towards murder and general thuggery. The only thing that humanizes the agents is the civilizing influence of longterm exposure to free market capitalism and religious fervor. I wouldn't be surprised if McCarthy rose from the dead to personally underwrite the production.
I guess I'll continue to watch Continuum. Season 2 is now available for instant viewing on Netflix.
It's actually not a bad show or some blatant propaganda. Maybe it's just me, but I like how Reagan is depicted as having a cult of personality in the setting, the way his picture is in almost every room (especially in public offices) and all.
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fka xx1994xx
I only watched the first 5 or 6 episodes. I thought the pilot was great actually and that the show had some real potential, but I thought that as the show progressed, the cliches of the male character being infatuated with American culture and disillusioned with the Soviets came through a bit too much.
Then again I didn't finish the whole season so I can't but judge so much.
