History and Eugene Onegin

                The museum of contemporary history was a very interesting experience. I was somewhat surprised that in the earlier rooms detailing the end of the Romanov dynasty and the 1905 and 1917 Revolutions, both our guide and the museum itself seemed pretty pro-Soviet. Our guide emphasized the ineffectiveness of Nicholas II’s government, as well as pointing out that people called him “Nicholas the bloody.” I found this to be a somewhat biased view of the end of the imperial family. It makes me curious as to the official take on both of the Revolutions and the Romanovs taught in history classes in school. I cannot imagine that they would be overly sympathetic to the Romanovs, but is not giving them sympathy trying to explain away the Revolution? Would that be acceptable in Post-Soviet culture?

                Anyway, at a certain point I simply started lagging behind and stopped listening to the guide. It seemed far less pleasant than exploring myself. I was surprised by the amount of American World War II propaganda present, and how ridiculously blatant it was. Such examples of previous war effort make me wonder if it’s even possible to really make Americans care about a war to the same extent in today’s society, nearly seventy years later. I don’t see the same sort of support for any sort of national effort from the American public, and I never have. The closest things I have ever seen to national unity in America are the post-9/11 atmosphere, when everyone flew a flag from their car windows and other such ridiculous things, and the 2008 Obama movement before his election. At ten years old, I did not understand the first incident, and at seventeen, I gladly participated in the latter. But could you ever really unify the American public enough now that they would give up something for it? I know that food and aluminum were rationed for World War II.  Even Ford participated heavily in the war effort. I simply cannot see the current American public being willing to deal with any of this. For the most part, people do not care enough. And if they do, they have others balancing them out who care just as passionately about something else that is antithetical.

                Another question to pose is whether or not this can apply to Russians. Is the institutionalized authoritarian ideology enough to convince Russians to support their country in such a way? They all seem somewhat more patriotic than Americans generally are, but maybe this is only a superficial impression.

                I also loved watching Evgeny Onegin. I was seriously impressed by the skill the people in white had at simply standing still, and I highly approved of the choice for Onegin. He was the perfect superfluous man. The singing was all excellent, and I love the depiction of the story. I’ve read the actual novel by Pushkin, and I really think the opera did justice to the sense of it. Evgeny Onegin was a wonderfully tragic hero, and the opera portrayed him perfectly. I just felt really classy in the opera stand, as well. Wearing stilettos on beautifully smooth floors is so much fun.