Episode #5: The Serf aka Холоп
yasha.substack.com
Episode details
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In this episode, Evgenia and I talk about the newest Russian film sensation: Serf — a comedy of the Russian oligarchy, by the Russian oligarchy.
It’s a truly funny film and it says a lot more about Russian politics and culture today than its director and screenwriters realize. Russia truly has regressed to the 19th century. Its liberated serfs have become the lords.
—Yasha Levine
PS: The show notes — which include links to some of the things we discuss in the episode — are available only to subscribers and will be published shortly. Here they are. So…subscribe!
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Episode #5: The Serf aka Холоп
Really enjoyed this! I want a whole Yasha and Evgenia movie list. And good god the only person in my family who ever hired a cleaning lady was my sister who would clean beforehand AND scream at my niece and nephew (true Soviet style) to clean as well haha. Otherwise my mother and I are overly proud about cleaning our own homes — we say it comes from my grandfather who truly embodied the “new soviet man” and loved to clean, cook, and meticulously organize everything. Also on the bit about Russians being lost with their identity — thank you for talking about this! I remember the utter confusion I felt over a decade ago when Russian Jews on Brighton beach started to convert to Christianity. This continues today with my aunts who celebrated American Christmas for the first time in their lives this year — I’m still flabbergasted! Anyways, always a pleasure! Your podcast & substack give me life!
My opinion about the serfdom vs slavery bit is they want to maintain their moral high ground over America. The racism theory is good, but I actually just don't think that's the main driver. It seems very important for the Russian view of history to say "we won the great patriotic war, we are a great nation, also we used to do these unjust things but they were nowhere near as bad as American slavery."