Blurred Vision: Stereotyping the Soviet Union

[Deb Palmieri on Russia Table of Contents]

The following article was published inGlobal Pages, Vol. 4 No 2, May-June 1986. Global Pages is an educational publication of Immaculate Heart College Center in Los Angeles, California.

Blurred Vision: Stereotyping the Soviet Union

Upon visiting the Soviet Union for the first time, most Americans are astonished to find a wide discrepancy between what they encountered and what they expected. According to commonly held American imagery, these visitors anticipated finding depressed, colorless and undifferentiated people suffering under the overbearing weight of a totalitarian state. But to their surprise they found a wide diversity of customs, cultures and opinions in the 15 Soviet republics-and a curious, outgoing and friendly people who are as distinct as any segment of American society. The longer one spends in the country, the less accurate become the visions of a rigidly controlled and monolithic people who all think alike, who are all dominated and imprisoned behind the Iron Curtain, all caught in a giant Gulag Archipelago and spied upon by an omnipotent Big Brother. The tourist is frequently surprised to find more diversity, mobility and freedom of expression than s/he believed to be the case.

The prevalence of inaccurate stereotypes about the Soviet Union and its people are deeply ingrained in the American public. Students often express hostility, aggression and a confrontational attitude based on such misinformation. It is common to hear many Americans express a sense of moral and political superiority, represented in statements such as, "Everything they say is propaganda, everything we say is truth," or "We are honest and trustworthy, they are sly and treacherous." There is also the tendency to, on the one hand, underestimate the Soviets as bumbling incompetents and, on the other hand, to overestimate their strength and exaggerate their capabilities. The media have chosen to reflect and perpetuate another American prejudice about the Soviets, one which makes a mockery of Soviet languages, culture and even the physical being of the people. Recent American TV commercials present Russians as crude, clumsy and overweight, and while there are certainly people in every society who embody those characteristics, such stereotyping presents a very partial and distorted image of Soviet citizenry.

American media coverage strongly influences American public opinion, as do the national media in any country. Most American TV and newspaper coverage of Soviet affairs often subtly or overtly presents anti-Soviet biases, although a few public broadcasting documentaries and recent network news specials on the Soviet Union have been more comprehensive and objective than the more typical judgmental presentations. But, the general tone of reporting often carries an "us vs. them" thinking. For example, media commentators reporting on a Soviet accomplishment, such as medical or technological advances, often conclude by noting how the U.S. sizes up in comparison. Most often Soviet motives are viewed as devious and certainly less honorable than those of the U.S. Newsweek's Summit report (November 1985) was entitled "Disarming Charm," and a recent Soviet televised space launch brought a cast of American commentators to speculate that the unusual live telecast was perhaps a Soviet ploy to demonstrate their superiority in light of the Challenger tragedy. Peace proposals such as opposition to first use of nuclear weapons, when offered by the Soviets are seen as insincere, manipulative and/or fraught with hidden intentions. Moscow is presented as always trying to dupe its own people and the Americans.

There are many reasons for the deep-seated quality and pervasiveness of these American sentiments and stereotypes, most having to do with the dominant political and cultural worldview of U.S. society. First, Americans tend to lack knowledge about foreign affairs in general, and about communist nations in particular. Recent studies show that American college students are, for example, woefully ignorant about world affairs, and certainly their knowledge of the Soviet Union is no exception. Also, the Soviet Union is geographically a long distance from the U.S. It has traditionally been an insular and secretive country, expressed by Winston Churchill as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." The distance factor combined with the closed nature of Soviet society has contributed to the fact that the U.S.S.R. is viewed by Americans as mysterious, remote and deceptive.

Coupled with this, the Soviet Union is also viewed by the U.S. government and by many American citizens as an adversarial nation whose very existence threatens the U.S. because of its Marxist economic and political system. Thus, the stage is set for the portrayal of the Soviet Union as an "enemy nation" and as embodying all that is unattractive and evil.

The degree and intensity of anti-Soviet thinking is especially high during periods of perceived threat to patriotic values or national security. Since 1917, there have been three periods when this surge of anti-Soviet thinking has been the strongest. The first was the "Red Scare" following the Russian Revolution of 1917, with the infamous Palmer Raids, the numerous deportations of radicals and the U.S. government's criticism of the "Bolsheviki" influence on the American labor movement. The second was during the McCarthy era of the 1950s, when Senator Joseph McCarthy led a campaign to unveil and purge alleged "Communist influence" or "anti-American" sentiment from the government, industry and schools. The third current period, follows the collapse of détente and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Reagan Administration has led a sharp anti-Soviet and anti-communist campaign against the "threat" of Soviet expansionism and the "evil" influence of Moscow in the Third World.

American perceptions and media presentations are deeply influenced by the attitude of the dominant political perspective of the nation, often reflected in the approach of the reigning presidential administration. For example, under the strongly anti-Soviet Reagan White House, public opinion against the Soviet Union has been especially virilent, whereas under the Carter regime (at least until the Afghan invasion), there existed a greater ideological tolerance coupled with an optimism that détente would improve and maintain good bilateral relations. It would have been unlikely, therefore, to find films such as "Rambo," "Rocky" and "White Night" receiving as popular a following during the height of the 1970s period of détente as these productions do today.

Many Americans may believe there is nothing wrong with teaching students that the Soviet Union is an enemy nation, one they think to be accurately characterized by all the worst negative images provided by the mainstream media. In fact, some Americans may even find it unpatriotic to question these longheld assumptions, believing that the very act of questioning is somehow anti-American or pro-communist. But there are several reasons why students, teachers and all other citizens need to be provided with a more comprehensive accounting of Soviet life and U.S.-U.S.S.R. relations, and why certain stereotyped images must be opened to criticism.

In today's world, students need to learn tolerance of other peoples' cultures and systems. Ignorance about the true state of Soviet affairs perpetuated by simplistic stereotypes is blinding. It is disadvantageous for the U.S. to deal with Moscow on these grounds because policy based on mistaken precepts is like a castle built on sand, a flimsy foundation which will not survive the test of time.

It must be said, that such advice should be heeded by the Soviets as well, for their media also present stereotypic visions of American life. The U.S. is characterized as being in the midst of extreme and disastrous crises, magnified by reports of the pervasiveness of poverty, crime, unemployment and other social ills. While such realities do resonate in the lives of some American people, it is not the sum total of our existence.

Culture-bound traditions, political prejudices, economic-based conflicts, social and personal fears, these are not easily diminished or negated. Socialization, education and pervasive media messages continue to perpetuate narrow stereotypes. Passive acquiescence to such simplistic folly is no longer an option. In the nuclear age, the only viable method of coexistence is peaceful problem-solving based on comprehensive and truthful information and a cessation of the "us vs. them" mentality so embedded in the American consciousness.

Deborah Palmieri
Global Pages, Vol. 4 No 2, May-June 1986