Detroit on the Volga

Best foot forward .. Poster courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
CURRENT NEWS

I love Pope Francis, but we have had Pope Overload the last 3 days. I’ll be glad to get back a normal news cycle. I’m sorry to see John Boehner leave as the GOP Speaker of the House. He was one of the last reasonable Republicans – I have to wonder who will replace him. Donald Trump and Ben Carson are still miles ahead of the other GOP contenders. This race fascinates me the same way NASCAR fascinates, with possibilities of a wipeout or explosion.

EXPORTING RAYMOND

This past week I watched a good documentary, Exporting Raymond. In it, producer Philip Rosenthal was tasked with bringing the Russian version of Raymond to life in Moscow. He had to travel to Moscow (after securing Kidnap-Rescue insurance) and meet with Russian TV czars to recreate the hit show -- Everybody Loves Kostya. Russian tastes are different – they demanded a better looking, more macho Raymond. Russians don’t like wussy men. They made Kostya’s family more upscale – Russians don’t like to see shows about working class riffraff. Also, a few Raymond shows delved into more subtle, psychological humor. Russians like more physicality and farce. There was a lot of reworking the scripts.

Rosenthal was initially horrified by some of the turns his show (based partly on his own life) took in Russia. Ultimately though, they made good casting decisions and honored his directorial advice. The show was a big hit, topping the ratings shortly thereafter.

MOSCOW – SIDESTREET VIEW

This documentary fascinated me for the unofficial Moscow Travelogue it provided. Most pictures I’ve ever seen show the beautiful tourist areas (like Red Square in the picture). What does Moscow look like away from the glitzy government buildings and historic areas? Raymond gave us a view that answered the question.

DETROIT ON THE VOLGA

The street scenes were gritty, gray commercial districts with dense traffic and billboards. The cold, gray, wet weather didn’t enhance the view, but mostly it looked like warehouse buildings and non-descript office buildings.

Russia’s 2nd biggest TV studio is housed in a single building – it looks maybe like a Chase Bank building we would’ve built in the 1970’s. That, except for the mile high weeds and large piece of façade fallen off. The inside fares no better – big pieces of plaster chunking off the wall, a wire cable precariously stapled along one wall. Rosenthal commented that being in this building actually raised his fear of being kidnapped.

Everybody Loves Kostya was pretty well received and got bumped over to Russia’s #1 TV Studio across town. This facility looks like an abandoned US military base from the 1950’s. Beige brick buildings surround a weedy parking lot. Stray dogs eat out of a trash can. The facility is large – size-wise it might compare to Universal Studios in Hollywood. The soundstages are rudimentary by US standards and there is no studio audience. Overall my impression would be that their TV industry trails ours by a couple of decades. In fairness, they put a lot of emphasis on ballet and “legitimate” theater. In fact some Russians look disdainfully at TV, almost the way we would look at soft-core porn.

YARD CREW?

Nonetheless Russia – have you ever heard of a lawn crew? They maintain the landscape of public areas. What about handymen and carpenters? In America, if a chunk of a building falls off we put it back asap. We don’t say “Whatever”. I will say we have a US analog to this. The USPS center nearest me looks oddly like the Moscow TV studio. It’s a 1950’s beige brick building surrounded by yard-high weeds and fast food containers. Both share the common trait of government oversight. This impression may take way from my Socialist leanings. Workers of the world unite, but first mow the damn lawn and rewire the wall!

If you have a chance, watch this excellent documentary. You will learn as much about Russian property management as you do about television tastes worldwide.

© 2015 Snillor Productions

Getting Over the Trump Hump

Trump on the Stump .. Poster courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
TODAY

Today is one of the 4 days a year where Dallas has pleasant sidewalk café weather. There was no parking at White Rock, and Starbucks is full to capacity indoors and out. Yes I’m loving it!

TRUMP

Enough of the idle chit chat – let’s talk about the elephant in the room, our leading GOP candidate Donald Trump. This loud, bombastic titan of all that is golf courses and beauty pageants has somehow risen to a poll number of 32% in a field of 16 GOP candidates. Like columnist George Will, I’m appalled by this development. I’m reminded of the 2006 movie Idiocracy where a rapper and former porn star becomes President.

If I had to name a public figure who Trump most calls to mind it would be Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Both men are ego-centric, crude, macho demagogues. Trump would have to operate within the limits of Constitutional law thank goodness. Putin has no such boundary to observe in Moscow. Of course, when Adolph Hitler became Germany’s chancellor, all of their Democratic protections became debatable – something to place on the bargaining table. That’s something for America to consider as we choose a President the same way we would choose a Reality show contestant.

I will absolutely admit – Trump is entertaining and interesting to watch. He can be a laugh riot. He reminds me of my cousin-in-law who tells hilarious yarns, and also thinks black people should be shipped back to Africa. That man is funny in his local, yokel salesman kind of way. He should NEVER be President, or be in any position that determines social policy. Dodge that bullet now.

Donald Trump made his biggest impact in June, when he said he would “round up all the illegals and send them back to Mexico”. He would also build a “Great Wall” to stop the influx of more illegals. The full implementation of these things would cost a national fortune and create a police state .. the impracticality is as monumental as the proposed Trump Wall itself. Other GOP candidates have been forced into a game of xenophobe leap-frog. Scott Walker has now proposed a wall along the Canadian border.

Trump has potential to be a wrecking ball to the GOP as well as the Democratic process. Much like the bamboozled denizens of Venezuela – we will get the banana republic of our choosing. Irony there – in the fact that so many Americans harbor racist feelings toward Hispanics. We stand a good chance of importing their type of governance – a governance that makes the governed people seek escape from corruption, scandal and brute force heavy-handedness.

© 2015 Snillor Productions