This is an interesting Soviet propaganda film. Back in the day (the date is not given) young Russians would hang out behind the giant Gum (pron. "Goom") department store, selling pirated records of American rock 'n' roll music. They had figured out how to duplicate them by making impressions into discarded X-ray plates.This little film is an attempt to shame these youngsters out of participating in this fascinating -- and of course forbidden -- little sub-culture.
What I find interesting is the nature of the argument they give: Aren't you ashamed of yourselves -- doing this instead to being out there building a hydroelectric dam "for the people"!
This is why that system was doomed. No system can survive if the source of motivation upon which it relies is the willingness of the people to devote their lives to an anonymous herd of strangers.
As long as people retain a shred of self-respect, they will devote their lives primarily to their own happiness and to that of individuals they actually know and have some reason to love.
2 comments:
Very well put, Lester. And Happy New Year! Btw, I can't access the film, when I click on the link I only get a small gif of the x-ray photo that is displayed on your post - the first one of the three photos. Did they pull the movie?
Ann,
Thanks for the heads-up. I think I fixed it. The Blogger program kept doing things I didn't ask it to do.
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