Which element/portion of Yablonovskiy’s analysis stood out to you most and why? Provide both context from the text and your reason(s) for why this part of the author’s analysis stood out or seemed profound to you. Your response should be at least four sentences long.
4 thoughts on “Blog Post #11: “Nu Pogodi: Propaganda…” (Yablonovskiy, pp. 151-156)”
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Yablonovski analyzed the shows she watched and analyzed the rhetoric of each show, most specifically “Nu Pogodi” the Ukraines version of “Tom and Jerry”, which was her favorite show growing up. But she noticed that it was based on propaganda that her government had placed to get people to support Communism. It was an appeal to the younger audience and the purpose was to ensure public obedience for children. The show had the two characters do things like going to the beach, gardening, and fishing. Yablonovski analyzes that and claims that it was the governments way of showing the world of what communism looked like and how they try to normalize it for other countries to see how good Lenin was as president at the time.
Leon Yablonovski, as a child watched shows related to the Soviet-era. One of those shows was called, “Nu Pogodi”. This was a cartoon, that russian’s would often describe to themselves as, the “Tom and Jerry” in America. This cartoon show left a impact towards Yablonovski, as it relates to her cultural identity. For some people, like us in America would just describe this cartoon show as a wolf chasing a bunny. However, for Yablonovski it was a show that done a good job in portraying, the lives of many soviets. She believed that, it was a cartoon that can appeal to many generations of people. From young kids, to adults. It was a cartoon, that many would watch to escape themselves from the conformity of life.
Yablonovskiy talks about Nu Pagodi and how the shows rhetoric isn’t just about the state’s propaganda it’s also about an underlying message. For example, it talks about how “the wolf constantly loses to the bunny in all the activities it did, whether it was racing or chasing.” It talks about how this is an example of the subversive message to the struggling people, how the Soviet’s always win. This stood out to me because a child would just look at this and think nothing but these ideas get implanted in their brains to show that communism is “better.” Because if that reason, it does appeal to the younger audience and shows them how the soviets life is, how much better it is, which ultimately impacts them.
Many children viewed “Tom & Jerry” as a normal entertaining show, however, Yablonovskiy saw it from a different perspective. Yablonovskiy knew the show portrayed a message on soviet’s lives. He noticed that the producers and directors created this show to demonstrate that communism is the right path a country should go through.