Tag: #history

  • On Thoughts of Breaking a Plate

    I broke a plate this afternoon. I was putting away the dishes, and I wasn’t paying attention. It slipped out of my hand and crashed onto the floor. The sound of the plate shattering was much louder than I expected. It was almost ear pricing as the sound was in such a high register. The plate broke into a few large pieces, but the majority was made up of tiny shards that went everywhere.

    First, I was angry, as the plate I had broken was one we had received for our wedding, and I don’t think they make them anymore. I started to move to clean it up, but then I stopped.

    I stopped to look at the mess I had made, though by accident; The strange pattern all of the pieces had made. As our kitchen is central in the layout of the apartment, shards had made it to the living room, master bedroom, and even the dining room. The spread was impressive.

    What if I left it? It was a silly question and couldn’t be answered with a, yes, leave it. A child’s bare feet would be home soon. Messes are made to be cleaned up. As are accidents.

    And so, I cleaned the floor. Picked up the large pieces, swept up the tiny ones. Vacuumed the tiles, and then mopped. I would say that it now looked like it never happened, but the clean floors will give away that something happened.

    I was reminded of a question that a history professor posed to us, his class; If there is no evidence of a historical event happening, did it really happen?

  • Trotsky on Netflix: Update

    I am now four episodes in on “Trotsky,” and I am having some thoughts.

    When last I wrote about the show, I was asking if the miniseries was indicative of how Russians view Trotsky now, after Stalin had him purged from the history of the revolution, and moreover, how the Russia people view themselves?

    First of all, dramatically, then series is set up so that Trotsky comes across as an anti-hero. The Don Draper or Walter White of the Russian Revolution. He gets laid a lot while trying to change Russia and the world. I find it fascinating that “anti-hero” is the new way of presenting complicated male characters. Trotsky makes the tough decisions, but is all broken up inside though he can’t admit it, and women can’t say no to him. Yes, I am making a joke, but is this now the way male characters will be presented? For that reason, the show has given me pause as I move forward.

    The next thought is that I am unsure how the series feels about the anti-Semitism in Russia at the time of the revolution. I know the awful history of how difficult and freighting it was to be a Jew in Russia at that time and before, and that Trotsky was able to rise to power in the face of so much hate is impressive. Where I feel the show is lacking is that Trotsky doesn’t seem to fight the anti-Semitism he and others face, but rather just puts up with it. I do know that one of the reasons the Soviets wanted an atheistic society was to combat religious hatred and bigotry that they saw as endemic and destructive to society. Trotsky is being presented as an atheist, but for personal reasons, and not also as a requirement for the new Russia he is envisioning. This does leave me feeling uncomfortable with how the series is dealing with this serious issue, but I know I need to finish all episodes to find out what their conclusion is.

    I am still moving forward with the show. Like I said, I finished episode four, and I have four more to go. This is the crux of the show, if it follows the classic dramatic structure, so everything might change.

    I am still fascinated by watching how Russians view their history. It does make the 1917 Revolution look like a chaotic event that was scary to live through. I am curious what the payoff will be when it comes to the founding of the USSR, and how they treat Trotsky’s exiles.

  • Trotsky on Netflix

    I stumbled onto a new show that Netflix seems to be very desperate for me to watch. It’s called, “Trotsky,” and it’s about Leon Trotsky. Not the most original title for a show about Trotsky. Complete disclosure; I’m only two episodes in, so I can’t give a review of the show. Maybe at a later point. What I want to discuss is why Netflix thinks I need to see this show, and being that this show was produced in Russia, what does it say about how Russians view their own history.

    First, Netflix. So, if I watch “Civilizations” and “Empire Games,” they must think that I will love a miniseries on a Soviet revolutionary. I guess this is how it works. I mean, they aren’t wrong, I just would like to know if that was all it took. Is this the action of a Russian troll who is trying to get me to be more sympathetic to Russia?

    Second, is this how Russians view themselves, and what the Soviet Revolutions was? I don’t know that much about Trotsky. I know he was one of the big Soviet three, Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky. I know he ran the military in the Revolution. I know he killed lots of people, and after Lenin died, lost the fight to take over leadership to Stalin. And then Stalin had him killed while he lived in exile in Mexico City. I also know that Stalin tried to have Trotsky completely removed from the history of the revolution and the foundation of the USSR. I even hear that Stalin is still regarded as a hero in Russia to this day.

    So… Does this mean that Trotsky is now considered a hero in Russia? Is this a romanization of that period in Russian history? Is this miniseries indicative of anything culturally over there?

    I’ll finish the show, and then see if there are any insights.