If the movies have taught me one thing it’s this – Russia is a bad egg.
I’ve known that since 1997 when well-known-Russian-man Gary Oldman broke onto President Harrison Ford’s Air Force One plane and tried to do him a mischief.
Further research of the Hollywood archives reveals that maybe 80% of everything bad that has ever happened can be traced back to Russia.
Germany and the Middle East are to blame for the rest.
And aliens.
But mainly Hollywood lore dictates that Russia is the looming spectre forever trying to destroy the wonderful West.
Unfortunately the trope that we have been conditioned to expect in blockbuster after blockbuster is now taking shape in real life – this time on the Ukrainian border.
‘Hypocrisy in the West’s outrage’
The headlines scream war and US officials warn a Russian invasion of Ukraine is “imminent”.
Our pearls are clutched. Our condemnation is forthright.
But I can’t help but see hypocrisy in the West’s outrage.
I’m not here to defend Russia – it has a history as blood-stained as any other superpower.
They may no longer send Nobel Prize winners to the gulags but their newer penchants for homophobia and cheating at the Olympics aren’t exactly endearing.
Even less heart-warming is their provocation of sovereign states trying to build on hard-won freedoms.
Countries like Ukraine.
But my question, is – do Western leaders actually care about the people of Kyiv and Donetsk?
Or do they care that Russia is posturing?
What about Palestine and Yemen?
Forgive my cynicism, but if Moscow turned its military eye to Palestine or Yemen what would happen?
Maybe the West would suddenly care more about the lives of the people in those oppressed states.
The victims of those conflicts.
From the beginning of this crisis, I have been clear and consistent: The United States is prepared no matter what happens.
We are ready for diplomacy to improve stability and security in Europe as a whole.
And we are ready to respond decisively if Russia attacks Ukraine.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 15, 2022
If it was Russian troops shooting civilians on the streets of Gaza and dropping bombs on Sana’a then perhaps our condemnation wouldn’t be so shamefully absent.
War makes the world go round
There’s another movie moment I remember.
In fact the use of Edwin Starr’s anthem, War, on the soundtrack is one of the few things I do remember from the 1998 Jackie Chan vehicle Rush Hour.
It might be simplistic in its message – “War, huh, yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing” – but it’s spot-on.
Unless you’re an arms manufacturer, or a government lobbied by arms manufacturers.
Unfortunately war seems to make the world go round – as long as the war is carefully chosen to create the right political noises for those in power.
Putin postures. Liz Truss fumbles. The boogeyman is out his box.
Instagram Secretary Liz Truss is on a city mini break in Moscow pic.twitter.com/uA7RzWbG5X
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) February 10, 2022
Meanwhile the people of Ukraine sit and worry about what tomorrow may bring.
The people of Palestine and Yemen wonder why no-one cares about them.
And we watch half the James Bond franchise, nodding our heads knowingly as the bad Russians do bad Russian things.
All of this isn’t to say the Western leaders are wrong in their strong condemnation of Russia, they aren’t.
It’s just worth noting which conflicts inspire them to find those vocal chords.
Maybe Hollywood could turn its spotlight on places other than Russia
Of course James Bond, Air Force One and others of that ilk are just silly action films.
Mindless popcorn nonsense – where a big guy with a ridiculously fake accent is the lazily drawn villain.
I watch them in their thousands.
But I stopped watching actual war films a long time ago.
It became very hard to reconcile the heroes of Hollywood movies with the actions of governments.
I became disillusioned with the one-sided narratives. Them versus us.
Maybe it’s something to do with growing up in a border town in Ireland – but watching Bradley Cooper fly half way across the world to triumphantly shoot the locals in American Sniper doesn’t scream hero to me.
It doesn’t feel like a celebration of good versus evil. It feels like more propaganda.
I hope these fears of war in the Ukraine don’t spill from the headlines to the streets.
That Hollywood never gets to make a movie about it.
That the posturing remains just that and Gary Oldman remains my go-to Russian bad guy.
I hope our leaders, with their outrage at Russia, find a way to condemn the violence in Palestine, Yemen and other oppressed nations with the same authority and energy.
And maybe Hollywood can shine its big bright spotlight on those people and give them the amplified voice they so desperately need.
