Russia recently banned Armando Iannucci’s new movie, The Death of Stalin, which is a brutal satire of Soviet political intrigue following Stalin’s death in 1953. The Russian government claims that the movie is disrespectful of Soviet history:
Minister Medinsky later responded to the controversy by saying: "Many people of the older generation, and not only, will regard it as an insulting mockery of all the Soviet past, of the country that defeated fascism and of ordinary people, and what’s even worse, even of the victims of Stalinism."
The movie was released in the US in March and is in a few arts theaters around the country. Critics generally loved the film. For background here is a PG version of the trailer for the movie:
My observation is that many Antifa protestors have warm place in their hearts for the old Soviet Union, even Stalin. For example, here is a brief exchanged with an anti-Trump protestor from the inauguration:
My question is what would happen if campus Republican groups sponsored showings of the movie on college campuses?
Would the Antifa come out to protest the movie? Or would they avoid agreeing with Putin’s attempts to suppress the movie and actually allow free speech for a change?
The Antifa protests have repeatedly shutdown conservative speakers sponsored by campus Republicans.
The movie presents a wonderful dilemma for the Antifa. Either they allow a brutally satirical look at Communism, or they protest to shut down a movie loved by critics.
Most college students are ignorant of the horrific history of Stalin, so the film is likely to give them a much different perspective from what they have heard in school.
The film is a comedy, but most of the absurd plot twists are based on actual history. In some cases the actual history is so absurd that it is film leaves out details to make it more logical.
13% of millennials listed Stalin as a personal hero in a recent poll.
Almost half of Americans between the ages of 16 and 20 “said they would vote for a socialist, while 21% would go so far as to back a Communist.
I suspect that liberal colleges, such as Berkeley, have much higher support for Communism than average. How would kids who view Stalin as a hero deal with this satire of him?
Here’s the problem: even if I accept the findings of the poll you cite, if 21% of millennials would vote for a communist, that means 79% would not. If a third of them believe Bush killed more people than Stalin, that means 2/3 do not believe it. These numbers hardly substantiate your claim that most college students are ignorant of Stalin’s history.
Thinking that Bush killed more people than Stalin shows a total lack of understanding of recent history. The fact that a third believed this is frightening.
The film may help to correct gross misconceptions such as this.
A third is hardly “most.” It is disconcerting enough that you don’t need to exaggerate and contend that a majority of college students are ignorant of Stalin and his history.
The minding the campus link includes this description from a college professor who introduces students to the history of Stalin:
My class was both sickened and startled. Many come forward after reading it asking why the real Stalin isn’t revealed in other history classes (the most disturbing and perhaps revealing of one of their comments was that “America isn’t perfect either”). But all agreed that Stalin was rarely mentioned, except in the context of fighting Hitler.
These students would be shocked by the new satire about Stalinist Russia.
Having the Antifa sit by while one of their heroes is ridiculed is fine with me. Maybe the movie would actually provoke students to question the leftist dogma that permeates many of the campuses.
My point is that your contention - “Most college students are ignorant of the horrific history of Stalin” - is revealed as an exaggeration by the very links you use to support your position.
Yes, it looks like most high-school kids learn that Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union during World War II, but few know much beyond that.
The fact that so many appear to be clueless about the true nature of Communism under Stalin is frightening. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
Earlier quote from professor teaching Soviet history to college students:
My class was both sickened and startled. Many come forward after reading it asking why the real Stalin isn’t revealed in other history classes (the most disturbing and perhaps revealing of one of their comments was that “America isn’t perfect either”). But all agreed that Stalin was rarely mentioned, except in the context of fighting Hitler.
