Sophia Davis

"I Spy Two Countries Gone Awry"

It is no secret that different forms of media in the United States contain covert propaganda, often revealing the general culture’s attitude towards a certain subject; Russia is no exception. While modern media leans less towards propaganda, maintaining the idea of American superiority while pandering to lingering Cold War attitudes yields a receptive American audience. The Americans is the quintessential depiction of Russians in contemporary American pop culture. Featuring two undercover KGB spies, Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, living in Reagan-era America, this show harps on many Russian stereotypes. From the femme fatale portrayal to being godless people, The Americans, an FX Network show released in 2013, captures the overall negative opinion that the American population has towards Russia even in today’s world. Where do these stereotypes come from, and why does US media perpetuate them still?

The Americans’ opening scene features Elizabeth Jennings in disguise seducing an FBI agent. She does this in order to gain his trust and reveal some critical information on the FBI’s plans for the KGB. This is a persistent theme throughout the first season of the show. This idea that Russians weaponize their sexuality is a frequently seen concept. The introduction of the KGB honeypot (or sexspionage) trope can be dated back as early as the 1920s. Ernst Lubitsch, an American film director, asserted that the presentation of Russians for an American audience needs to be done in a stylized and digestible manner. This was in response to his film The Patriot where a Russian woman uses her sexuality to extract information. Ultimately the presentation of Russian women is a matter of controlling the narrative in a way that best benefits the US. It is as if the viewer is being subliminally told to beware of Russia charming or bewitching its way into one’s trust.

Another point of attack is religion. In a scene featuring Philip, he is attempting to gain insight on a meeting between Caspar Weinberger and Margaret Thatcher to discuss the Strategic Defense Initiative. This was accomplished through the coercion of Weinberger’s cleaning lady, Viola. In an altercation later on, Viola begs for Philip’s mercy and questions his belief in God. Philip informs her that he does not believe in a god to which Viola insults him as a godless creature. This description of Soviets is not a new one either. Back in the early 1900s, the Soviet government employed an anti-religious campaign. This continued into the 1980s with harsh restrictions imposed on the people of Soviet Russia, but the campaign was never quite successful. At its core, the rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States was based on the actions of the respective governments rather than the people. Even with a guilty government and innocent people, it is easy and even beneficial for the United States to label the country as a whole as irreligious and therefore lesser because of that.

Many Cold War era ideologies are still harbored by many Americans due to the fact that many of the Russian narratives have not changed over nearly a century of media. To ask an American today what they think of as a typical Russian would yield many of the same responses: sneaky spies, coldhearted comrades, or even amoral atheists; it is the presentation that many Americans are the most familiar with and therefore would be the most receptive to in forms of media consumption.