Media literacy hot take and I’m not sure some of you are ready for it:
if a fictional character is russian and lives during Russia’s military aggression against another country, and the work never addresses their thoughts or position on that war in any way, it automatically reinforces an already existing space where russians are not expected to reflect on the criminal actions of their state or their fellow citizens.
At the same time, it reassures russians — through foreign media — that the world also doesn’t see this as their problem.
If you believe that giving a fictional character a stance on their country’s military invasion "isn’t important", or that “there’s no reason to bring it up” because the story is just about their everyday life, then it’s hard to expect anything more responsible from real people.
“This is just a story about the struggles of an ordinary german dude during World War II — without touching on war or nazism, because he’s just a civilian and his personal life is already difficult” — i hope the analogy speaks for itself.
So please, don’t forget: while fictional films are being made about russians, documentaries are being made about the victims of their country.
“there’s no reason to bring it up” because the story is just about their everyday life - can you make war not affecting my everyday life then pretty please? because while russians can live day to day in ignorance i cant even plan my life or hope for any future because everything is steadily falling apart and i live in constant state of vigilance and restrictions no human should endure while in comparison to what horrors others are going through every moment here i'm living an extremely privileged life
