Thursday, February 17, 2011

The Cold War and Anti-Soviet Messages in Mid-Century Cartoons

     Tensions were high during the early years of the Cold War and mid-Century Americans saw a rise in anti-Soviet stereotypes. As I have been looking into children's cartoons of the 1950s and 60s, I have been surprised to see such blatant stereotypes in these programs. This time period saw the emergence of the diabolical Russian spy as a villian in many shows, an obvious reflection of the fears and tensions in America at this time.
    
     My personal feeling about the cartoons I've included, "Roger Ramjet" and "Rocky and Bullwinkle", is that they are meant to be funny. I don't think they intend to cause harm as the material is obviously over-the-top and serving as satire more than a serious opinion. The question is still in the back of my mind, however, whether any of this satire is appropriate for children? Since they are obviously going to be less informed on the current events regarding the Cold War and the humor is likely to go over their head, is this type of programming sending the wrong message? Take a look...

Roger Ramjet

     So this cartoon aired in the 1960s and depicts unmistakable Cold War stereotypes in villains such as Dr. Ivan Evilkisser, Noodles Romanoff, and Jacqueline Hyde, all members of N.A.S.T.Y. (National Association of Spies, Traitors, and Yahoos).  Noodles Romanoff and Jacqueline Hyde are both depicted as the stereotypical Russian spies, often in hats, glasses, and trenchcoats, and Dr. Ivan Evilkisser as a mad scientist. Ramjet gets his strength from proton pills which give him the power of 20 atom bombs for 20 seconds (http://www.retrojunk.com/). As an adult, I find this show to be very funny and I think it’s clear that the goal is satire and not propaganda; it is spoofing a patriotic and idiotic American hero rather than promoting him. However, this is a show geared specifically towards children and I have to wonder about the effect this might have had on them at this time. Since they would probably not pick up on the satirical aspects, is it subtly teaching them to fear the non-American bad guy and putting a stereotypical image of the Soviet Union in the back of their minds?
     And of course, we can't talk about anti-Soviet stereotyping without referencing "Rocky and Bullwinkle". Take a look at these two videos...
 Rocky and Bullwinkle


     The "Rocky and Bullwinkle" series ran from 1959-1964 and was known for its witty parody on contemporary topics, such as the Cold War. The main villains in the program, Boris Badinov and Natasha Fatale, were scheming and fiendish, but also completely inept, secret agents from the fictitious nation, Pottsylvania. Pottsylvania was a parody of a Cold War Eastern-European country, possibly a mix between East Germany (ex. the “Fearless Leader” in the clip wears a German cross and has a distinct accent) and the Soviet Union (ex. the mock-Russian accents of Boris and Natasha). Pottsylvania was said to be populated entirely by spies, secret agents, and saboteurs, and a place where the Cold War never thawed. While many considered Pottsylvania to be a spoof, it was considered offensive to the government of the Soviet Union, where the show was banned for being anti-Soviet propaganda. While the show does seem to balance out anti-Soviet plotlines with those that imply the idiocy of the American government (ex. Boris and Natasha can't tell if the American government has been goof gassed or not), it is pretty easy to see in these clips why the show could be considered anti-Soviet. In these episodes, for instance, “Fearless Leader” is an evil dictator and says that Pottsylvania’s main export is "mean". Not to mention the obvious stereotypes of Boris and Natasha, who are clear depictions of Russian spies and are usually trying to steal something to take back to their homeland with the hopes of gaining control over other countries (Hendershot, Cynthia, Anti-Communism and Popular Culture in Mid-Century America, pg. 85-87).
     So the question here is should these shows have been censored when considering that the target audience is children? To me, there is two sides of this coin. First off, I think these shows are funny and I don't think they have the intentions of obvious anti-Soviet propaganda. The way that they use stereotypes reminds me of "Family Guy" and other similar programs, where stereotyping is used for humor and while at first it seems offensive, it more makes fun of stereotyping in general than it actually pushes a social agenda. And these thoughts were generally supported at the time, as both programs were popular for their appeal to adults as well as children. So, for those reasons, I think considering the programs propaganda is somewhat off-base and over-dramatic. However, on the other side of the coin, shows like "Family Guy," though animated, are not geared at children (the show has a TV-14 rating), and, therefore, the humor can be considered more appropriate (http://www.tvguide.com/).
     While I don't think children are being scarred for life from "Roger Ramjet"or "Rocky and Bullwinkle," should they be viewing blatant stereotypes of foreign countries and unfamliar cultures? Should they be watching material about coutries at war and viewing plotlines about spies and atom bombs? Should our nation's politics, particularly involving war, even be registering in a child's mind, or is it just causing unnecessary judgements and fear? And think about the Russian immigrant child in an American school at this time and what kinds of stereotyping they may have had to deal with. Something to think about...

~Ashley

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