2045: A Snooze Odyssey
The occasion for Konstantin Syomin's brief tirade about the pointlessness of the radiant future had a curious target. Produced by the popular collective "Dumai sam, dumai seichas" ("Think for Yourself, Think Now", henceforth abbreviated as "DSDS"), "2045. Episode 1: The Revelations of a Former Millionaire" was released on YouTube on May 1, 2021 (International Worker's Day), and viewed over 189 thousand times as of December 15, 2021 (with 17 thousand likes and zero dislikes). DSDS's most popular videos make the studio's political orientation clear: "Bound to Wake Up. Class Dream of Humanity" (1 million views) and "The Real Stalin" (972 thousand views. Spoiler alert: the Real Stalin was a hero, slandered by Khrushchev and counter-revolutionaries). A typical DSDS video combines mid-level video-game style animation with a polemical voiceover to bring simple, communist truths to the viewer. "2045," however, is a bit different.
"2045" features retrofuturist bombast (enormous statues of cosmonauts, etc.) and a touching, if nonsensical, combination of Soviet realia with fantastic high-tech (walking, talking vending machines offering passers-by Soviet-style soft drinks by the glass). Syomin is certainly correct in identifying "2045" as anodyne, if not kitschy, although there is an implication of unrest, if not bloodshed, in the past: the second socialist revolution took place in 2029. But somehow, in just 16 years, the new Eurasian Alliance has achieved miracles. A news broadcaster tells his viewers (who would, presumably, already know these facts) that rates of tuberculosis and STDs have plummeted, and that life expectancies are skyrocketing thanks to the revival of two staples of early Soviet health propaganda: a "sober lifestyle" and "physical culture" (cue a brief animation of happy, healthy citizens doing group calisthenics). Even (physical) disabilities are being "solved": soon any citizen who needs one will receive a fully functional bionic limb at no cost.
The video's paper-thin plot consists of an interview with a former oligarch. In 2029, he fully capitulated to the new regime, gave over all his assets, and rehabilitated himself as an ordinary worker in an auto factory. Even in his retirement, he still insists on working. In addition, he has a popular video blog called " Planting with the Oligarch" (the title is a pun referring to both planting seeds and sending someone to prison). The bulk of this thirty-minute video is devoted to an interview with the former oligarch, Upyrev, (a name that comes from the Russian word for vampire, as if to suggest that he was born to be a capitalist bloodsucker). He readily admits that his old life as a capitalist, while glamorous, was founded on exploitation and misery, and he has nothing but praise for the new world.
Any viewer looking for signs of brainwashing or duress is bound to be disappointed. Voiced by an actor with the velvet tones of a kindly grandfather from central casting, Upyrev is the picture of contentment. In this regard, he fits in perfectly with his surroundings: soporific background music, long, wordless shots of the new Soviet Union's majestic architecture. "2045: Episode 1," with its beatifically smiling old man and montages of happy people somehow manages to combine retrocommunist imagery with the kitschy stylings of a late-night commercial for an incontinence remedy.
If the comments are any indication, however, DSDS knows exactly how to inspire its target audience. "Ellen Ripley" writes "Thank you, it brought me to tears, this is what we've been missing for so long: an image of the future, the radiant future!" Bomberfoxx: "Now this is something that's worth dying in battle for. Thank you, authors!" and Zarina Dzotsieva: "Finally, positive video material from communists! Thanks, it's great" These commenters, along with the thousands of other viewers who upvoted the video, are evaluating it according to criteria that have little in common with those of its critic, Syomin, even though they are all presumably on the same side.
Syomin frames agitational art in general, and "2045" in particular, in terms of its effectiveness as a tool of persuasion, where the viewers are reacting in their capacity as an audience that needs no persuasion. One might then conclude that DSDS is preaching to the choir, but the viewers' enthusiasm shows the limits of Syomin's critique. In terms of the revolution which both Syomin and the viewers seem to revere, Syomin's view of art is more Menshevik: agitational art must enlighten the ignorant and convert the skeptical, while the commenters implicitly understand the value of inspiring the smaller vanguard of conscious revolutionary supporters. Like a fight song, videos such as "2045" rev up the enthusiasm of the people already on your side.
Syomin's normally loyal audience flooded the comments section with objections. One commenter using the name "Andrei Kapitan" succinctly expressed the view shared by most of his YouTube comrades: "We need an image of the future! Otherwise, it's not clear where to go and what to strive for!" The debate quickly spilled over from Syomin's YouTube page and onto various Vkontakte and LiveJournal pages.