Well, when I read this article in DM last night and looked through all those nasty comments I got really sad about the following: looks like DM is deliberately forming a very "specific" image of Russia in minds of Brits and encourages British people to get more "anti-Russian" myths.
What does an average British person know about Russia?
It's cold, there is Putin, everybody drinks vodka, there are bears with balalaikas everywhere, all Russians are drunkards and mafia people.
That's basically it.
Does an average British person know that Russia is a country of more than 200 different languages? That it has unbelievable variety of landscapes, cultures, time zones?
Were the people who commented about "Russia being a primitive country" and "every Russian having a mental illness" keeping in mind great Russian literature, classical ballet, unique architecture?
British people have ENOUGH unfortunate myths and stereotypes about Russia and Russians.
Every newspaper - especially a big one such as Daily Mail - MUST have some social responsibility.
Every author in a newspaper has to understand that he or she is responsible for what they write. For what they encourage.
At the moment I can say that Daily Mail is responsible for this xenophobic wave of hatred towards Russians in comments.
And the saddest thing is that it only adds to all those nasty "anti-Russian" myths.
So - what about Russians then? What do average Russians think of Britain and British people?
It might surprise somebody but Russians actually have quite positive stereotypes of the UK and people living in the country.
1. Britain is the country of great English classical literature and specifically of Sherlock Holmes.
There was a very successful and very popular TV-series in Soviet times about Sherlock Holmes.
To the left - Livanov (Sherlock Holmes), to the right - Solomin (Doctor Watson).
Filmed in the times of Iron Curtain and total deficit this TV series became extremely popular. The whole film crew worked hard to make the film and everything in it look as English as possible - not an easy task in those days.
It's an adorable movie classics now.
2. Britain is the country of people with perfect manners.
Russians may joke about it (here is one old Russian joke: a woman with lots of heavy bags gets on a bus. All seats are taken, mostly by men. She sighs and says to a big bloke sitting on a seat next to her, "Are there any gentlemen on this bus?", looking at him expectantly and hoping he will give her his seat. "There are plenty of gentlemen here!", responds the bloke, "There are no spare seats though!").
So Russians may joke about that but "ladylike" and "gentleman" behaviour is something Russians strongly associate with Britain and British.
All British people are polite and well-mannered - that's what most Russians think.
3. All British people are into sports, they are athletic sport-loving fit people.
This might have come from the general perception that Britain is the "cradle" of sport - especially football.
4. British people are well-educated.
This is of course strongly associated with boarding schools - though most Russians are aware that not every Brit goes to a public school there is still this idea that British people get educated in a very classical way, studying Latin, Ancient Greek and spending most of their youths with heavy books in their hands.
I could go on with positive stereotypes Russians have about Britain and British: about five o'clock teas, cute old ladies in funny hats, about British people loving their pets dearly, about British people having healthy porridge for breakfast, etc. - but all in all those stereotypes are not bad, they are positive and quite friendly.
And about this publication and comments in DM: you can have hostile perception of any and every nation. Is it really that good to be alienated?
What does an average British person know about Russia?
It's cold, there is Putin, everybody drinks vodka, there are bears with balalaikas everywhere, all Russians are drunkards and mafia people.
That's basically it.
Does an average British person know that Russia is a country of more than 200 different languages? That it has unbelievable variety of landscapes, cultures, time zones?
Were the people who commented about "Russia being a primitive country" and "every Russian having a mental illness" keeping in mind great Russian literature, classical ballet, unique architecture?
British people have ENOUGH unfortunate myths and stereotypes about Russia and Russians.
Every newspaper - especially a big one such as Daily Mail - MUST have some social responsibility.
Every author in a newspaper has to understand that he or she is responsible for what they write. For what they encourage.
At the moment I can say that Daily Mail is responsible for this xenophobic wave of hatred towards Russians in comments.
And the saddest thing is that it only adds to all those nasty "anti-Russian" myths.
So - what about Russians then? What do average Russians think of Britain and British people?
It might surprise somebody but Russians actually have quite positive stereotypes of the UK and people living in the country.
1. Britain is the country of great English classical literature and specifically of Sherlock Holmes.
There was a very successful and very popular TV-series in Soviet times about Sherlock Holmes.
To the left - Livanov (Sherlock Holmes), to the right - Solomin (Doctor Watson).
Filmed in the times of Iron Curtain and total deficit this TV series became extremely popular. The whole film crew worked hard to make the film and everything in it look as English as possible - not an easy task in those days.
It's an adorable movie classics now.
2. Britain is the country of people with perfect manners.
Russians may joke about it (here is one old Russian joke: a woman with lots of heavy bags gets on a bus. All seats are taken, mostly by men. She sighs and says to a big bloke sitting on a seat next to her, "Are there any gentlemen on this bus?", looking at him expectantly and hoping he will give her his seat. "There are plenty of gentlemen here!", responds the bloke, "There are no spare seats though!").
All British people are polite and well-mannered - that's what most Russians think.
3. All British people are into sports, they are athletic sport-loving fit people.
This might have come from the general perception that Britain is the "cradle" of sport - especially football.
4. British people are well-educated.
This is of course strongly associated with boarding schools - though most Russians are aware that not every Brit goes to a public school there is still this idea that British people get educated in a very classical way, studying Latin, Ancient Greek and spending most of their youths with heavy books in their hands.
I could go on with positive stereotypes Russians have about Britain and British: about five o'clock teas, cute old ladies in funny hats, about British people loving their pets dearly, about British people having healthy porridge for breakfast, etc. - but all in all those stereotypes are not bad, they are positive and quite friendly.
And about this publication and comments in DM: you can have hostile perception of any and every nation. Is it really that good to be alienated?
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