I don't really understand the whole Harlem Shake thing (the song is good enough, but the videos just confuse me), but I saw a funny video the other day that I wanted to share. It's the Russia version of the Harlem Shake. Now, there's a lot of stuff in this video that is meant to be a take on stereotypes of Russia; the video has a dancing bear, someone playing the balalaika, an old man downing vodka, and a whole family crammed into a tiny apartment.
These are stereotypes, and yes, some Russian get ruffled when foreigners make jokes about these things. Being here and making friends with regular Russians has made me a lot more aware of what cultural biases and stereotypes I use--consciously and unconsciously--in my daily life. Although I love America, and living abroad has only strengthened my love of country, I consider myself an open-minded person and not exactly a red-blooded, flag-waving patriot, but I have come to realize how deeply (the Russians would say "to the marrow of my bones" до мозга костей) I am an American. The things I value, the beliefs I hold, the freedoms I treasure all have been molded, shaped, forged, and hardened by the fact that I grew up in America. And now I'm meeting and building friendships with people whose values and beliefs have been formed here in Russia. They look at the world and its problems and questions through a different lens. I know some very patriotic and nationalist Russians, and I know some Russians who are quite the opposite, but they all have a different set of life experiences, a different cultural upbringing than I do. Things that seem quite logical, inoffensive, and natural to me can seem almost heretical to my friends. These can be little, seemingly insignificant differences (Americans drink cold milk; Russians think cold milk will make your throat hurt), or they can be some really big, thorny, ugly divides (open distaste for other races, for example). I'm not advocating relativism--hatred toward people simply because of their skin color is wrong regardless of what culture you were raised in--but it is important to understand these cultural differences and comprehend the role that your own cultural upbringing plays in every decision you make.
Anyway that is a very long way to say that this video is a first and foremost a joke. Maybe you'll find it funny; maybe you won't. Maybe it's because of what culture you were raised in.
These are stereotypes, and yes, some Russian get ruffled when foreigners make jokes about these things. Being here and making friends with regular Russians has made me a lot more aware of what cultural biases and stereotypes I use--consciously and unconsciously--in my daily life. Although I love America, and living abroad has only strengthened my love of country, I consider myself an open-minded person and not exactly a red-blooded, flag-waving patriot, but I have come to realize how deeply (the Russians would say "to the marrow of my bones" до мозга костей) I am an American. The things I value, the beliefs I hold, the freedoms I treasure all have been molded, shaped, forged, and hardened by the fact that I grew up in America. And now I'm meeting and building friendships with people whose values and beliefs have been formed here in Russia. They look at the world and its problems and questions through a different lens. I know some very patriotic and nationalist Russians, and I know some Russians who are quite the opposite, but they all have a different set of life experiences, a different cultural upbringing than I do. Things that seem quite logical, inoffensive, and natural to me can seem almost heretical to my friends. These can be little, seemingly insignificant differences (Americans drink cold milk; Russians think cold milk will make your throat hurt), or they can be some really big, thorny, ugly divides (open distaste for other races, for example). I'm not advocating relativism--hatred toward people simply because of their skin color is wrong regardless of what culture you were raised in--but it is important to understand these cultural differences and comprehend the role that your own cultural upbringing plays in every decision you make.
Anyway that is a very long way to say that this video is a first and foremost a joke. Maybe you'll find it funny; maybe you won't. Maybe it's because of what culture you were raised in.
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