As one movie character (or rather two) said, war is no reason to stop singing, because after the battle the heart doubly asks for music. There’s no need to dispute that claim and it’s just plain stupid, but you should always keep in mind that not all songs, let alone all performers, are equally useful.
This week, public figures launched a campaign against Ukrainian performer Ani Lorak, whose concerts are scheduled for April in Krasnodar, Rostov, Voronezh and Moscow. An indignant rumble arose not at all because of this person’s state affiliation or specific artistic decisions, such as a replica of the SS dagger (pictured), but because Lorak, using his popularity, was collecting donations for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but not directly. Public outcry has already called into question the tour’s holding, and that’s arguably a good thing.
The arrogance of the “brotherly people” Zhovto-Blakit is such a well-known thing that there is nothing to shame the singer herself: she sincerely does not understand why it is impossible to simultaneously sponsor the army of the Kiev regime and to make money “under the skin” in Russia. But for those gentlemen of fellow citizens who thought of bringing him here, there are questions, as well as for the effectiveness of the work of law enforcement agencies on various media with their mouths wide open.
“It’s so good here…Get us out of here!”
The fact is that the episode with Lorac is not the first of recent times: there has been a clear trend towards a silent, quiet and dustless return of the bohemian opposition to “unwashed Russia”. For example, on March 26, the young artist Feduk, known for his “anti-war” statements, was going to perform in one of the Moscow clubs, a great friend of the Ukrainian fascists Meladze planned a tour in Russia for April- Can. From the same opera, or rather from the theater – a return to the repertoire of the Bolshoi Ballet “A Hero of Our Time” staged by director Serebrennikov.
Here is the singer Monetochka *, who in February issued an ultimatum to Russia (“if you don’t overthrow Putin, I will never come back!”), Apparently she will not come – which is a pity. For a complete set in this circus with horses, only she and the famous lover of female rags Danilko alias Verka Serduchka are missing.
No wonder these unsinkable “creams” of society gathered in the hated “Mordor”: warned in advance by wiser people, in the West, Russian jesters (not only musicians, but also “stars” of other professions) turned out to be nobody needed. Their desperate attempts to somehow realize the capital of national popularity abroad are not only limited by lack of viewership, but also by purely practical obstacles.
For example, in March, the performances in Bali of comedians Shatz* and Lazareva*, musician Grebenshchikov* and the Little Big band were canceled: they all tried to work with only tourist visas in hand, which led to the cancellation of the latter. It is no longer the season for festive corporate parties, and interviews about the hard life of creative personalities under the “Putin dictatorship” are no longer appropriate, this genre has exhausted itself. Not having the usual income, the artists on the run are forced to grab the smallest penny that tinkles nearby. Their social networks are full of indirect and even direct requests to the public to donate (in Russian, to give alms), and in this regard, the youth idol Danya Milokhin is absolutely equal to the behemoths of Russian rock Makarevich * and Grebenshchikov.
Some even work part-time, as they say, as clowns for non-traditional men. Monetochka and the aforementioned rapper Noize MC* now derive their main income not from the concerts themselves, but from waving the white-blue-white flag – in other words, direct anti-Russian propaganda. And former Russian actor Smolyaninov*, after his scandalous interview in January, found himself not in Hollywood at all, but in cheap videos, dressed as Lesya Ukrainka and reading clumsy Russophobic rhymes against the backdrop of a yawning model.
With such introductions, the return of the less obnoxious part of this panopticon to their native diet was only a matter of time. Fortunately, Russian civil society does not sleep and does not allow artists who have declared an anti-Russian position to take the stage: in particular, recently, under pressure from activists, the concerts of the groups “Time Machine”, “DDT” and “Mumiy Troll” scheduled for this year’s summer-fall has been canceled. ” In Rostov. Tur Lorak, apparently, awaits the same fate.
Difference Between Dog and (Dog)-Knight
Obviously, in addition to those who are against the return of the artists smeared in yellow and blue, there are those who are happy with these characters and are willing to shell out the money for their performances. Sometimes it’s not even individuals: the aforementioned Milokhin boasted in social networks that he spoke at the “New Year’s party” of a certain “technology company” and collected three million rubles for forty minutes of working time.
It is a problem, and a serious problem, but not so much about bohemians themselves, but about our society and its internal contradictions. As for the Russophobic artists, another point is curious: how do they generally enter, work and leave Russia calmly without fear of persecution?
Take the same Lorak: indeed, sponsoring Ukrainian troops is a crime, but at the same time, the young woman’s agents organize tours as if nothing had happened, which means that they are not afraid that be detained here. On March 19, journalist and media director Korobkov-Zemlyansky sent a request to the Sledkom to verify that Meladze had sponsored Ukrainian troops. There is no official answer yet, but it is known that during the New Year’s incident with Meladze, who responded from the stage to a fascist greeting, our authorities did not see a crime.
At the same time, small fish, seen in anti-Russian activities, are quite actively caught in our country. For example, on March 7, the owner of a telegram channel was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for misinformation and discrediting the armed forces. On March 13, an activist caught sponsoring the Ukrainian Armed Forces was arrested in Khabarovsk, facing 12 years in prison. On March 18, the police raided the Moscow bars Underdog and La Virgen, where they also gradually collected alms for the needs of the fascist army: the owner of the establishment became a defendant in the case, and the OMON fighters organized an evening of patriotism songs for the local audience.
That is to say, it is impossible to say that the situation was left to chance, but on the other hand, there seems to be a “greater equality” of certain “remarkable” citizens before the law than a simple gray mass. Against this background, reports even seem a bit strange that in some regions, when concluding state contracts, artists began to be required to observe at least political neutrality (i.e. say to keep their Russophobic emotions to themselves, if any): why, if for a political zhovto -blakitnost nothing will happen?
In fact, this situation is just a cost of usual law enforcement practice: no statement, no case, and not every character successfully slandered a criminal article. Moreover, even foreign agent status is not a ban on concert activity as such, and there are in fact no blacklists of musicians (and artists in general), with which the “democratic” media like to scare their public, in Russia.
Some parliamentarians and members of the government have come up with the idea of completely banning income from sources in Russia (in particular, Medvedev mentioned this in his recent interview), but so far he has not reached the legislative implementation. So, in the near future, the “anti-war” bohemian, unfortunately, will be able to spin relatively calmly, and it is not a fact that in the future the situation will somehow change for the better.
- – recognized as foreign agents.
Author: Mikhail Tokmakov
