For this week’s blog post, I chose to watch the Russian TV Show “Wind in the Face.” It follows a Russian girl who has to recover from her Grandfather’s death and wade through manipulation of her boss while maintaining a relationship with her fiancé.
The first thing I noticed was that the weather was very similar to the weather in New Jersey. It was autumn and the clothing of the characters and surrounding landscape had a very similar to this area. The surrounding buildings had a grandiose but worn down look. The architecture was not completely familiar, but there were large semi-abandoned industrial areas that were reminiscent of many urban areas in the U.S.
Outside of the language, the characters did not seem to be much different than people in the U.S. The relationship between the protagonist and her grandfather was no different than you would see in an American movie or TV show. Her boyfriends mother, while not seeming any different in personality, was the only character with more traditional Russian clothing, but aside from that, was not much different. The dynamic between her and her boss was also familiar. Unfortunately, we see people with money and power treating those under them poorly.
All in all, I found very few cultural differences outside of the language. It is interesting to see how similar we can be while being so far apart geographically.
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It seems like most of the shows being analyzed this week really aren’t all too much different. The characters all act similar and the shows don’t have too much of a production difference, so it’s cool to pick out the cultural details, like setting and wardrobe.