fragments of an attempted writing.
Some post-Pussy Riot brand reconstruction.  I remember this Orthodox blogger who used to bitch and moan all the time about how this was the direction Orthodoxy was headed.  Maybe he was right.

9 comments:

  1. In a world where news of misdeeds in a church dramatically effect its members' perceptions of and committment to the church (e.g., RCC and sexual abuse cover-ups here and abroad), it's probably not surprising that such PR disasters need be countered by PR campaigns regarding the other side of the coin. Not sure the days of the village parish relatively isolated from scandals and fights elsewhere (and at the top) are really possible with the internet, TV, magazines and newspapers.

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  2. "need be countered"

    Let's be exactly clear what is meant here. The MP is in bed with the Russian state, or at least allows itself to serve as a supporting icon for Putin and has a lot of ties with the Putin admin, and has been trying to increase its sway in the state (sometimes to the point of being batshit crazy, ie http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/display/20121004032052_Russian_Orthodox_Christians_Swap_Apple_Logo_with_Crosses.html ). In response to this you have Pussy Riot and other anarchists and activists pulling Abbie Hoffman style performance protesting stunts which got a lot of media attention. In response to that the MP decides to parade about Tom Hanks as a "isn't Orthodoxy hip and attractive" slick job. Why on earth would a serious or semi-serious person not take that as an indicator that the Church (or at least the leader calling that shot) is desperate and full of shit? What does Tom Hanks' image and voice do but convey the Hollywoodification and spinnyness of whatever cause he puts his face behind? And how is that not anything other than a diversion - a means of not actually addressing the criticisms being directed at the MP?

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    1. My comment was more generally about the use of PR and mass media by churches.

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    2. But if there is a need to counter, it is always going to be a specific PR need. If the Catholics had decided to do a big PR campaign a few months after the sex scandals went viral by putting up ads with Jennifer Lopez and Martin Sheen and Mark Wahlberg - the critics of the RCC here would have had a field day with it. And they wouldn't have faced criminal charges for criticizing the RCC here, as critics of the MP in Russia now potentially face.

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    3. At least they could've picked Chris Cornell over Tom Hanks.

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  3. Here are the ads in question--- http://vk.com/album-43027103_162709633 Russians just aren't that good at slick branding, though in any world it was a wise choice to use a picture of young Tom Hanks.

    The third celebrity poster features Yuri Shevchuk, who is a pretty outspoken critic of Putin--- http://www.npr.org/2011/01/04/132620334/yuri-shevchuk-russias-musical-advocate-for-democracy

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    1. "See, some Putin protesters like us!" Good grief. There is no ecclesial dignity left in this world. Hence Pussy Riot should feel free to do as they do.

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  4. Didn't Hanks get married in an 'piskie service in a chapel on his land?

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  5. I thought Pussy Riot was guilty of performance art and something like disturbing the peace and trespassing. Of course, that's also US legal assumptions. Russians are heavy handed in just about everything, except when they are not. They are an enigmatic, obtuse people. I think it's part of the allure. It does not surprise me that they'd be used to other ends - I don't think they expected to be so used, either. It also doesn't surprise me that the MP doubled down on taking offense, and then backed off like it never demanded that kind of punishment and outrage. The Mp has always had two masters on this earth - the state and the people. It gets into trouble when it thinks it only has one. It realized a little too late that it didn't have the people behind it. Such is the danger of PR - one is tempted to start believing it a little too much. The unhinged extremes seem to require the other - over the top asceticism and humility require the opposite from their society and leaders. Maybe one can't really achieve the heights of holiness without being subjected to the heights of cruelty and abuse. Whether that's true or not, I think there's a part of the Russian soul that believes it is true. Americans are more likely to achieve heights of comfort and ease, which I am sure leads to nothing very good at all - though it could lead to extreme asceticism as a response, from someone, somewhere.

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