Mr.Duck on 7/6/2019 at 08:16
Loving it. Decided to watch one episode a day to savor it more; tomorrow I will watch the finale.
OHBOI.
<3
zombe on 7/6/2019 at 08:47
Quote Posted by Starker
A friend of mine was one of the people who was ordered there to clean up the mess. Messed him up for life as well. Nobody gave a damn about the consequences, the Soviet go-to solution was always to just throw people on (and in front of) any problem they encountered.
One of our relatives also went there - was the one who leaked us to stay indoors when it rains etc well before other sources. He died shorty after returning. Cancer (something typical in throat/neck region that i cannot remember atm). Were not allowed to talk about it. Consequently - we know almost nothing of the details. He was wary to tell when he had the chance. However, at least one relative he almost certainly told about some details - who obviously was not willing to fight against the hushing. You do not pressure the grieving to talk about it either - so, the memories faded (the one to likely know more also died before the iron curtain fell).
Best guess based on the little we know about it: He was well educated and certainly knew what was happening. He had some rank (ie. slightly above absolute 0. Some electric/engineer/comms stuff on the field). Was not on the roof, but was traversing in the area doing whatever. He possibly just got unlucky doing that whatever. Nobody knows.
Dia on 7/6/2019 at 14:20
I found one of the scariest things about the Chernobyl disaster was how far that radiation extended, how it managed to settle in hot spots across Europe. At first the Soviets wanted everyone to believe that the disaster was contained locally, but decades later the truth came out as to how many places in Europe were affected by the radiation released during the Chernobyl incident. Scary indeed.
(
https://ratical.org/radiation/Chernobyl/HEofC25yrsAC.html)
Starker on 7/6/2019 at 18:05
Sounds about par for the course:
Quote:
(
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/06/russian-parliament-outlaws-online-disrespect)
Russia's parliament has approved a controversial law that allows courts to jail people for online “disrespect” of government or state officials, including the president, Vladimir Putin.
The law, which critics say is reminiscent of Soviet-era legislation used to target political dissidents, stipulates fines of up to 100,000 roubles (£1,155) for “indecent” online posts that demonstrate a “blatant disrespect for society, the country, Russia's official state symbols, the constitution, or the authorities”.
Repeat offenders can be hit with fines of up to twice this sum, or 15 days behind bars.
[...]
Parliament also approved separate legislation, likewise authored by Klishin, that will give the authorities powers to block webpages that publish “disrespectful” material or “fake news”. Klishin insisted, however, that the law would not be used to target independent or opposition websites, saying it would not affect “traditional media”.
The laws come after Putin's trust ratings hit a 13-year low of 33% in the wake of a vastly unpopular move to increase the national retirement age by five years. The results of January's poll, carried out by the state-backed Public Opinion Research Centre, represented a decline of 37 percentage points from 2015.
Putin is thought to be extremely sensitive to perceived insults. One of his first acts when he came to power in 2000 was to target a satirical television show called Kukly (Puppets) that was broadcast by the NTV television station.
In one episode, aired in January 2000, Putin was depicted as an evil, infant gnome muttering obscenities. Within months, the NTV channel was taken under state control, and jokes about the ex-KGB officer quickly disappeared from Russia's television screens.
Renzatic on 10/6/2019 at 04:22
Quote Posted by TTK12G3
I am not sure that you can blame all of this on "socialism" as it seems like it has been a problem at some point or another in almost every society under all kinds of political systems.
I've been seeing these arguments a lot surrounding the show.
My take away from it is that it cronyism, willful ignorance, killing the messenger, and sweeping everything under the rug in an attempt to save face was practically an institution in the Soviet Union, deeply ingrained in the very heart and soul of the country. Chernobyl was practically fated to happen to them, simply because they merrily fostered an environment broken enough to allow it to happen.
..but it's hardly endemic to them. These very same issues could infect any ideology or economic model. Glory seeking individuals in positions of power putting petty concerns and ladder climbing above all else isn't something that's exclusive to capitalism, socialism, or anything in between. It could happen in Europe. It could happen in China. It could happen here.
That's what I believe the moral of Chernobyl to be. We can laugh at the Soviets for being cheap, stupid, and inept, but it's not exactly like we're immune to the problems they were saddled with. Hell, something similar has already happened here. Just look to Flint, Michigan. It's the same story, writ on a small scale.
And hey, the more things change, the more things stay the same.
Sulphur on 10/6/2019 at 08:07
Three episodes down, and I've got to say, this isn't a drama series. It's horror that cuts right down to the bone. You know that helpless feeling you get when you watch someone do something terrible out of ignorance or good intentions or political necessity, and you just want to reach through the screen and stop them, but you can't?
Yeah. That's every episode of this show so far. Good god.
Renzatic on 10/6/2019 at 11:14
And the worst is yet to come. The 4th episode is one extended punch in the gut.
zombe on 11/6/2019 at 11:27
Hm. Would someone give me an elevator pitch about the show? What .. Is .. It ?
What i gather is that it tries to be constrained to real events ... is it? Is it successful? How much of it is made up? How much of it, while made up, is still a realistic substitute? It is honest? Why and for who has it been made?
What i hope is that it is a honest dramatization of the real events constrained by what is known and the gaps there filled with believably true stuff (believable to former USSR citizen - not some usual yahoo idiocy). Major penalties for ANY unnecessary body-horror / misery / etc. When i first noticed the show - i rejected watching it because it felt too likely that they would try to capitalize on that (they likely do - but is it still watchable?). My second reason, of it being some made up shit anyway (just exploiting the name), is a bit wavering.
demagogue on 11/6/2019 at 13:22
The heart of the show is the stories of all the unsung heroes, the people fighting to do the right thing and save lives in a system that makes it hard. Aside from the lead characters, often they're embodied into one or a few people, the whole science team trying to understood what actually happened and prevent it from happening again, the bureaucrats obstructing every step of the way, the miners that kept radiation out of the ground water, the liquidators that were doing clean up work in an unreal world, and the families of the victims. That part of the show is like character sketches; simplified fiction and dramatization, but the kind of fiction that you feel is honest to their experience.
It has some effects and horror movie beats, also just some great cinematography and imagery. Parts of the first two episodes have a bit of body horror, but they didn't strike me as gratuitous & exploitative, just honestly what the family members were faced with. Radiation sickness at that level really is that gruesome; there's not any way around it short of hiding it altogether. (One little nit pick, the radiation wasn't "infectious" once they got out of their clothes. They were kept behind clear wrap because their immune system was gone and any little nick or virus would destroy them. But I think a lot of people had that fear, so portraying it that way was probably accurate to people's fears.)
One thing of value I got out of it is understanding how something that disastrous can really happen through just the right combination of ego, impatience, criminally skimping to save money, wanting to hide vulnerability, and just plain incompetence... But also how, even under the worst of conditions, people will rise to the occasion to do the right thing. I was actually a bit struck that the Russian government is so critical about it and wants to focus on blaming someone. The show applauds the Russian (edit: and Ukrainian, Belarusian, and other) heroes that saved countless lives every chance it gets.