Moscow On The Hudson

 

It’s been a quiet kind of afternoon with Lucy away for the week.  I’d gone into town to pick up a package at the post office which made it convenient to stop in for a haircut prior to heading home.  Being alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Fortunately, we have a nice selection of movies on DVD; I know, only old people still have movies on DVD.  There’s a certain satisfaction that goes along with the tactile ability to hold a piece of plastic, a piece of plastic that contains a movie paid for with hard earned cash.  That can’t be done with ownership of digital information which gives access to that same movie, digital information stored away in a cloud rather than something that takes up a place in your bookshelf.  Where was I?

Looking for a movie that hadn’t been watched in a while, I picked Moscow On The Hudson. Robin Williams stared in this as a saxophone player from Russia.  The circus band he played for was to visit New York City while closely chaperoned by agents of the KGB to prevent individuals from defecting during their short stay.

His character showed the brutal conditions of existence in Moscow for the average person; waiting in long lines to obtain a few rolls of inferior grade toilet paper, long lines to obtain a pair of shoes, and accepting the wrong size if your particular size was no longer available.

In contrast, while shopping at Bloomingdales in New York City, items which we take for granted, these items were plentiful and like candy falling from heaven to those permitted to a thirty-minute shopping spree prior to returning to Moscow.  Sometime during that short visit Robin Williams character’s mind could no longer take being a subject of Russia, the thought of being returned broke upon him and he declared out loud his intention to defect.

Why am I writing about this movie, a movie that didn’t do all that well at the box office when it was released in 1984, a movie that many probably never heard of?  I’m not sure I can put my finger on the exact reason; but it stirred something in my spirit, a darkness of sorts that acted as a warning? 

He attended a swearing in ceremony for citizenship, accompanying a female friend and love interest.  She’d been waiting a little over a year for the opportunity, studying America’s founding documents and history while hoping to qualify for the blessing of citizenship.

Prior to their taking the oath of citizenship the judge, in all solemnity explained to them,

“Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning. Today you will become citizens of the United States of America. No longer are you an Englishman, Italian, a Pole or whatever, neither will you be a hyphenated American. From this day you are no longer a subject of a government, but an integral part of the government, a free man. May you find in this nation the fulfillment of your dreams of Peace and Security and may America in turn never find you wanting in your new proud role of citizen of the United States. Will the petitioners please rise. Now let us take the oath of allegiance.”

Maybe the open borders policy implemented by the current administration which ignores immigration law and a constitutional mandate to enforce those laws, maybe that’s part of what bothered me while watching this movie. I don’t believe individual liberty can coexist with a totalitarian one world order, the sort of imposed government some have planned to replace our constitutional republic.

Could it be the impromptu man-on-the-street type of interviews conducted on the up-and-coming generation, interviews which ask basic questions like, “How many stars are on the American Flag?  What’s the nation’s capital? What year did America declare its independence?  From what country did we declare our independence?  Questions like these for which the individuals had no clue as to a correct answer; could this be what was bothering me as the movie presented such a dark presence?

A little later in the movie, while sitting in a café there’s a minor confrontation with a fellow who’d also come from Russia. Unable to understand why this other fellow doesn’t appear to have a deep appreciation for the opportunities afforded in America, it struck something deep in his soul as he lashed out at him.

“In Moscow we fought for an inch of freedom! Here you take it and pour shit all over it.”

Doesn’t that pretty much sum up how many of us feel about the way our government has treated their constitutional responsibilities?  Maybe it includes a statement about the quality of our public schools.  Is that why I felt tears forming as the movie came and went past my consciousness. 

I don’t expect much will change even if, by some miracle, the right individuals get elected in November.  Thousands of entrenched bureaucrats, those who actually determine laws and how this nation is run, those unelected players will never give up the power they’ve been wielding.

What happened to the America written of by our founders?  Why don’t we have folks in positions of leadership who put American citizen’s best interests ahead of their own selfish interests?  I’d rather be thought of as a fool than give up on what was once written.

“…And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”