Dirty Communists: Difference between revisions

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** For one thing, the actual Slavic god Perun did carry a hammer and a sickle in the old myths. For another, he's based on the 616 Perun of the Winter Guard/People's Protectorate/Supreme Soviets.

** For another, {{spoiler|he's the only one of the Liberators to survive.}}

* Played for laughs in ''[[Fighting American]]'' ~~-- the~~ villains were still Communists, but they had names like Ghnortz, Bholhtz, and Hotsky Trotsky. Of course, since after a couple of episodes the entire series was a [[Captain America (comics)]] spoof, this is unsurprising.

* Played for laughs in ''[[Fighting American]]''—the villains were still Communists, but they had names like Ghnortz, Bholhtz, and Hotsky Trotsky. Of course, since after a couple of episodes the entire series was a [[Captain America (comics)]] spoof, this is unsurprising.

* Surprisingly, the Rocket Red Brigade (the first Russian super-team in the DC Universe) managed to avoid this. Kilowog, their original creator, was the sole survivor of an alien race that was naturally community-oriented, and he was portrayed as an idealist who genuinely believed in the Soviet Union's potential. Brigade members varied widely in personality and outlook, but many of them took on heroic roles against bigger threats like alien invaders.

* The trope image is from "This Godless Communism," a feature appearing in ''[[Treasure Chest (comics)|Treasure Chest]]'', a comic book published by the Catholic Guild and primarily distributed in Catholic parochial schools. The feature portrayed life in America after a hypothetical Communist takeover, with particular focus on the materialistic and anti-religious nature of Communism.

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* ''[[Rocky IV]]'' created Ivan Drago whom remains one of the most recognizable symbols of Communism of the 80s.

** An episode of ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' featured a "special update" on the Cold War. The opening montage featured Lenin, Stalin, Kruschev, Drago, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Yakov Smirnoff]].

* America's favorite adventuring archaeologist fights some [[Dirty Communists]] in his fourth film, ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]''.

* America's favorite adventuring archaeologist fights some Dirty Communists in his fourth film, ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]''.

** This particular example seems more of a homage to Cold War era pulp fiction, fitting the overall theme of the series pretty well.

** [[Dirty Communists]] were also the villains in LucasArts' game ''[[Indiana Jones and The Infernal Machine]]''.

** Dirty Communists were also the villains in LucasArts' game ''[[Indiana Jones and The Infernal Machine]]''.

* Much of [[Chuck Norris]]' body of work. Especially ''Invasion USA''.

* Averted somewhat in ''[[The Beast of War]]'' (1988), which takes an unflinching look at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan through the eyes of a tank crew being stalked by mujaheddin ~~forces -- both~~ Soviets and Afghans are portrayed as human as well as brutal.

* Averted somewhat in ''[[The Beast of War]]'' (1988), which takes an unflinching look at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan through the eyes of a tank crew being stalked by mujaheddin forces—both Soviets and Afghans are portrayed as human as well as brutal.

* French comedy ''La cité de la peur'' features a hammer-and-sickle-wielding (literally!) serial killer. His motives are not political; however, he's copying a similarly armed killer from the [[Show Within a Show|film within the film]] ''Red Is Dead'', a [http://toma.d.free.fr/Nuls/lcdlp_red.jpg dirty communist indeed], who kills rich people because "profit was unbearable from his proletarian perspective."

* [[Clint Eastwood]]'s film ''[[Firefox]]''.

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* The People's Republic of Haven in ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' is an example of a science fiction communist state, especially after the revolution against the Legislaturists.

* [[Ian Fleming]]'s ''[[James Bond (novel)|James Bond]]'' novels are especially guilty of this. SMERSH (which [[wikipedia:SMERSH|did exist in real life, albeit briefly and with a more limited purview]]) is an organization that sponsors countless crazy schemes to destroy the West and the communists tend to be both sexually "perverted" (Klebb is a [[Psycho Lesbian]]) as well as disfigured. Oddly, the movies would largely avert this in place of the smaller SPECTRE. Furthermore the evil "General G" of the novels becomes the much more genial General Gogol in the Roger Moore movies. Gogol is very much the face of the USSR in Bond films of this age. For instance, in ''[[Moonraker]]'', it is he, not the Soviet premier whom the US leadership talk to over the hotline in a crisis and in ''[[Octopussy]]'' it is Gogol who personally oversees the pursuit and shooting of a warmongering traitor who wanted to invade the West. Although he is a villain in ''[[For Your Eyes Only (film)|For Your Eyes Only]]'', he is far nicer than the others in the movie and Bond doesn't even attempt to hurt him. In the Brosnan era he actually becomes an elder statesman figure (albeit off-screen, due to Walter Gottell's death) for the now friendly [[Russian Federation]].

** ''Colonel Sun'' is an example of how politics can get REALLY ugly in the James Bond-verse. Kingsley Amis, under the pseudonym Robert Markham, wrote a very Fleming-like interpretation of the Chinese [[Dirty Communists]] threat with the titular sexual sadist. What's really appalling about the book is that the book contains countless humanized Soviet villains as it goes out of its way to say how different they are from the Chinese!

** ''Colonel Sun'' is an example of how politics can get REALLY ugly in the James Bond-verse. Kingsley Amis, under the pseudonym Robert Markham, wrote a very Fleming-like interpretation of the Chinese Dirty Communists threat with the titular sexual sadist. What's really appalling about the book is that the book contains countless humanized Soviet villains as it goes out of its way to say how different they are from the Chinese!

** Gen. Orlov from ''[[Octopussy]]'' is a full-fledged villain, but General Gogol investigates him in unwitting parallel to Bond's mission. The result of that was Gogol attempted to arrest Orlov before the East German border guards shot the renegade general dead and it's fairly obvious that if Gogol had learned Orlov's whole scheme, he would have raced to warn NATO.

** The first few Bond novels written by John Gardner show SPECTRE working on behalf of the Soviets, although [[It's Personal]] against Bond as well.

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** In the animated serial ''Dreamland'', set in 1958, the Doctor chastises the American colonel Stark for wanting to wipe out all Russians.

* [[The Colbert Report|Stephen Colbert]] believes that the Cold War is still going on.

* ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'s'' Les Nessman was paranoid about [[Dirty Communists]], to the point that the emergency script he wrote for the station was an anti-Communist screed. When a tornado struck Cincinnati, Mr. Carlson ordered him to read the script on the air but to replace "Communist" with "tornado", which resulted in a long harangue about "Godless tornadoes" followed by the national anthem. His paranoia was explained in the final season when it was revealed that his father, who had abandoned their family when he was an infant, was himself a Communist, and that his mother had consequently instilled in Les a hatred of Communists.

* ''[[WKRP in Cincinnati]]'s'' Les Nessman was paranoid about Dirty Communists, to the point that the emergency script he wrote for the station was an anti-Communist screed. When a tornado struck Cincinnati, Mr. Carlson ordered him to read the script on the air but to replace "Communist" with "tornado", which resulted in a long harangue about "Godless tornadoes" followed by the national anthem. His paranoia was explained in the final season when it was revealed that his father, who had abandoned their family when he was an infant, was himself a Communist, and that his mother had consequently instilled in Les a hatred of Communists.

* [[Monty Python|And then, there's, well,]] [[John Cleese|John Cleese's]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoATWN68IZA take] [[Crowning Moment of Funny|on the subject...]]

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** To the extent that even when you're ''playing as them'' they still come across as [[Jerkass|jerks]]:

{{quote|'''[[Tim Curry|Premier Cherdenko]]:''' We will sign this treaty, we will come together as brothers, and then... we will crush them!}}

* Parodied in the first ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]'' video game, which is set in the 1950s; [[The Government]] and the sinister [[Government Conspiracy]] use the overwhelming paranoia around communism to cover up the actions of the ~~protagonist -- who~~ is actually an extraterrestrial. The population eventually buys into this to such a degree that people actually scream "Communist!" as soon as they see the alien in his natural form, and the police / military report "Possible Communist activity," when the protagonist is going around vapourising people and sucking out their brains.

* Parodied in the first ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]'' video game, which is set in the 1950s; [[The Government]] and the sinister [[Government Conspiracy]] use the overwhelming paranoia around communism to cover up the actions of the protagonist—who is actually an extraterrestrial. The population eventually buys into this to such a degree that people actually scream "Communist!" as soon as they see the alien in his natural form, and the police / military report "Possible Communist activity," when the protagonist is going around vapourising people and sucking out their brains.

* ''[[Freedom Fighters (video game)|Freedom Fighters]]'' is pretty much the video game version of ''[[Red Dawn]]'', where the main antagonists are Communists invading America and you play as a leader of [[La Résistance|the resistance]] who is trying to push them out of the country. The major difference is, it's all taking place in [[New York City|New York]] and not Middle America.

* The [[James Bond]] vehicle ''Everything or Nothing'' shows a Post-Soviet Union villain attempting to resurrect it.

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' had several examples of this. The most [[Egregious]] one is Colonel Volgin whom is a [[Depraved Bisexual]] that possesses lightning powers and a desire to start nuclear war with the West. Of course, the game he appears in is one long love letter to 1960s spy movies, so he's not too out of place. Revolver Ocelot might also qualify despite being ultimately disloyal to the Soviet system. Olga and Sergei Gurlukovich despite being unreconstructed communists, are played fairly honorably and thus do not fall under the [[Dirty Communists]] trope.

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' had several examples of this. The most [[Egregious]] one is Colonel Volgin whom is a [[Depraved Bisexual]] that possesses lightning powers and a desire to start nuclear war with the West. Of course, the game he appears in is one long love letter to 1960s spy movies, so he's not too out of place. Revolver Ocelot might also qualify despite being ultimately disloyal to the Soviet system. Olga and Sergei Gurlukovich despite being unreconstructed communists, are played fairly honorably and thus do not fall under the Dirty Communists trope.

* Let us not forget ''[[World in Conflict]]'', in which the [[Dirty Communists]] decide to bring their dirt to Seattle (and Ellis Island, at one point). Despite the fact that the game goes out of its way to portray the Soviets as desperate enough actually to consider such an obviously untenable attack as a valid tactic, the characters in the game mostly just refer to them as damn Communists.

* Let us not forget ''[[World in Conflict]]'', in which the Dirty Communists decide to bring their dirt to Seattle (and Ellis Island, at one point). Despite the fact that the game goes out of its way to portray the Soviets as desperate enough actually to consider such an obviously untenable attack as a valid tactic, the characters in the game mostly just refer to them as damn Communists.

** However, the developers seem to by trying to avert this trope, since the upcoming expansion will be played on the Soviet perspective of the war.

** Arguably averted without ''Soviet Assault'' anyway. The character who is most vocal in his communism comments is [[The Neidermeyer]], and other American soldiers, while going seemingly overboard at times, are perfectly justified in their attitudes; consider the state of mind they're in and what their opinion of the enemy must be while they're under the stress of ''their country being invaded,'' and it seems less absurd and more perfectly believable. Evan Wright noted this phenomenon (or the reverse of it) in [[Generation Kill]], where the Marines he embedded with as they invaded Iraq often made very racist comments about Iraqis and ''each other,'' but very few of them were actually racist.

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{{quote|"''Stars and Stripes beats Hammer and Sickle.'' '''LOOK IT UP, COMMIE!'''"}}

* ''[[Home Front]]'' is a game where you see the menace of the North Korean government take over Japan, Korea, and the Philippines before invading the United States' plague ridden ruins. It was written by John Milius of ''[[Red Dawn]]'' fame, and he truly outdoes himself here, even seeing fit to include the page quote.

* ''[[Vega Strike]]'' has ISO (Interstellar Socialist Organization), though their image is mixed. In game and flavour materials some call them pirates and terrorists equal to [[Space Amish|Luddites]], while in one mission they act as a counterbalance to Merchant Guild captain thinking he's a greater priority than a shipload of wounded. They definitely are a paramilitary group habitually stealing stuff, but not attacking civilians. However, between their choice of ships, leaving [[~~Privateer|privateers~~]] alone and general image of being [[Cloudcuckoolander|a little out of sync]], ISO ends up as a circus cosplaying [[Robin Hood]] ~~-- potentially~~ mildly dangerous, but not to be taken quite seriously.

* ''[[Vega Strike]]'' has ISO (Interstellar Socialist Organization), though their image is mixed. In game and flavour materials some call them pirates and terrorists equal to [[Space Amish|Luddites]], while in one mission they act as a counterbalance to Merchant Guild captain thinking he's a greater priority than a shipload of wounded. They definitely are a paramilitary group habitually stealing stuff, but not attacking civilians. However, between their choice of ships, leaving [[privateer]]s alone and general image of being [[Cloudcuckoolander|a little out of sync]], ISO ends up as a circus cosplaying [[Robin Hood]]—potentially mildly dangerous, but not to be taken quite seriously.

* ''[[Heavy Weapon]]'' has your Atomic Tank fight through the forces of the "Red Star", which are Russian Communists trying to take over the world. The game is pretty blatant about it as well, with your character saying things like "Take THAT, you commie pigs!", stages named "Killingrad", and bosses like "Kommie Kong".

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* The "Old Timey" ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' cartoons set in 1936, but using tropes from all over the recent past, contained an alien called "Rumble Red", who claimed that they did not have (insert topic) on HIS planet ("[[Verbal Tic|...rumble!]]"), to which Homestar would reply "That's cause you're a communist fool, Red."

* Adverted with Linka, the Wind Planeteer from ''[[Captain Planet]]''. She's a <s>Russian</s> Ukrainian girl with [[Tsundere|quite a temper]], but is shown as a quite nice and even sympathetic character despite this flaw.

* In the "Justice Friends" shorts from ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', Major Glory's (a [[Captain America (comics)]] [[Captain Ersatz]]) archnemesis was a [[Dirty Communists]] villain parody named Comrade Red who even used a weaponized hammer and sickle. Especially notable as Dexter's Lab came out years ''after'' the Cold War ended, but it's also worth remembering that Genndy Tartakovsky was born in the USSR.

* In the "Justice Friends" shorts from ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', Major Glory's (a [[Captain America (comics)]] [[Captain Ersatz]]) archnemesis was a Dirty Communists villain parody named Comrade Red who even used a weaponized hammer and sickle. Especially notable as Dexter's Lab came out years ''after'' the Cold War ended, but it's also worth remembering that Genndy Tartakovsky was born in the USSR.

* In a season nine episode of "The Simpsons", "Simpson Tide", Homer ends up in command of a nuclear sub and accidentally steers it toward Russia. This prompts an immediate emergency UN meeting, in which the Russian representative refers to his people as the Soviet Union, prompting the following exchange:

{{quote|'''US representative:''' The Soviet Union? I thought you guys broke up?

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* There were some rather depraved people in the upper echelons of the CPSU, such as (it is generally agreed), NKVD head Lavrentiy Beria tops the lot, as a serial rapist with a reputation for executing people on transparently ridiculous charges.

** His political opponents later had quite the last laugh, publicly convicting him on trumped-up charges of espionage for Japan of all places, and putting him in front of a firing squad. ''Everyone'' immediately got the subtext.

*** There is some evidence that his depravity was actually Khruschev's ~~fabrication -- the~~ baldie was too deeply in Stalin's inner circle and tried to distance from it by some energetic mud-slinging. Especially in the light of the fact that Beria was made NKVD head to ''stop'' purges that were getting out of hand. Though the fact that he was a ruthless and entirely conscious-less bastard is indisputable, he was just too efficient for all these accusations.

*** There is some evidence that his depravity was actually Khruschev's fabrication—the baldie was too deeply in Stalin's inner circle and tried to distance from it by some energetic mud-slinging. Especially in the light of the fact that Beria was made NKVD head to ''stop'' purges that were getting out of hand. Though the fact that he was a ruthless and entirely conscious-less bastard is indisputable, he was just too efficient for all these accusations.

** It's not confirmed by any means, but one story has Marshal Georgy Zhukov gaining a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] by storming into Beria's office on the night of the arrest and declaring "In the name of the Soviet people, you son of a bitch, you are ''under arrest''!"

*** There's another variant of the ~~tale -- in~~ which Zhukov ''shot'' Beria during arrest, and the whole "trial" thing was just a coverup.

*** There's another variant of the tale—in which Zhukov ''shot'' Beria during arrest, and the whole "trial" thing was just a coverup.

* Another complication with Dirty Communists is that many revolutionary communists, [[Anarchy Is Chaos|anarchists]] and Mensheviks (the "moderate" communist party) revolted against Bolshevik rule. Trotsky's decision to side with the Bolshies against the Kronstadt shipyard-worker's rebellion/uprising is generally considered a [[Moral Event Horizon]] for the Soviet government, which was thereafter Soviet in name only ("Soviet" is Russian for "government by worker's council", e.g. town-meeting style government by the industrial unions). Trotsky was [[Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves|rewarded poorly]] for siding with Lenin and the dictatorship when Stalin took over after [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]]'s death. Fearful that Trotsky would pose a threat to Stalin's one-man rule as an icon of the revolution, he was [[Stern Chase|pursued to the ends of the earth]], eventually being assassinated in Mexico City.

** Since then, the Communist parties in the West have been largely Trotskyist and claim that the Trotskyist parties of the Fourth International [[No True Scotsman|represent the only true Communism]] and that the Soviet government was actually State Capitalist. This is why the New Left in [[The Sixties]] was hostile to the rump Communist Party-US, which only gained traction during the period of US-Soviet friendship, and [[Misaimed Fandom|highly enamored]] of [[Mao Zedong|Chairman Mao]] instead.

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[[Category:The Fifties]]

[[Category:Villains]]

[[Category:~~index~~]]

[[Category:Index]]

[[Category:Dirty Communists]]