Red Scare: Difference between revisions

[[File:RedScare.jpg|link=Dirty Communists|frame|[[In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You|In Soviet Russia]] ''everything'' is [[The Backwards R|the other way round]]. <ref>Also, "Dll uftsya fyazedfm dyaz 'elfig tf tss"?</ref>]]

The [['''Red Scare]]''' allows any of the presumably First World heroes to suddenly have counterparts in the East. The Red Scare can produce all manner of reasonably honorable characters that are [[Worthy Opponent|nevertheless rivals]] of the heroes or antagonists [[My Country, Right or Wrong|simply because of geopolitics]]. Likewise, the Red Scare can include elements that are meant to invoke the fear of the Cold War as well. A [[General Ripper]] character is often seen in this situation, usually on the American side but occasionally amongst the Soviets too.

The [['''Red Scare]]''' is different from [[Dirty Communists]] due to the fact that Red Scare focuses on the overarching effect of the Cold War while [[Dirty Communists]] are merely horrible people that serve the Soviet State. There is significant overlap between the two groups however. In general, one can be a [[Dirty Communists]] as well as being part of the [['''Red Scare]]'''.

Ultimately, the Red Scare only qualifies if it is meant to invoke Cold War tensions and feelings as opposed to simply being Russian or communist villains. Communist China has also produced its own variety of [[Dirty Communists|Dirty Communist]] villains as well as [['''Red Scare]]''' ones but not nearly, in the past, to the same extent. However, as memories of the Soviet Union fade, and China grows in economic and military power, the People's Republic seems to be emerging as the new "red menace" of choice (see also [[Red China]], [[Yellow Peril]], and [[China Takes Over the World]]).

** Being a weapons designer, Iron Man had a host of these and (inevitably) so did Captain America. Though most of Iron Man's former villains reformed, while Captain America had his time as a communist basher [[Retcon|retconnedretcon]]ned.

* [[The Tick (animation)]] had a villain called the [[Red Scare]] that made a heavily modified appearance in the Live Action series.

* ''[[Superman: Red Son]]''

* ''[[Red Dawn]]'' has both [[Dirty Communists]] elements and [[Red Scare]] elements. The proposed remake goes with the [[Yellow Peril]] version.

* ''[[Red Scorpion]]'' has the distinction of being a [[Cold War]] movie made by a future government official.

* ''[[Good Night and Good Luck]]'' took a look at the [[Real Life]] [[Red Scare]]. Notable for having people complain that the [[Real Life]] footage of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy was "[[Large Ham|over the top]] [[Your Costume Needs Work|acting]]" and accuse the producers of faking it to make him look like a [[Strawman Political]]. Another case of [[Reality Is Unrealistic]].

* Examined and subverted in the '60's60s comedy ''[[The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming]]'', in which the titular Russians have accidentally run aground on a small New England island, and are just trying to get a motorboat to pull their submarine free. However, thanks to the [[Red Scare]], the entire island promptly whips itself into a frenzy over the Russian "invaders" and bloodshed is only very narrowly averted.

* Mocked in the [[John Wyndham]] [[CosyCozy Catastrophe]] novel ''The Kraken Wakes'' with the minor character of Tuny; she continues to insist the Russians are behind the book's ever-escalating attacks on humanity from the depths of the sea, when it's soon made clear they couldn't possibly be doing it.

* ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'''s Chekov was a subversion of this when most of the Russians in television were of the [[Dirty Communists]] variety.

* Occasionally a point of discussion in ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|MashM*A*S*H]]'' -- although—although given the show's setting, this was to be expected. One episode in particular had Communism as a focal point of the plot; Margaret Houlihan was being investigated for having been friends, in college, with people who later turned out to be Communist sympathizers.

* A [[Very Special Episode]] of ''[[Father Knows Best]]'' called "24 Hours in Tyrant Land", commissioned by the US government, had the cast pretend to live in a horribly repressive (Readread: Communist) regime, after not valuing democracy enough.

* ''[[Mission: Impossible (TV series)||Mission Impossible]]'' under various euphemisms.

{{quote| Now [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]], he’s a Russian spy<br />

[[Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln]], [[Thomas Jefferson|Jefferson]] and that [[Theodore Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] guy<br />

To my knowledge there’s just one man<br />

That’s really a true American: [[wikipedia:George Lincoln Rockwell|George Lincoln Rockwell]]<br />

I know for a fact he hates Commies cus he picketed the movie ''Exodus'' }}

* Many, many [[Evil Foreigner|Evil Foreigners]]s in [[Professional Wrestling]]. Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff, Crusher Kruschev, Boris Zhukov, and Nikolai Volkoff, to name a few. And just to play off the trope even more, every single one of them had a [[Fake Nationality]]. Even Volkoff, who was Yugoslavian rather than Russian.

** Somewhat averted with Vladimir Kozlov, who got into the business far too late to capitalize on the [[Red Scare]], but remains an [[Evil Foreigner]] (when he is a heel) regardless.

** Furthermore, in a universe where [[ColourColor-Coded for Your Convenience|color is used to define rank and membership in a caste system]], Red (the color/rank of typical Player Characters) is the second most common, just barely above Black (the bottom of the barrel, representing chemically mind-controlled drone labor that the PCs somehow rose above, usually through <del>hard work</del> accusing a fellow citizen of treason).

* Sahuagin ("sea devils") in ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' are evil underwater [[Cannibal Tribe|openly cannibalistic]] (in a sort-of-sensible way: theytheir motto is "[[Values Dissonance|meat is meat]]") race. They are also very collectivist and address each other "comrade."

* ''[[Command and& Conquer]]: Red Alert'' is pretty much this trope made into a game series.

* Part of the backstory for the ''[[Fallout]]'' universe is that the Red Scare never ended, but instead of Russia, it was China.<ref>Or rather, it was Russia at first, but over time, as Russia lost prominence, China because the ''de facto'' Red country, helped by the fact that the Chinese were Communists as well</ref>.

* ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops|Call of Duty Black Ops]]'' takes place in [[The Sixties]], so this trope was a given, with missions including sabotaging the Soviet missile program and stopping a plot to attack the United States with nerve gas.<ref>The latter being prepetrated by a renegade faction of the Soviets, however</ref>. Comes complete with a plot about a [[Manchurian Agent]], revealed to be {{spoiler|[[Brainwashed and Crazy|the player character]].}}

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'' has a rare case of both sides of the [[Cold War]] being afflicted with this trope (in other words, the trope being both played straight and inverted). On the American side, the American government was actually afraid that the less stalwart elements of the military/CIA would defect after The Boss managed to [[Fake Defector|"defect"]] to the Soviet Union, even placing several key members under house arrest. On the Soviet Russian side, more specifically the Volgin faction, he pretty much attempts to justify his actions by claiming that it's either kill or be killed and that they should weed out potential threats in a manner very similar to the Red Scare in America.

* The biggest [[Red Scare]] was, of course, in America roughly between 1945 and 1970 (after which the doctrine of ''detente'', or peaceful coexistence, became standard for a time), and particularly during the early 1950s, when even being suspected of having Communist sympathies could get you fired for "Un-American Activities". Despite its popularity, it did have numerous vehement opponents, among whom was President [[Harry Truman]]. The big [[Red Scare]] died out along with its poster-child Joe McCarthy's fall from grace. (Though it's interesting to note that there is declassified evidence exonerating him. Doesn't make him a good guy, but it is something to think about.)

** It didn't just get you fired. You were blacklisted, meaning that you couldn't get a job ''anywhere.''

* The [[Red Scare]] is [[Older Than They Think]]; a period in 1919-1920 was called [[wikipedia:First Red Scare|the First Red Scare]]. The Palmer Raids were carried out under the [[Woodrow Wilson|Wilson Administration]] during this time to crack down on Communists, anarchists, leftists, and various other radicals and anti-war activists. They make the McCarthy hearings look like an Oxford Union debate.

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