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  • - Are we also perpetuating Russian stereotypes

  • by our comments during this session?

  • - I believe we are Russian stereotypes.

  • (bongos banging)

  • (upbeat music)

  • I'm Gene.

  • I'm Russian and I was born in Moscow.

  • - And my name's Ben.

  • I was born in Russia.

  • - Hi, I'm Irene.

  • I'm Eric's mom.

  • I grew up in the former Soviet Union,

  • and I lived there for 12 years recently.

  • - And, I'm Eric.

  • I lived with her in Russia for 12 years.

  • Do you feel bad when a Russian is portrayed as a villain?

  • - No.

  • I don't like when non-Russians play Russians,

  • because they can't speak Russian,

  • and it comes out some blah, blah, blah,

  • and it's ridiculous.

  • - Alright.

  • Now I'm going to demonstrate

  • what actual Russian should sound like.

  • (Russian language)

  • - (Russian language)

  • Which means, I don't understand anything,

  • because his Russian's awful.

  • - So the first character we're going to watch

  • is Black Widow, from The Avengers.

  • - (Russian language)

  • - I heard [Foreign Language].

  • What the (beep) is that?

  • - I can actually understand them.

  • The guy looks Russian.

  • - (Russian language)

  • - (Russian language)

  • - Yo, this is like another language.

  • I swear to God.

  • - The fact that he's struggling so much,

  • to say these sentences and slurring some of the words,

  • makes him a lot weaker as a character.

  • - (Russian language)

  • - So this line right here?

  • She said, "Do you really think I'm pretty?"

  • She said it in Russian.

  • The way I hear that is, "You's think I's pretty?"

  • - I also just love that the Russian scene

  • is a bunch of dudes, tying up a woman,

  • and beating her to get information.

  • Did you ever have any mafia experiences in Russia?

  • - I did have mafia experience.

  • Yes I did.

  • I dealt with KGB.

  • (laughter)

  • - So, how accurate was-

  • - Very similar.

  • - You were in the chair like Scarlett-

  • - I was not tied up in the chair, no,

  • but definitely very scary people.

  • - Yeah, I guess it's a good thing that we have an example

  • of a Russian who's a hero and an Avenger.

  • This is Ivan Vanko from Iron Man 2.

  • - Just pause it right here.

  • This guy does not look Russian at all.

  • - Some business with you.

  • - Toothpick.

  • - I definitely like the toothpick.

  • - The toothpick is accurate.

  • - It's very accurate.

  • - Russians will have a toothpick

  • for no reason in their mouth.

  • And then sometimes pick it.

  • - You are a lot a like in a lot of ways.

  • The only difference between you and I, is that you and I-

  • - The only authentic Russian thing about this clip,

  • is that this guy hasn't spoken yet.

  • - Also the constant confused look of scouring everything,

  • and just being confused by the universe,

  • feels very Russian to me.

  • - Ugh. (Russian language)

  • - (laughter)

  • That's hilarious.

  • I have no idea Mickey Rourke just said.

  • - It started with "If they kill me",

  • and then I don't know what language

  • the rest of that sentence was in.

  • - This was better than the Scarlett Johansson-

  • - I was going to say Scarlett is better than this (bleep).

  • At least I understood her full sentence.

  • - It was entertaining.

  • - Very entertaining.

  • - Not accurate, but very entertaining.

  • This is Boris and Natasha from the Bullwinkle Show.

  • - Boris and Natasha single handedly ruined my childhood.

  • My birth name in Russian is Boris,

  • and when I came to America, this show was popular.

  • So it was always like, hi my name is Boris.

  • And they'd be "Oh! Where's Natasha?

  • Where's Natasha?"

  • Yeah, that's really (bleep) original.

  • (Bleep) you Boris and Natasha.

  • I had to change my name in English

  • because of Boris and Natasha.

  • - Say the name, Boris and Natasha.

  • - Tada!

  • When do we steal mattress, Boris?

  • - No time like the president, Natasha.

  • Look, we're coming to tunnel.

  • - Boris looks like Danny De Vito.

  • - Which is every Russian.

  • Little, pudgy father.

  • - Why does Boris have to be so ugly?

  • He's just like Quasimodo with a drinking problem.

  • - Who owns a jewelry store nearby you?

  • Probably looks like this guy.

  • - Probably looks like this.

  • Yes.

  • - When it gets dark, we grab mattress and a run for it.

  • - Now that's a good accent, I gotta say.

  • Look, we're coming to tunnel.

  • - The accent was very good.

  • They're very Russian.

  • I like them.

  • He sounds like my uncle, he does.

  • - I agree.

  • - This is Elizabeth and Philip from The Americans.

  • - We don't kill people.

  • Jesus.

  • - We wouldn't.

  • - These are real stories.

  • The Americans isn't based on an exactly true story,

  • but spying is a thing.

  • Being in another country and

  • having to pretend to be American.

  • That's a thing that happens

  • and it's a really interesting character.

  • - My dad instructed me, specifically,

  • to not be Russian, whatsoever.

  • You have to be American, he said.

  • And I took that to heart.

  • That's why I'm wearing this track suit.

  • - We had a job to do.

  • - It's the most interesting take.

  • None of these characters have Russian accents.

  • None of these characters are alcoholics,

  • sitting there and being macho and not talking.

  • - The Americans, I think, did a very interesting job

  • in portraying them as anybody.

  • It could be anybody, which is scary.

  • It could be you and me.

  • - Now we're watching Red from Orange is the New Black.

  • - Maybe we should all get down on our knees, and lick it up.

  • - Oh. I'm kidding.

  • They doubled our order of slop this month.

  • We can cover it.

  • What's gotten into you?

  • - Alright, first of all,

  • this character is my mom.

  • - She's very good, I think, because I know people like that.

  • - Every Russian guy has somebody like this in their life.

  • This is a pretty good Russian character.

  • The accent's okay.

  • - Sometimes there's a mess.

  • It happens.

  • - Notice how every Russian character,

  • here's how you do it.

  • You just take their smile, and turn it upside down.

  • - And she also has this attitude that's like,

  • calm down, I'm going to fix everything.

  • - Yeah, so she is definitely, I think,

  • she's well portrayed in terms of the strong Russian woman.

  • - Yeah. Good job, Red.

  • That was very accurate and very interesting

  • and very fun to watch.

  • - We're watching Rounders with Teddy KGB.

  • - Top two pair.

  • - Teddy looks Russian.

  • You've got to give him that.

  • - This is actually a really good character, Malkovich.

  • He does a good job.

  • - The (bleep) did you lay that down.

  • - That's good.

  • - Very good acting.

  • Very interesting to watch, but again,

  • all the characters are kind of the same.

  • - Yeah.

  • - I don't know any Russian that eats Oreos, though.

  • - Yeah. He's a unique Russian.

  • - Unique Russian.

  • - Russians do not like Oreos.

  • - Don't even know what Oreos are, probably.

  • - Yeah, but if they do, they wouldn't like them.

  • - Now we're going to watch Ivan Drago from Rocky IV.

  • - They are toe to toe.

  • The Russian towers above the American.

  • It's a true case of David and Goliath.

  • - I don't think this would be offensive.

  • I think this would be like, actually if you are Russian,

  • you might want to be portrayed like this.

  • He's big, he's strong, he looks phenomenal.

  • Good looking.

  • - Drago was like my ideal vision of who I would be

  • when I grew up.

  • - So this is, I think, a positive portrayal of Russian.

  • - But I think people would root for Rocky, right?

  • So it makes him the villain.

  • - We would root for Rocky because we're American.

  • But if we were Russian, we would Root for Ivan.

  • - I would be lying if I say that I wasn't,

  • at least a little bit, rooting for Drago.

  • - I was only rooting for Drago.

  • I don't like Rocky.

  • (bongos playing)

  • I think Russians are being depicted better over time.

  • - Yeah, we're better bad guys now.

  • - I just don't think it's the most interesting.

  • - What do you do?

  • Russians are portrayed as spies and as villains and thieves.

  • - There's more.

  • - It's not offensive to me that the characters

  • are always the bad guys.

  • But, at least speak well.

  • - Annunciate the bad things you're doing.

  • Don't just (Russian mumbling).

  • - For Hollywood, I think that maybe they should

  • have more roles for real speaking Russians.

  • I think there are many actors here who speak Russian,

  • who can do well and it would be more interesting.

  • When you bring in more authentic people,

  • and diversity into the industry,

  • and not always the same faces.

  • - [Eric] Thank you, Mom.

  • Thanks for trying to get me a job.

  • - [Irene] Who was I speaking to?

  • - [Eric] Some director.

  • (upbeat music)

- Are we also perpetuating Russian stereotypes

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