МоскваOn Boris and NatashaSeptember 16, 2011

In my introductory message yesterday from Москва I made reference to Boris and Natasha. I’m the supporting member of our team (Nancy and me) here known as a trailing spouse in the officialdom of AAS (http://www.aas.ru). By the way, I take no offense at this designation – it is precisely what I am. In that posting I said I’ve taken on the rolls of Natasha the housekeeper and Boris the chauffer (at least once we get the car) and all-round maintenance man. In using these 2 names I wanted to make it clear that I didn't us them in a mocking or disrespectful way. If fact, I have known a number of people named Natasha and Boris over the years. In the late 80’s and early 90’s we had quite a few Russian students at NYU named Natasha and Boris who were perfectly lovely people. Here in Москва I know people by these names right now.

When I was a kid growing up in the early 60’s there was a “cartoon” show on TV called “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” (http://www.hulu.com/rocky-and-bullwinkle-and-friends; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_and_Bullwinkle_Show ). Rocky was a hero-type flying squirrel and Bullwinkle was a side-kick moose. Their arch enemies were Natasha and Boris Badenov who had Russian accents, and while never stated, they were clearly supposed to be Soviet spies attempting to over-throw and outdo R & B.

On its face Rocky and Bullwinkle was a kids’ cartoon show that was somewhat like a slap-stick program something on the order of the Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote. Am I bringing back any memories for you 60-somethings? There were also side characters such as Dudley Do-right and others. In fact, the show was not a kids’ program at all but a satirical look at the relationship between the US and the then USSR. Parents, if they could bring themselves to admit it, watched the show too. If you are of this era you’ll remember the US were the good guys and the Soviets were the bad guys who always wore black as did Natasha and Boris. Recall Ronald Reagan’s “evil empire” quote when he was president.

As I got older I came to realize satire for what it is (some of my former students at NYU will attest to my use of satire on days I just didn’t think anyone was listening about anterior compartment forearm muscles) and for as long as the show aired I watched every episode as did, I suspect, a lot of grown-ups. In fact, I would watch it again and I have a little bit – you can still find references and clips on the Internet (see above). Some of the comments were and still are hilarious and biting at the same time. I’ve posted a picture of Natasha and Boris on my site if you (you know who you are) forget what they looked like.

As it turned out, Natasha and Boris were my favorite characters which is how I’ve come to use their names in my first Москва post. So as you can see I’m rather fond of the names Natasha and Boris.


Andy