Watch post-war films from Japan or Italy or France and you will quickly see an advertisement for Coca-Cola. It was and is an obvious stand in for American cultural power. Sickly sweet. Vaguely addictive. Bright and friendly and overwhelming.
Yes, when Pax Americana stood astride the globe, we could let our sugary drinks and blue jeans and rock music conduct our diplomacy and extend power on our behalf.
In the 21st century the flow has been reversed. TikTok. Authoritarian propaganda. The elevation of petty resentments over bootstrapped individualism. These are foreign influences on our body politic and are part of a full frontal assault on our values.
The Wizard of the Kremlin is an important film, in understanding this era because it details the rise and motivations and means of that cultural force. Paul Dano’s Faustian bargain has now been taken by the entire world. And it has sadly taken root even here in the land of the Free and home of the Brave.