A pall of highly radioactive smoke hangs over the whole of HBO's "Chernobyl"
(Disclaimer: In this post I'm assuming that HBO's miniseries conveys an accurate picture of the disaster)
I have recently finished watching the DVD series of HBO's production Chernobyl. This production, in terms of its realism at the very least, lives up to the accolades it has received. It is wrong to say that I enjoyed it: Chernobyl so successfully immerses the viewer into the Chernobyl experience that I felt as though I was there and being there is not a pleasant experience. The scenes involving the wrecked reactor building are convincingly realistic. Soviet society comes over as typically run down: Dingy flats with jaded fixture and fittings along with the rugged Russian steam punk technology further enhance the atmosphere of melancholy which pervades the whole production. Could this society safely handle the Promethean fire of nuclear energy? In fact could mankind as a whole safely handle this new miracle energy? This is the question which hangs around after one has finished watching the series, but while the DVD runs the presence of an unseen danger jangles the nerves, especially as one knows that this was for real; it's not fiction.
A drama which to my mind conveyed a similar atmosphere of nerve-wracking tension is Forbidden Planet. In this 1950s space sci-fi film the invisible monster from the id stalks the shadows of the night. In Chernobyl the invisible monster is radioactivity which without detectors is hidden to human eyes, but if allowed to take its course does terrible things to the human body. The threatening presence of radioactivity is signified by hollow metallic background noises and these heighten the creepy ambiance, a metonym for a ruthless killer lurking in the dark corridors and ducts of the power station. These inhuman sounds serve a similar purpose to the sinister soundtrack of Forbidden Planet, a soundtrack which alerts the viewer to the presence of the monster from the id. In both productions we have a mortal hazard which in part has been created and released by the activity of humankind. As with the Forbidden Planet's invisible terror human beings are all but powerless against it and yet like the monster from the id the radiation at Chernobyl was somehow channelling the baser human instincts, instincts amplified by a totalitarian soviet state which all too easily brought to the surface the human propensity for corruptibility.
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| Nasty things lurking in long dark tunnels is a sci-fi motif. |
Chernobyl was kind to the courageous people who fought and won the battle against the monster: Valery Legasov and Boris Shcherbina are the all action heroes but the series also acknowledges the role of the many scientists, firemen, miners, Chernobyl staff, doctors, nurses, soldiers and conscripts all of whom, knowingly or unknowingly, risked a slow painful death by joining battle. But did I say "won"? The cost was measured in uncounted lives, a community devastated and the lasting ecological legacy of radiation, although it's true that the human sacrifice stopped the disaster being much, much worse.
The soviet system doesn't come off lightly in Chernobyl. The myth of Marxist-Leninism, a philosophy which was supposed to usher in a Utopian society, is seen to be so utterly delusional in the face of what is, in fact, exactly the opposite; a dystopian society (except perhaps for the ruling elites!). The powers that be who applied Marxist-Leninist thinking believed the myth and thought themselves as the legitimate dispensers of its philosophy, its only authentic interpreters. But they were all too human and therefore utterly corruptible by nature; in the face of a failing system they upheld it with lies and inhumanity. It was, in fact, nothing more than old fashioned totalitarianism with the added impediment of a command economy. If corrupt behaviour was needed to uphold the myth then so be it; the end justified the means. No one in power dared question the myth or own up to its the fundamental flaws; that would require questioning ones life's work, one's status in the system and the world view on which they was based. They were in bondage to the Marxist myth and in bondage to one another; who ever dared put a foot out of line first was likely to be censored by the rest. Sad to say I've witnessed some Christian contexts where there is a similar reluctance to question the emperor's new clothes; there is resistance to a critical appraisal of aspects of the faith for fear that the whole edifice will come crashing down about them. Difficult questions and discussions may be censored and intellectual integrity suffers. There are those who have lost their faith as a result of this lack of authenticity, transparency and glasnost. Ideology, where ever you are, whatever it is, secular or sacred tempts spiritual affectation. Christians are just as human as the secular soviets and so if you really want to face sobering lessons about human nature, the human predicament, life, the universe and everything, connect yourself with Christianity, a microcosm of the human lot! If not at least open your eyes to humanity's epistemic and moral frailties and humble yourself before God. If you don't believe in God, humble yourself anyway.
In the Chernobyl disaster the sycophants in positions of authority were in denial about just how bad it was; for them such a disaster ran counter the "cosmic laws" of Marxist-Leninist society. They was great resistance to admitting anything, even to themselves. The denials and cover-ups impeded the clean up and indeed initially there was unwillingness to accept that such a disaster had actually happened in their backyard. Underlings had a tendency to only report what they thought their superiors would like to hear. There was, needless to say, no appetite to lose face by calling in help from the capitalist West, especially America. The reactor blew as a result of the confluence of several factors; Viz: the inherent defects of a command economy which pushed the operators into taking the reactor to the edge, bad local sycophantic management, poor training, a design flaw in the reactors and above all the pressures of the soviet mythology. The flaw in the reactor design was actually known to the authorities but hushed up and not addressed.
Generally the hierarchy were unwilling to break the soviet spell and face the truth that fallen humanity, even in a socialist society, remained as corruptible as ever and especially so when society presented opportunities for totalitarianism. But there was a silver lining in the clouds of radioactive dust: As that dust settled president Gorbachev's eyes were opened; I would classify him as one of the Chernobyl heroes, a hero who was prepared risk the backlash from the old guard and bring change to soviet society for the better with his perestroika and glasnost. In 2006 Gorbachev wrote: "The nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl ... was perhaps the true cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union".
Generally the hierarchy were unwilling to break the soviet spell and face the truth that fallen humanity, even in a socialist society, remained as corruptible as ever and especially so when society presented opportunities for totalitarianism. But there was a silver lining in the clouds of radioactive dust: As that dust settled president Gorbachev's eyes were opened; I would classify him as one of the Chernobyl heroes, a hero who was prepared risk the backlash from the old guard and bring change to soviet society for the better with his perestroika and glasnost. In 2006 Gorbachev wrote: "The nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl ... was perhaps the true cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union".
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Heroes of Chernobyl: Legasov, Shcherbina and Gorbachev along with many other unsung heroes.
Postscript:
A new mythology arises under Putin: