Ryan Persaud

UWRT 1102

24 February 2017

Kashtan

The Americans

(FX- The Americans)

A little on the nose but the artifact is the FX tv show The Americans. Through

currently 4 seasons and soon its fifth, the show focuses around spies from the Soviet

Union living in America during the Reagan Administration. The characters show flaws in
a capitalist society, their struggle with becoming Americanized themselves, and how

people on both sides of the cold war arent so different; American or not.

In the poster it depicts the two main characters of the show holding guns to their

chests. Phillip and Elizabeth Jennings are both everyday Americans on the outside.

They own a travel agency and have a normal suburban house. They have two kids who

were born in America to keep a traditional nuclear family appearance. The kids do not

know about their parents true background and act like normal American kids for much

of the series.

In the background you see Ronald Reagan being cheered for. Behind that you

see many missiles and the Capitol building. This poster is a reference to the cold war

and the heightening of weapons during that time. It shows the two main characters in

their swearing their allegiance with guns in their hand, showing the true nature of why

the are Americans. It is a pseudo patriotism of a America. Regan's face is up there

because he represents the enemy of the Soviet Union at the time. He represents the

American military interventions, ideals, and capitalism that the communists were

against.

The character Philip is much softer idealistically than his wife Elizabeth. He goes

to Est (Erhard Seminar Training). At the time Est was a self enlightenment seminar that

was popular. Philip went there undercover on a mission but grew to enjoy it. It made

him confront his feelings from his past as a boy living in the Soviet Union, where he had

to steal in order to get food for his family. This idea of going to a seminar to confront

emotional issues were very American to Elizabeth. She felt like Americans are weaker

than the Soviets. They always whined and complained about their feelings. The idea of
having fulfillment outside of serving the mother country is an American ideal that causes

conflict against her communist ideals.

Philip and the kids who were born in America are also at odds with Elizabeth and

the other Soviet handlers. A few times it is brought up that they may have to flee to the

Soviet Union but Philip fights against it. Although it is a cover he now considers his

children and himself to be American. This is their life now. This conflict is akin to

regular immigrants coming to America. Each have their own special cultural things they

hold on too but eventually, most people assimilate into American culture.

During a few missions Elizabeth deals with the Venezuelan conflict at the time.

She supports the rebels in the country. The CIA would prop up certain governments

against communist ones. Even if the people of a country wanted a communist

government, the U.S would intervene, even putting a dictator in charge if they had to.

This shows a critique of American policy during this time. Even if they were communist,

the Soviet Union felt like in response to U.S meddling, they were undoubtedly the good

guys.

As an American viewer, I know the FX is making this show for my demographic.

The FBI becomes the antagonist and they make Soviet spies a likeable protagonist

through emotional attachment to their family. Because the children are regular

Americans, they are really relatable. Even when Philip and Elizabeth are doing normal

activities to keep up appearances, it blends the reality between their cover and who they

are becoming. Their marriage for example was a sham at first. As the seasons

progressed you could see that they really started to fall in love with each other. When

they had to sleep with other people for missions, they started to get jealous. They start
to adopt American ideals, including monogamy. Philip buys a nice sports car and plays

racquetball. Elizabeth has to deal with the nuances of her daughter joining a church

and becoming religious, another big difference from growing up in the Soviet Union

without any religion. As a viewer you care about these people and their family, even if

they are against America.

During one of the later seasons a biological weapon is discovered. They are

tasked with stealing it from the American government to create parody for the Russians.

They find out just how deadly this strain is and the potential devastation it could cause.

Even though they were asked to get it for the Soviet Union, they refused to do it. One of

the other spies in the show destroy the sample, killing himself in the process, so that no

one could have it. This makes you, the viewer, think that they are actually good people.

They went against Soviet orders because they believed the world would be a better

place without this weapon. This breaks the mold of communist hive minds, they thought

for themselves. They did something that benefited the world, not their country.

The Americans on FX offers a critique about American life from the perspective of

Soviets living within the country. The show demonstrates how both Communists and

Capitalist governments both want what's best for people. The Soviet Union have much

more zeal about their beliefs due to a strong central government. Generally Philip and

Elizabeth walk the line between both ways of life. They show how using money as an

incentive can make people work harder and have a better quality of life. It also shows

the deep patriotism of the Russians and how American intervention in other countries is

not good for the world. The show makes the cold war not so black and white. Both

sides have moral grey area, much like the main characters in it.