OK, I wrote Ames and he gave me permission to translate and post the interview, which I may perhaps send to David Johnson as well. Hopefully I didn't make any translation goofs that will call the unholy wrath of the eXile down on my head. Here is the first 25% or so, I'll get the rest out in the next couple of days.
Komsomolskaya Pravda 21 Nov 2006 By Vladimir Vorsobin
THE CHIEF EDITOR OF THE NEWSPAPER THE EXILE MARK AMES: Perverts and Losers Don’t Like Russia
In the opinion of the American journalist, all of Russia’s efforts to please the West are useless. We just need to be proud of our country and not lose our sense of humor.
-------
I knew who to call to talk about Russia’s image abroad – Mark Ames, the chief editor of one of the most trouble-making newspapers in Russia, the English-language publication The eXile. The rumors that he is one of the most Russian of the Americans living in our country were confirmed after our conversation had lasted two seconds.
THE MYTH ABOUT DANGEROUS MOSCOW
“Excuse me, these fucking traffic jams held me up! They really fucked me,” the American cursed Russian-style with a strong accent. “What are we going to talk about?”
Komsomolskaya Pravda: About image. How Russia can improve its image in the eyes of the West
Mark Ames: A great subject! I’m actually making a film about that. I’m trying to destroy Western myths about Russia.
KP: Is it working out?
MA: I don’t know. We’re just toying with the subject. The idea was inspired by a meeting I had in the US with a well-known mover in the American film business. I suggested that he had his colleagues come visit Moscow.
He was terrified: “What are you saying!? They’ll shoot us all!”
I tried to explain to him that the murder rate in Moscow is much lower than in a typical American city. For instance, here it is completely normal for a woman to flag down a car at 3 in the morning. It would be scary to even think about doing that in America! They wouldn’t do it for anything! In Moscow you can walk around the city in peace. Sure there’s a risk of coming across a criminal, but the chances that you would be robbed talking a walk in the US are much greater.
Then I thought up a telephone prank. I called an American security firm and, saying that I was an assistant of the famous American actor David Schwimmer from Friends, asked them for help. I said that the actor is getting ready to travel to Moscow and is very afraid. (Tom Cruise, as is well known, has completely refused to visit you.) In general, we really got the firm. They offered to give us, in all seriousness, two armed guards, a bullet-proof vest, and – which especially overwhelmed me – fighting dogs, with which we and Schwimmer would walk around Moscow.
We also did a survey of residents of the city of Meliapolis – “what would you take with you on a trip to Russia?” The great majority answered “a knife, a pistol and a bullet-proof vest”
AMERICAN FEARS
KP: Why would an American need all that?
MA: If only I knew! (Laughs) I like living in Russia. I was a fan of your literature, and when I came to your country in the 90s I fell in love with it. I dreamed of having such a life in America – dramatic and unpredictable. It’s strange to me that they know so little about you in the West.
KP: Maybe they just don’t want to know us?
MA: They don’t want to change their preconceptions. You have to understand that our press is very different from yours. In the West, people believe that their press is absolutely transparent and objective, and that it (and, as follows, society as a whole) knows the truth in the last instance
I made an appearance at Columbia University and expressed my astonishment at how one-sided the Western press was regarding the war in Iraq and the conflict in Kosovo. They looked at me like I was insane! And wouldn’t let me say another word.
In Russia, fortunately, things are different! People trust neither the press nor the government. They all know very well how many factors have an influence on a journalist’s or bureaucrat’s point of view – money, career, fear
And so Russians trust only themselves. That is the Russians’ strength. Sometimes I think that if the Americans were deprived of their faith that they know the truth, America would collapse! Because the conviction of a simple American is in no way inferior to the fanaticism of some Muslim terrorist.
KP: And so, the malevolent Americans just don’t want to see that Russia is such a wonderful country
MA: Wonderful? (Laughs.) Sure, there are a lot of terrible cops in Russia who really like to take bribes. On the streets there’s a lot of dirt, a lot of rudeness, a lot of drunks and beggars
But the Russians criticize themselves for that. Self-criticism has become their habit. I’ve even noticed that I myself have started to pay more attention to what is bad in Russia than what is good. At one time I thought that I wouldn’t be able to write the whole truth about Chechnya in the Western press, for example, that life is stabilizing there. This would destroy my professional career and create problems. But really, I don’t care.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!!! ;)
____________________________________________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta. http://new.mail.yahoo.com