Reminds me of how fortunate I am to live in the US

Sounds like you have some kind of weird issue with America since that's what you ridiculously chose to focus on so I've rephrased the subject of this post so you hopefully feel a little less psychotic about it. At any rate, my post wasn't meant as some kind of invitation to argue about whose country is better. I'm not interested in a discussion that pointless and stupid.

Yes, they sang a song in a church (One couldn't even tell if it was offensive or not since they were allowed to perform for about 5 seconds). I consider myself to be a moderate liberal but if they had sung it in a mosque I would not think it would be OK for them to be thrown in jail. Also, being a liberal means I don't typically watch Fox News (except when I want a good laugh). I watched this documentary so I'm quite aware of why they were thrown in jail and I think it's pretty stupid and I'm glad I don't live in a country like that.

For the record, the fact that you read ads on Craigslist says more about you than anything else, and none of it is good. Also, I think it's pretty stupid for someone to come to a country "countless times" if they dislike it so much.

BE YOUR OWN FANBOY

firefly900,

if you use craigslist as a gauge for how American culture generally functions, then your point speaks only to how misinformed you are, citing only dubious sources as your reference, and holding no real statistically weighted, experiential or scientific evidence to your point's credit. craigslist is the underregulated outlet for college-educated prostitutes to sell themselves using codewords, and for hippies to exchange free furniture and marijuana, which is not reflective of the more highly honorable groups who find craigslist to be stupid--and dangerous.

as for me, I am American, and I am also Irish by blood. I have wanted to go to Ireland and visit family relics and the like, but it has never occurred to me to ABANDON my culture for someone else's like the people looking to marry abroad you mention. And I currently study sustainable development, so there is a global perspective, at the very least, which I do hold. The examples you provide of Americans seeking Irish weddings to get out of the country must be of people to some extent in denial of the freedoms which this land, while not perfect, does create for its citizens and residents.

as to your point that "its like practically walking into a police state compared to a european country," I have a number of logical problems with this statement. first of all, anyone who passed high school western civilization class can tell you that all of europe is not to be referred to as one unit, especially when discussing whether it is highly policed or not: what happens in France or in England is far from what happens in, say, Ukraine, or Russia, for example. There is a convoluted Soviet history which serves as a backdrop for modern Russian politics and bureaucracy that simply cannot be ignored, just like when discussing German history, WWII cannot be ignored. Have you even seen the documentary in question? The way you are writing, it doesn't seem like you have. There is very little altering of the story's backdrop, save a little standard editing; the conclusions drawn by the initial poster are, despite what you say, completely founded considering the presentation of information in the film! Also, I don't like cops any more than anyone else: but other than backward pockets of the bible belt, there is little problem with them unless you've done something illegal. And given the amount of violent and petty crime we face in the U.S. on a day-to-day basis, including the crimes I mentioned are included on craigslist, is it any wonder why our country is so highly policed historically and in the present?

as to the comment on Pussy Riot being "a bunch of untalented emo's sing[ing] an offensive song IN A CHURCH," first of all, they aren't "emo's" as the emo genre is about artists who use their deep-seated emotions to essentially whine about love lost or loneliness, and it is highly self-involved. Pussy Riot is a punk band with a socio-political message focused not just on their own struggles, but the struggles that a number of thinking, questioning, and/or marginalized citizens in Russia and throughout the world go through. What happened to them was, indeed, wrong, and a microcosm for the state of free expression in the world. Yes, they were in a church, and perhaps the mechanics and tact weren't thought through fully before they staged the protest, but people reacting by getting physically sick and then putting them in jail for two years is overly dramatic and does not fit the "crime" they "committed." Tact is not really the M.O. of punk rock bands trying to shake things up where they clearly need to be shaken. Religious people, especially like those presented in the film, do not just want their sacred altar and their place of worship--they want to impose their thinking and belief system on free-thinking individuals everywhere, under the misinformed guise of it being their God's will, based on medieval principles taken out of context to suit prejudice and homogeny; the point Pussy Riot was trying to make was that "if you're going to do that to us, then we're going to do that to you; you step on our freedoms, we'll step on yours" and that God has long ago left highly behaviorally exclusive and elitist buildings and altars of worship, and is now in the hearts and souls of those willing to speak up for what is fundamentally right and fair.

Whether or not they are untalented is really a matter of opinion rather than fact, just as the perception with all works of art goes. I'd be interested in knowing what you know about the punk movement that qualifies you to make such a judgement of an unquestionable lack of talent.

There really isn't an issue as to whether they would have performed their song in a mosque in place of a church--their personal qualm seems to be with the Russian Orthodox church in general, and not Islam, though, as someone who's been called a feminist myself, I don't doubt they have their gripes with all male-dominated, female-exclusive "organized" religions on a much broader scale as well. The Russian Orthodox Church is hardly an "easy target," just because its members are white. Pussy Riot, in speaking up against a "white religion," is wholly countercultural considering the fervor with which those who practice the religion speak, and the influence they currently have in regulating the outcomes of legal and political matters. From a wikipedia article on the Russian Orthodox Church states: "Pravmir...published a 2012 poll by the respected Levada organization VTsIOM indicating that 74% of Russians consider themselves Orthodox.[81] According to figures released on February 2, 2010, the Church has 160 dioceses including 30,142 parishes served by 207 bishops, 28,434 priests and 3,625 deacons. There are 788 monasteries, including 386 for men and 402 for women." Does that seem like an "easy" target to you?

I find it interesting that you utilize the term "liberal sheep" and yet go on to accuse the original poster of watching, and imply the rest of us Americans reading your post only watch, Fox News, a conservative wash of cherry-picked information, lies, and omissions. You assuming that any thinking, informed American really watches that Fox News crap with anything but a sense of mocking humor makes you just as, if not more, susceptible to herd mentality as the rest of us whom you accuse.

I also beg to differ regarding the terminology "liberal sheep" to define the supporters of Pussy Riot's freedom: it is, in my experience, usually a lot less the case of people just "going with the flow" of liberalism so much as people needing a voice themselves, or seeing an element of themselves in the performers; or believing in freedom from government or religion. My guess is PR's message was simply not meant for someone who thinks/expresses themself like you; but it is neither kind nor intelligent to assume that their message is not meaningful to some people somewhere.

I actually studied Russian literature, politics, and language in an (American) college whose Russian department was founded by Nabokov himself, somewhere around the 1960s. So I love Russia, and I don't buy into any negative stereotypes about Russian culture or politics that you think we are spoonfed here, and try to approach the situation as objectively as possible. I know a number of people who grew up in or studied in Russia and the consensus is generally the same about the USSR, KGB, and its residual former members, like Putin himself. Am I to assume that your suggestion is that life in Russia is universally free from the oppression of which only a fraction is portrayed in this film? Granted that the Pussy Riot protest was an extreme case, and that we should not universally reward disrespect of others' beliefs, their actions did have a purpose, and maybe passion overwhelmed their need for tact and grace. But I think they more than outdid themselves in tact and grace in their eloquent defense statements before their sentencing.

Bottom line here:
I am tired of blatantly negative posts all over the internet from angry people like you, which are chock full of unfounded assumptions, and i'm tired of essentially having to play the patriarchally defined female role of "cleanup crew" like I just did; it's a dirty job, but, hell, someone's gotta do it. and if you're a woman, well then shame on you for not seeing/hearing the ideological subtext of a politically loaded event like the emprisonment of Pussy Riot. shame on you if you're a man, too.

The original poster only sought to comment on the film in the context in which it was created: there are few filters in independent documentary films released to the US on private paid movie channels, relative to the release practices of other countries. And yes, given everything I know about America and even other countries, the film DOES indeed remind me of how fortunate I am to live in the US. That said, I think there would be some legal consequences along the lines of disturbing the peace if I or any American chose to stage a protest in a place of religious worship, although I think the debate would be along the lines of constitutional religious rights for the prosecution and freedom of speech for the defense.

Erika

The Russian Orthodox church is not a completely shared institution as evidenced by the fact that a sizable chunk of the Russian population do not consider themselves to be Russian Orthodox. It was a subset of the population that is bothered by what Pussy Riot did. It is not sensible to throw people in jail for offending a subset of your population.

Private property isn't suppose to be guarded in civilize countries that's what laws are designed to protect against.