In the space of naked emotions

What can generation Z and chanson lovers have in common?

On a wonderful May day I found myself on Myasnitskaya, where a marvelous picture opened up. The crowd was seething around Krivokolenny Lane, and further, as far as the eye could see, queues lined the street. Such a gigantic gathering of excited people resembled a soft version of old chronicles - something between Stalin's funeral and the opening of McDonald's. The crowd consisted of buzzers of different ages - from elementary schoolchildren (their sun-weary parents languished on the sidelines) to quite mature youth. After talking with some of them, I assessed the scale of the event.

Alexander Paradeevich, the 27-year-old king of twitch stream, computer game star, is opening his own restaurant here. Promises to serve all visitors personally. He is a millionaire blogger, a participant in prestigious e-sports tournaments, an idol of generation Z. Passions were heating up, and fights broke out here and there. I wanted to follow the rather murky continuation of the plot from home, but decided that it wasn’t the point.

Another thing is important: how can you connect the reality that Paradeevich so unexpectedly revealed with the one that I am trying to interpret in my texts? Since the question is rhetorical, I’ll do something more familiar. Moreover, there are some reasons for analysis.

There is at least some logic in everyday everyday life, albeit propaganda. Any political event can be buried under the quicksand of words without meaning. Ethereal holidays are the vibration of emptiness. The caramel May Day is especially unlucky, woven (due to the lack of clarity of goals and objectives) from dull falsehood and lazy optimism.

Today, the entire, or almost entire, media sphere is a space of naked emotions, which have even penetrated into information genres, not to mention all others.

The main measure of success is goosebumps. Premiere commercials, jury members of various competitions, stars and ordinary viewers talk about them. Squeezing emotions out of the consumer in any way is a task of particular importance, here every goosebump counts.

Such aspirations destroy any plan in the bud.

The saddest thing about the endless stream of May Day entertainment is not the abundance of mock humor, not the predictability of a limited contingent of vocalists, but our new cinema. Even films recognized as the best of recent times, such as “Love of the Soviet Union,” leave a feeling of cardboard and plastic. I took the trouble to finish watching the fairy tale about the love of the artist Serova and the writer Simonov. The level of understanding of the context of the 30-50s of the last century, coupled with the Martian picture, struck the imagination no less than the pandemonium in Krivokolenny.

In a word, with the current May Day everything was as always, although there were nuances. The central event of the holiday, as far as one can judge, was the presentation of the “Chanson of the Year” award.

His chanson’s status has risen almost to the state level. The concert was sanctified by the same inevitable thirst for “goosebumps”, so the pathos, especially in the compere, was immeasurable. It was led (in the campaign by Svetlana Zeynalova) by Alexander Marshal. He also performed the main hit of the evening - the song “Special Dates” with lyrics by Sergei Lavrov.

It is noteworthy that the 25th anniversary ceremony was crowned not only with the poetry of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but also with his welcoming speech. In a special inclusion, he heartily thanked both the author of the music, that is, Marshal, and Radio Chanson for their attention to his work.

Russian diplomats are creative people. Maria Zakharova can already compete in popularity with Larisa Rubalskaya herself. Maria, by the way, also two years ago became a laureate of the “Chanson of the Year” award for the song “My Strength is with Me” performed by Lyubov Uspenskaya.

Thus, centuries-old traditions are not interrupted. Literature has long been considered a parallel power in the fatherland. The foundations were laid by Catherine II. And then a string of good and different poets arose on the political Olympus - from Griboedov and Tyutchev to Andropov and Primakov. Times have changed, but talent in the mountainous heights does not translate. Moreover, they define, as Konstantin Leontiev would say, style and trends. So, Malakhov recently released a program with the intriguing title “Night at the Foreign Ministry with Maria Zakharova.” There is a demand for a fresh format here. The slight frivolity of the title, which promises hordes of goosebumps, is compensated by the seriousness of the content. The Foreign Office spokesperson is celebrating 10 years of service.

But this service is so dangerous and difficult that Maria Vladimirovna found time for a lengthy interview only at night and only in her office. However, the innovations are small. Unless chanson has now grown to the level of a staple.

Any society is mosaic, this is an axiom. But the gap between generation Z, focused on the digital world, freedom, individuality, with the rest of the power’s generations, formed by completely different ideals, is so great that it seems insurmountable. Paradeevich with burgers surrounded by a crowd of thousands in the center of Moscow and a diplomatic chanson with goosebumps are different universes. We can only console ourselves with the poetry of Sergei Lavrov. The leitmotif of the composition that adorned the song competition, although somewhat mysterious, is very inspiring: “We drink to those beacons that do not allow hearts to get lost.”