Reds fanfic
- Thread starter E. Burke
- Start date
PETA is a living straw man whose existence makes serious animal rights advocacy a pain.
Bookmark1995
Banned
This post explores one of the butterflies of the good (if somewhat frosty) ties between Russia and America. Namely, some Americans returning to the land of their ancestors:
Nefesh Yehudi-Metropolis' Main Jewish Magazine
97 Year Old Man Returns to His Hometown in Ukraine
October 10, 1996
Joan Stein
Ananyiv, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The town of Ananyiv, located 50 km north of the city of Odessa, has become one location where the Jewish Renaissance is bringing the past back.
A Yiddish version of the Wild West museum town has been built in the last two years, recreating the old shtetls for many Jewish tourists eager to learn about the life of their ancestors in the old Pale.
Buildings from the late czarist era have been rebuilt, old shacks along a dirt path in a time before asphalt, volunteers and actors (many of them wearing beards that go down to their chest) dress up like the old residents and demonstrate the common trades of shtetls. One volunteer, an ethic Ukrainian, weaves a dress from scratch in front of a crowd of tourists.
"In the good old days, we could make our one stuff," says the actor.
All the signs are in Yiddish (as well as Hebrew, English, Russian, and Ukrainian for tourists), and loudspeakers play old Yiddish songs. The life of old Pale is alive and well in Ananyiv.
But among the many visitors is not a mere tourist: he is a man returning just to the place he abandoned, but the world he had thought been destroyed.
"That goy looks just like Mendele the tailor," Michael Pinik says with a small smile. "He even made a dress my sister would have worn."
Pinik was born in Ananyiv in 1899. At 97, Pinik is one of the few who can still remember the days of the shtetl, when Jewish life remained centered around the village. Despite his old age, he can still walk using a metal cane.
"My father was a farmer and a cantor at the synagogue," Pinik rasps, "and my mother took care of me and my five siblings."
By day, Pinik worked in the wheat fields with his father and brothers. In the evening, Pinik was reading the Torah with candlelight.
"It took a lot of work to get a meal," Pinik observed, as he watched Soviet and American teenagers trying to collect wheat using a sickle in some contest.
One of Pinik's earliest memories was Pesach dinner with his family in 1910.
"My father was singing Yiddish songs, as my mother and sister were cooking the food," he said. "We remembered our ancestor's plight under the Pharaoh."
At 15, Pinik was hoping to join in his father's footsteps and become a cantor, but the arrival of the First World War would prevent that.
"The tsar rounded up all the Jewish boys. After calling us Christ-killers, he still made us fight his war," Pinik said with disgust.
He was sent fight against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and never saw his family again. He and his comrades were often forced to eat off the same plate, and were often sent into battle without guns or even sticks.
"Our officers treated us like cannon fodder," Pinik spat. "If we didn't run into a battlefield and get shot there, our officers would shoot us for desertion."
In 1917, as the tsarist empire fell into anarchy and civil, Pinik was able to take advantage of the chaos to flee from his abusive officers, jumping on a boat to the United States.
He arrived in old city of New York, in 1918, working in garment industry. But seeing how the same oppression he fled from in Russia was present in his new homeland, he eagerly jumped on the socialist bandwagon, facing down the capitalist New York police during the Bienno Rosso. He embracing of socialist meant his abandonment of his religious faith.
"Marx and Debs became my new gods," Pinik says with a wry smile. "I was a red mercenary, organizing and gather supporters for the eventual war against capitalism."
When not organizing, Pinik ran a collective auto repair shop in the Bronx, which he opened in 1919. He would run the shop for nearly 70 years, before retiring to Florida in 1988. He lived a typical Red life in Metropolis, marrying Estelle Kokinsky, a seamstress in 1924, with whom he had three children. He currently has 6 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
But in his long life, he always felt as if something was missing. Despite enjoying the fruits of social liberation, he remained satisfied.
"Then I heard a Hebrew prayer on the radio," Pinik said with a smile.
In his retirement years, Pinik returned to his Jewish roots, attending the first Shabbat services World War I in 1989, at the age of 90, and going there every Saturday he could.
Earlier this year, his grandson Jason sent him a brochure about Ananyiv recreating the old shtetl. To see the world he thought long gone has given Pinik the satisfaction he desired.
"The tsars and the fascists thought they could destroy us," Pinik said, looking at his old village brought to life, with Jew and non Jew alike participating in cultural events. "But the goyim of today now help us rebuild. Now my traditions can last for generation to come".
Nefesh Yehudi-Metropolis' Main Jewish Magazine
97 Year Old Man Returns to His Hometown in Ukraine
October 10, 1996
Joan Stein
Ananyiv, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The town of Ananyiv, located 50 km north of the city of Odessa, has become one location where the Jewish Renaissance is bringing the past back.
A Yiddish version of the Wild West museum town has been built in the last two years, recreating the old shtetls for many Jewish tourists eager to learn about the life of their ancestors in the old Pale.
Buildings from the late czarist era have been rebuilt, old shacks along a dirt path in a time before asphalt, volunteers and actors (many of them wearing beards that go down to their chest) dress up like the old residents and demonstrate the common trades of shtetls. One volunteer, an ethic Ukrainian, weaves a dress from scratch in front of a crowd of tourists.
"In the good old days, we could make our one stuff," says the actor.
All the signs are in Yiddish (as well as Hebrew, English, Russian, and Ukrainian for tourists), and loudspeakers play old Yiddish songs. The life of old Pale is alive and well in Ananyiv.
But among the many visitors is not a mere tourist: he is a man returning just to the place he abandoned, but the world he had thought been destroyed.
"That goy looks just like Mendele the tailor," Michael Pinik says with a small smile. "He even made a dress my sister would have worn."
Pinik was born in Ananyiv in 1899. At 97, Pinik is one of the few who can still remember the days of the shtetl, when Jewish life remained centered around the village. Despite his old age, he can still walk using a metal cane.
"My father was a farmer and a cantor at the synagogue," Pinik rasps, "and my mother took care of me and my five siblings."
By day, Pinik worked in the wheat fields with his father and brothers. In the evening, Pinik was reading the Torah with candlelight.
"It took a lot of work to get a meal," Pinik observed, as he watched Soviet and American teenagers trying to collect wheat using a sickle in some contest.
One of Pinik's earliest memories was Pesach dinner with his family in 1910.
"My father was singing Yiddish songs, as my mother and sister were cooking the food," he said. "We remembered our ancestor's plight under the Pharaoh."
At 15, Pinik was hoping to join in his father's footsteps and become a cantor, but the arrival of the First World War would prevent that.
"The tsar rounded up all the Jewish boys. After calling us Christ-killers, he still made us fight his war," Pinik said with disgust.
He was sent fight against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and never saw his family again. He and his comrades were often forced to eat off the same plate, and were often sent into battle without guns or even sticks.
"Our officers treated us like cannon fodder," Pinik spat. "If we didn't run into a battlefield and get shot there, our officers would shoot us for desertion."
In 1917, as the tsarist empire fell into anarchy and civil, Pinik was able to take advantage of the chaos to flee from his abusive officers, jumping on a boat to the United States.
He arrived in old city of New York, in 1918, working in garment industry. But seeing how the same oppression he fled from in Russia was present in his new homeland, he eagerly jumped on the socialist bandwagon, facing down the capitalist New York police during the Bienno Rosso. He embracing of socialist meant his abandonment of his religious faith.
"Marx and Debs became my new gods," Pinik says with a wry smile. "I was a red mercenary, organizing and gather supporters for the eventual war against capitalism."
When not organizing, Pinik ran a collective auto repair shop in the Bronx, which he opened in 1919. He would run the shop for nearly 70 years, before retiring to Florida in 1988. He lived a typical Red life in Metropolis, marrying Estelle Kokinsky, a seamstress in 1924, with whom he had three children. He currently has 6 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
But in his long life, he always felt as if something was missing. Despite enjoying the fruits of social liberation, he remained satisfied.
"Then I heard a Hebrew prayer on the radio," Pinik said with a smile.
In his retirement years, Pinik returned to his Jewish roots, attending the first Shabbat services World War I in 1989, at the age of 90, and going there every Saturday he could.
Earlier this year, his grandson Jason sent him a brochure about Ananyiv recreating the old shtetl. To see the world he thought long gone has given Pinik the satisfaction he desired.
"The tsars and the fascists thought they could destroy us," Pinik said, looking at his old village brought to life, with Jew and non Jew alike participating in cultural events. "But the goyim of today now help us rebuild. Now my traditions can last for generation to come".
BP Booker
Banned
This Eastern European Jewish Renaissance is turning out to be my favorite thing about these stories
Excerpt from "The Nuclear Age: The People, the Stories, The Bombs," (UASR: Black Dog Press, 2009)
The Nuclear Age: The People, the Stories, The Bombs is an anthology, exploring the history of nuclear weapons, from their earliest conceptions, through the development of the atom bomb during World War II, its deployment in Kyoto and Yokohama by Comintern, the further development of weapons, and the implications of this history on the modern Cold War, as cybersecurity becomes a major concern. The following is excerpted from the essay "The Women of Tube Alloys" by Cynthia Kelly
The Women of Tube Alloys
[...] Irène Joliot-Curie was the daughter of Marie Curie, and followed in her mother's footsteps, both in becoming a nuclear physicist, and winning the Nobel Prize in 1935 with her husband Fredric for her work in artificial radioactivity (i.e. creating radioactive isotopes of non radioactive materials) and the creation of new radioactive isotopes. This work, and the observed released neutrons would lay the foundations for nuclear fission experiments that [Otto] Hahn, [Frank] Strassman, and [Lise] Meitner would conduct. However, the two grew concerned over the rise of fascism and the potential use of their work for military purposes. They joined the Socialist Party in 1934, and eventually, Irene became the Undersecretary of State of Scientific Research. She and Fredric also backed the socialists during the Spanish Civil War. To prevent their work on nuclear chain reaction from being misused, in 1939, they placed their work in a sealed letter, and placed it in the Académie des sciences, hoping that it could not be found.
Those hopes were dashed by the Petainist coup. Fredric and Irene quickly evacuated, along with the rest of the socialist French government, to the Spanish Free Soviet in 1942. During the precarious time before the Soviet was invaded, Fredric and Irene were approached by Otto Frisch. With his success in recruiting his aunt Lise Meitner for the Tube Alloys program, [William] Aker [director of Tube Alloys] had him sent to recruit French scientists as part of the Entente Coridale. Their work and their relation to Marie Curie made them attractive prospects. However, the two were reluctant to participate, fearing this was the exact thing they had hoped to avoid.
Ultimately, the threat of Nazi Germany and its alleged nuclear program was enough to bring them aboard, though Irene stipulated that this was a wartime only participation. They were assigned to Cambridge to help with uranium enrichment (separating U-235 from a natural majority of U-238), and trying to procure the amount needed for a sufficient reaction
[...]
With the detonation of the Franco-British atomic bomb after the war ended, Irene and Fredric Joliot-Curie were horrified naturally at the prospect that the two largest powers not only had weapons, but were willing to use them. They were recruited by the Atlee-Blum government to help with the civilian side of nuclear fission. Fredric became Commissioner of Atomic Energy, and under him, the first Franco-British nuclear reactor was completed in 1948. Irene became head of her mother's Radium Institute. At the same time, both became involved with the global peace/non-proliferation movement. Fredric notably became the first president of the World Peace Council, a left wing group which advocated disarmament. Fredric and Irene also joined ESCI upon its formation.
It was the latter two affiliations that would eventually lead to their downfall. In 1951, the conservative People's Alliance took power, and a Red Scare took over the country. In 1952, in light of Fredric's leadership of the World Peace Council and his and Irene's continued ESCI association, a hearing was held as to whether their security clearance should be revoked, preventing them from working in the Civil Service. Going against their case were (unverified) rumors that the two had spied on the British Nuclear program for the Americans. Despite favorable testimonies from their associates, the damning testimony of Edward Teller and former ESCI associates ultimately lead to their security clearance being revoked. Fredric and Irene was forced to resign from the Commission of Atomic Energy. Irene kept her job as director of the Radium Institute (it being private), but this was a pyrrhic victory, as years of exposure to radiation (in particular, Polonium) eventually led to her death in 1956. Fredric carried on her work and his work with the World Peace Council until his own death in 1958.
In the years after their deaths, while they were rehabilitated in the academic community for their anti-nuclear advocacy, the rumors of spying for the UASR continued, even as Irene's sister Eve and daughter Helene continued to work to deny her and her husband's involvement. In 1972, several declassified documents from the Scientific Committee [in the UASR] revealed the existence of a female spy within Tube Alloys called Athena. Some began to attribute this to Irene, causing a brief stir. Ultimately, historians rejected this, noting a number of differences between the alleged "Athena" and Joliot-Curie (It was revealed in 1999 that Athena was actually British civil servant Melitha Norwood)...
----------
The Nuclear Age: The People, the Stories, The Bombs is an anthology, exploring the history of nuclear weapons, from their earliest conceptions, through the development of the atom bomb during World War II, its deployment in Kyoto and Yokohama by Comintern, the further development of weapons, and the implications of this history on the modern Cold War, as cybersecurity becomes a major concern. The following is excerpted from the essay "The Women of Tube Alloys" by Cynthia Kelly
The Women of Tube Alloys
[...] Irène Joliot-Curie was the daughter of Marie Curie, and followed in her mother's footsteps, both in becoming a nuclear physicist, and winning the Nobel Prize in 1935 with her husband Fredric for her work in artificial radioactivity (i.e. creating radioactive isotopes of non radioactive materials) and the creation of new radioactive isotopes. This work, and the observed released neutrons would lay the foundations for nuclear fission experiments that [Otto] Hahn, [Frank] Strassman, and [Lise] Meitner would conduct. However, the two grew concerned over the rise of fascism and the potential use of their work for military purposes. They joined the Socialist Party in 1934, and eventually, Irene became the Undersecretary of State of Scientific Research. She and Fredric also backed the socialists during the Spanish Civil War. To prevent their work on nuclear chain reaction from being misused, in 1939, they placed their work in a sealed letter, and placed it in the Académie des sciences, hoping that it could not be found.
Those hopes were dashed by the Petainist coup. Fredric and Irene quickly evacuated, along with the rest of the socialist French government, to the Spanish Free Soviet in 1942. During the precarious time before the Soviet was invaded, Fredric and Irene were approached by Otto Frisch. With his success in recruiting his aunt Lise Meitner for the Tube Alloys program, [William] Aker [director of Tube Alloys] had him sent to recruit French scientists as part of the Entente Coridale. Their work and their relation to Marie Curie made them attractive prospects. However, the two were reluctant to participate, fearing this was the exact thing they had hoped to avoid.
Ultimately, the threat of Nazi Germany and its alleged nuclear program was enough to bring them aboard, though Irene stipulated that this was a wartime only participation. They were assigned to Cambridge to help with uranium enrichment (separating U-235 from a natural majority of U-238), and trying to procure the amount needed for a sufficient reaction
[...]
With the detonation of the Franco-British atomic bomb after the war ended, Irene and Fredric Joliot-Curie were horrified naturally at the prospect that the two largest powers not only had weapons, but were willing to use them. They were recruited by the Atlee-Blum government to help with the civilian side of nuclear fission. Fredric became Commissioner of Atomic Energy, and under him, the first Franco-British nuclear reactor was completed in 1948. Irene became head of her mother's Radium Institute. At the same time, both became involved with the global peace/non-proliferation movement. Fredric notably became the first president of the World Peace Council, a left wing group which advocated disarmament. Fredric and Irene also joined ESCI upon its formation.
It was the latter two affiliations that would eventually lead to their downfall. In 1951, the conservative People's Alliance took power, and a Red Scare took over the country. In 1952, in light of Fredric's leadership of the World Peace Council and his and Irene's continued ESCI association, a hearing was held as to whether their security clearance should be revoked, preventing them from working in the Civil Service. Going against their case were (unverified) rumors that the two had spied on the British Nuclear program for the Americans. Despite favorable testimonies from their associates, the damning testimony of Edward Teller and former ESCI associates ultimately lead to their security clearance being revoked. Fredric and Irene was forced to resign from the Commission of Atomic Energy. Irene kept her job as director of the Radium Institute (it being private), but this was a pyrrhic victory, as years of exposure to radiation (in particular, Polonium) eventually led to her death in 1956. Fredric carried on her work and his work with the World Peace Council until his own death in 1958.
In the years after their deaths, while they were rehabilitated in the academic community for their anti-nuclear advocacy, the rumors of spying for the UASR continued, even as Irene's sister Eve and daughter Helene continued to work to deny her and her husband's involvement. In 1972, several declassified documents from the Scientific Committee [in the UASR] revealed the existence of a female spy within Tube Alloys called Athena. Some began to attribute this to Irene, causing a brief stir. Ultimately, historians rejected this, noting a number of differences between the alleged "Athena" and Joliot-Curie (It was revealed in 1999 that Athena was actually British civil servant Melitha Norwood)...
----------
Then there was no such party - Joliot-Curie's spouses were members of the French Section of the Workers' International.
Bookmark1995
Banned
Admittedly, there is a bit of wish fulfillment in them (as a Jew whose ancestors came from the Pale), but I do see it as plausible, as the Soviet bloc is secure enough, it does not have to persecute "rootless cosmopolitans" to maintain authority.
Bookmark1995
Banned
Images That Have Defined the Century (Scholastic, 1997)
The Soiling of the Hammer and Sickle (Published March 10, 1985)
(Two Russian teenagers are threatening to spear a Chechen man with the Soviet flag during the Grozny riots)
The Cultural Leap and the subsequent political liberalization of the Soviet Union brought both opportunity and chaos, and ethnic tensions, suppressed under the blanket of censorship, became prominent throughout the 1980s.
The Chechen community, long discriminated against even in pre-Soviet times and even denied reputable careers within their own capital, protested and rioted to demand their rights under the Soviet Constitution.
The violent riots that broke out between Chechens and Russians of all ages, led to international condemnation and the beginning of major reforms of Soviet policy toward non-Russians.
The infamous attack on Chechen apparatchik Razman Taduev with the Soviet flag symbolized the political ideals of Soviet Russia vs. the brutal realities of ethnic tensions that have still not been fully eradicated to this day.
The Soiling of the Hammer and Sickle (Published March 10, 1985)
(Two Russian teenagers are threatening to spear a Chechen man with the Soviet flag during the Grozny riots)
The Cultural Leap and the subsequent political liberalization of the Soviet Union brought both opportunity and chaos, and ethnic tensions, suppressed under the blanket of censorship, became prominent throughout the 1980s.
The Chechen community, long discriminated against even in pre-Soviet times and even denied reputable careers within their own capital, protested and rioted to demand their rights under the Soviet Constitution.
The violent riots that broke out between Chechens and Russians of all ages, led to international condemnation and the beginning of major reforms of Soviet policy toward non-Russians.
The infamous attack on Chechen apparatchik Razman Taduev with the Soviet flag symbolized the political ideals of Soviet Russia vs. the brutal realities of ethnic tensions that have still not been fully eradicated to this day.
So the idea that I mentioned on the discord about Hollywood studios getting renamed was that they would be named after the streets that the lots were on.
so this breaks down to:
so this breaks down to:
- Warner Bros: Olive Street
- Universal: Lankershim Blvd
- Fox: Pico Blvd. (this may change because I don't know how the UASR historiography would treat Pio Pico and it's possible that that street might get renamed)
- Paramount: Melrose Ave.
- MGM: Culver City
- Mack Sennett/Republic Studios (Now CBS Studio Center IOTL): Radford Ave.
BP Booker
Banned
Sounds like a good base if we want to writte more "movie stories". If a remember correctly Disney was just "Disney Collective" but "Burbank Animation" or something like that sounds a little bit more organic
Hyperion Animation Collective. I made that one up (since the original Disney studio was on Hyperion ave) for an update I wrote about the first cultural revolution in the Great Crusade thread.
If nuclear war looks likely we should try and get TTL into whatever historical records are most likely 2 survive, we can trick the surviving generations into thinking the past was red so they’ll rebuild communism
The Great Stellar Voyage: The Story of Rhodesia's Secret Sci-Fi Propaganda Film
The November 9th, 1997 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured a 1991 film called The Great Stellar Voyage. Ostensibly Franco-British in origin, the film would become one of the most infamous featured on the program, with a number of continuity errors, bad plotting, poor production design, reused footage from Doctor Who[1], hammy acting, unlikable characteres, and its bizarre, erratic story about a group of (all white) people fleeing a tyrannical "collectivist" government, and their search for a new homeland. Many of the show's most iconic jokes came from mocking the incomprehensibility and ineptness on screen. Since then, the film has become a classic on the Anti-Reaction Circuit on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the film was not just another cheap run-of the-mill generic capitalist film. The funding for the film was provided by the Society for Western Civilization, a far-right pressure group. The Society for Western Civilization was actually a secret front set up and funded by the Rhodesian CIO to help garner more sympathy for Rhodesia in the capitalist sphere, especially in light of growing international isolation. The film was secret propaganda, meant to subtly implant the ideology of the Rhodesian State. It's reception made that effort a complete failure, and would actually help bring to light one of the biggest international scandals of recent years
In the late 80's, with news of its atrocities reaching the outside world, Rhodesia, while still receiving military support, began to become more isolated economically and culturally. General Wells sought to create a better image of Rhodesia to the outside world, and try to counter the bad coverage in the capitalist world. To that end, he directed the Central Intelligence Organization to court the FBU far-right and gain followers there. CIO operatives were able to establish contacts with groups like the English Defense League, Action Francaise, and, biggest of all, the Preservation Club, a pressure affiliated with the far right parties belonging to the People's Alliance[2]
CIO operatives singled out individuals who were more sympathetic to the aims of the Rhodesian State within the club, and gradually courted them to the cause. Eventually, these individuals were convinced to create a group that would "foster the causes of capitalism, western thought, and anti-communism". With that in mind, several Preservation Club members created the "Society for Western Civilization" in 1988. Clive Derby-Lewis, an Afrikaneer extremist turned CIO operative was their liason to the Rhodesian government, providing whatever clandestine funding was needed. Derby-Lewis later testified key members involved in the organization were aware of this funding, but denied any involvement in public.
While ostensibly dedicated to "the preservation of Western Civilization and the fostering of democratic, free market societies", the SWC largely focused on defending the actions of the Rhodesian State, from denying the most extreme atrocities to justifying their actions as that of a society attempting to defend the "last of civilization" against the tide of communism. The SWC held regular conferences, where members of the South African Nationalist Party and even some PA MPs spoke (most making generalized statements about "negotiations with Rhodesia"). The articles it spewed often came straight from state propaganda, provided by Dr. Harvey Ward, head of the Rhodesian Communication Department.
However, this failed to garner much public support, especially when stacked with the level of atrocities that were still spewing out. So, in a gambit, the President of the organization, Lord Sudeley, decided to head the suggestion of "a close associate" (some say it was Dr.Ward) , and financed a "pro-West" film, to bring more people to their side subtly, through the new "Charlemagne Films". The film was primarily shot in Rhodesia, in Walker Studios, one of its film studios, built for state propaganda. The cast was made up primarily of unknowns, due to Equity (the British Actor's Union) participating in a cultural boycott of Rhodesia.
While Lord Sudeley is listed as sole producer, Derby-Lewis and others involved in the production stated that Dr. Ward was effectively the shadow producer, organizing the funding, having a script produced, and providing sets and props. Said script came from a rejected propaganda script which had been considered by the dictatorship. It essentially centered on an idyllic planet, Epac-12 who was at first colonized by a group of Terrans. Said Terrans are forced out by a "totalitarian collectivist" federation, and they go to find a new home. However, insidious agents from said federation are slowly working their influence on the Terrans, and this influence may jeopardize the entire endeavor. The props and sets actually came from another Rhodesian propaganda film, The Gates of Heaven. Originally called The Space Trek, the name was changed to The Great Stellar Voyage to avoid associations with "Red Propaganda" Star Trek.
The original script was considered "unpalatable" for the way it handled the references to the original inhabitants of the Epac-12, to the point where Lord Sudeley had those references removed and the script changed extensively. However, this only muddled the script, as Epac-12 inhabitants played a key role in the plot, and could not be removed without making the story nonsensical. The increasingly off story was only the beginning of the troubles, as production problems plagued the film. The studio were ill-equipped for a film of this budget, and power outages were a regular occurrence. This also contributed to heat problem on set. The extensive drills also wore out the cast and crew, especially since filming went to into the late hours of night. Ultimately, the first director quit, and was replaced by a dance choreographer named David Winters.
Against all odds, The Great Stellar Voyage was completed and released. However, despite a wide release, it failed to make much of an impression, with the few critics who saw lambasting the film as a bizarre mess. Even The Daily Mail called it "almost unwatchable". The film ultimately ran for two weeks, before being pulled from theaters.
The troubles and ultimate failure of the film ultimately precluded the troubles that the SWC would come to have. In 1991, as the film was leaving theaters, Interpol found ties between the Rhodesian State and several illegal trades, including the international drug trade. It had been repackaging and reselling Caribbean drugs to the Indian Ocean. A year later, Clive Derby-Lewis was arrested for his role in killing former Rhodesian education minister Denis Walker (an ally of disposed Prime Minister Ian Smith) in London. In his testimony, he revealed that the Rhodesian government had been funding the Society of Western Civilization. Said funds were primarily from the drug trade, funneled into the venture as a way of hiding it. While ultimately unconfirmed, the controversy was enough for the Society to be dissolved, as was "Charlemagne Films". In 2003, an unrelated group, Friends of Rhodesia, was set up. While serving the same purpose, it has much less of an audience, and is mostly noted for its shady ties to the CIO and occasional racist comments from its founder.
As for The Great Stellar Voyage, it ultimately wound up on the Anti-Reaction circuit in the FBU for several years, before it was sent to the UASR, where the producers of Mystery Science Theater acquired it, and made it an episode for its eighth season. However, the CIO's involvement would not be revealed until 2001, when mention was made in Lawrence Wright's Last Bastion, coming in part from interviews with Derby-Lewis and defected Rhodesian agents. In 2014, a book, This Picture is Brought to You by the Rhodesian State, by Paul Fischer [3] was released, chronicling the production of the film, and how it tied with Rhodesia's attempts at gaining some upper hand at foreign policy.
[1] Like how Space Mutiny featured scenes from Battlestar Galactica
[2] The rough equivalent to the Monday Club, since that organization likely doesn't exist with decolonization much slower and the Western Goals Institute
[3] OTL writer of A Kim Jong-Il Production, an inspiration, though not influence, on this piece.
The November 9th, 1997 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured a 1991 film called The Great Stellar Voyage. Ostensibly Franco-British in origin, the film would become one of the most infamous featured on the program, with a number of continuity errors, bad plotting, poor production design, reused footage from Doctor Who[1], hammy acting, unlikable characteres, and its bizarre, erratic story about a group of (all white) people fleeing a tyrannical "collectivist" government, and their search for a new homeland. Many of the show's most iconic jokes came from mocking the incomprehensibility and ineptness on screen. Since then, the film has become a classic on the Anti-Reaction Circuit on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the film was not just another cheap run-of the-mill generic capitalist film. The funding for the film was provided by the Society for Western Civilization, a far-right pressure group. The Society for Western Civilization was actually a secret front set up and funded by the Rhodesian CIO to help garner more sympathy for Rhodesia in the capitalist sphere, especially in light of growing international isolation. The film was secret propaganda, meant to subtly implant the ideology of the Rhodesian State. It's reception made that effort a complete failure, and would actually help bring to light one of the biggest international scandals of recent years
In the late 80's, with news of its atrocities reaching the outside world, Rhodesia, while still receiving military support, began to become more isolated economically and culturally. General Wells sought to create a better image of Rhodesia to the outside world, and try to counter the bad coverage in the capitalist world. To that end, he directed the Central Intelligence Organization to court the FBU far-right and gain followers there. CIO operatives were able to establish contacts with groups like the English Defense League, Action Francaise, and, biggest of all, the Preservation Club, a pressure affiliated with the far right parties belonging to the People's Alliance[2]
CIO operatives singled out individuals who were more sympathetic to the aims of the Rhodesian State within the club, and gradually courted them to the cause. Eventually, these individuals were convinced to create a group that would "foster the causes of capitalism, western thought, and anti-communism". With that in mind, several Preservation Club members created the "Society for Western Civilization" in 1988. Clive Derby-Lewis, an Afrikaneer extremist turned CIO operative was their liason to the Rhodesian government, providing whatever clandestine funding was needed. Derby-Lewis later testified key members involved in the organization were aware of this funding, but denied any involvement in public.
While ostensibly dedicated to "the preservation of Western Civilization and the fostering of democratic, free market societies", the SWC largely focused on defending the actions of the Rhodesian State, from denying the most extreme atrocities to justifying their actions as that of a society attempting to defend the "last of civilization" against the tide of communism. The SWC held regular conferences, where members of the South African Nationalist Party and even some PA MPs spoke (most making generalized statements about "negotiations with Rhodesia"). The articles it spewed often came straight from state propaganda, provided by Dr. Harvey Ward, head of the Rhodesian Communication Department.
However, this failed to garner much public support, especially when stacked with the level of atrocities that were still spewing out. So, in a gambit, the President of the organization, Lord Sudeley, decided to head the suggestion of "a close associate" (some say it was Dr.Ward) , and financed a "pro-West" film, to bring more people to their side subtly, through the new "Charlemagne Films". The film was primarily shot in Rhodesia, in Walker Studios, one of its film studios, built for state propaganda. The cast was made up primarily of unknowns, due to Equity (the British Actor's Union) participating in a cultural boycott of Rhodesia.
While Lord Sudeley is listed as sole producer, Derby-Lewis and others involved in the production stated that Dr. Ward was effectively the shadow producer, organizing the funding, having a script produced, and providing sets and props. Said script came from a rejected propaganda script which had been considered by the dictatorship. It essentially centered on an idyllic planet, Epac-12 who was at first colonized by a group of Terrans. Said Terrans are forced out by a "totalitarian collectivist" federation, and they go to find a new home. However, insidious agents from said federation are slowly working their influence on the Terrans, and this influence may jeopardize the entire endeavor. The props and sets actually came from another Rhodesian propaganda film, The Gates of Heaven. Originally called The Space Trek, the name was changed to The Great Stellar Voyage to avoid associations with "Red Propaganda" Star Trek.
The original script was considered "unpalatable" for the way it handled the references to the original inhabitants of the Epac-12, to the point where Lord Sudeley had those references removed and the script changed extensively. However, this only muddled the script, as Epac-12 inhabitants played a key role in the plot, and could not be removed without making the story nonsensical. The increasingly off story was only the beginning of the troubles, as production problems plagued the film. The studio were ill-equipped for a film of this budget, and power outages were a regular occurrence. This also contributed to heat problem on set. The extensive drills also wore out the cast and crew, especially since filming went to into the late hours of night. Ultimately, the first director quit, and was replaced by a dance choreographer named David Winters.
Against all odds, The Great Stellar Voyage was completed and released. However, despite a wide release, it failed to make much of an impression, with the few critics who saw lambasting the film as a bizarre mess. Even The Daily Mail called it "almost unwatchable". The film ultimately ran for two weeks, before being pulled from theaters.
The troubles and ultimate failure of the film ultimately precluded the troubles that the SWC would come to have. In 1991, as the film was leaving theaters, Interpol found ties between the Rhodesian State and several illegal trades, including the international drug trade. It had been repackaging and reselling Caribbean drugs to the Indian Ocean. A year later, Clive Derby-Lewis was arrested for his role in killing former Rhodesian education minister Denis Walker (an ally of disposed Prime Minister Ian Smith) in London. In his testimony, he revealed that the Rhodesian government had been funding the Society of Western Civilization. Said funds were primarily from the drug trade, funneled into the venture as a way of hiding it. While ultimately unconfirmed, the controversy was enough for the Society to be dissolved, as was "Charlemagne Films". In 2003, an unrelated group, Friends of Rhodesia, was set up. While serving the same purpose, it has much less of an audience, and is mostly noted for its shady ties to the CIO and occasional racist comments from its founder.
As for The Great Stellar Voyage, it ultimately wound up on the Anti-Reaction circuit in the FBU for several years, before it was sent to the UASR, where the producers of Mystery Science Theater acquired it, and made it an episode for its eighth season. However, the CIO's involvement would not be revealed until 2001, when mention was made in Lawrence Wright's Last Bastion, coming in part from interviews with Derby-Lewis and defected Rhodesian agents. In 2014, a book, This Picture is Brought to You by the Rhodesian State, by Paul Fischer [3] was released, chronicling the production of the film, and how it tied with Rhodesia's attempts at gaining some upper hand at foreign policy.
[1] Like how Space Mutiny featured scenes from Battlestar Galactica
[2] The rough equivalent to the Monday Club, since that organization likely doesn't exist with decolonization much slower and the Western Goals Institute
[3] OTL writer of A Kim Jong-Il Production, an inspiration, though not influence, on this piece.