What can the 1985 Soviet film The Most Charming and Attractive tell us about attitudes toward the consumer culture of the late Soviet era?

Abstract

This essay explores whether the 1985 Soviet film The Most Charming and Attractive, which presents a negative attitude toward late Soviet consumer culture, can tell us anything about real Soviet attitudes toward the consumer culture of the late Soviet era. This essay explores the film’s status as a form of popular entertainment and a propaganda device and argues that this status significantly limits the film’s ability to act as a reliable historical source since ideological and financial pressures would likely have been prioritised over historical accuracy. Ultimately, The Most Charming and Attractive cannot tell us anything useful about real attitudes toward consumer culture in the Soviet Union.