Zelenskyy: The Man Who Took On Putin
March 18, 2022 9:04 PM Subscribe
Zelenskyy: The Man Who Took On Putin
"No one knows at this stage, how this story will end."
See also
His Twitter: @zelenskyyua
Volodymyr Zelenskyy's biography — Official web site of the President of Ukraine
Why how you spell the Ukrainian President's last name really matters
I, for one, have bought a vowel
Netflix: Servant of the People
"No one knows at this stage, how this story will end."
See also
His Twitter: @zelenskyyua
Volodymyr Zelenskyy's biography — Official web site of the President of Ukraine
Why how you spell the Ukrainian President's last name really matters
I, for one, have bought a vowel
Netflix: Servant of the People
Slava Ukraini!
posted by alex_skazat at 9:06 PM on March 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by alex_skazat at 9:06 PM on March 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
If you haven’t seen Servant of the People yet, permit me to urge you one more time. I binged it in 2019 when I was writing a paper about Zelenskyy for my master’s program, and it’s even more compelling now.
posted by armeowda at 9:36 PM on March 18, 2022 [15 favorites]
posted by armeowda at 9:36 PM on March 18, 2022 [15 favorites]
I fear it ends with devastation and perhaps poison gas. Bravo Volodymyr, too-rare exemplar of couragous leadership.
Slava Ukraini!
posted by anadem at 10:01 PM on March 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Slava Ukraini!
posted by anadem at 10:01 PM on March 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fun li’l political cartoon of the Russian bear vs. Paddington
posted by Going To Maine at 10:13 PM on March 18, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 10:13 PM on March 18, 2022 [7 favorites]
I don’t remember where I saw it (some political twitter account? Masha Gessen?), but Zelenskyy was quite unpopular before the war. Having a lot of media connections when you have to be president isn’t great, but having a lot of media savvy and ties when needing to rally your people and the world around the flag is quite dang useful.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:16 PM on March 18, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by Going To Maine at 10:16 PM on March 18, 2022 [10 favorites]
Unsurprisingly, the video seems to be region locked (or so I surmise from Japan; it doesn't expressly say so, just: "We're sorry, but this video is not available.").
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol at 10:17 PM on March 18, 2022
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol at 10:17 PM on March 18, 2022
Mod note: One (and responses) deleted. Insulting Zelenskyy because he / Ukraine didn't choose to "give up on minute one" as you think they should have is a toasty take for this thread, for sure. But no.
posted by taz (staff) at 11:08 PM on March 18, 2022 [60 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 11:08 PM on March 18, 2022 [60 favorites]
Unsurprisingly, the video seems to be region locked...
I have the web skills of Zippy the Pinhead but maybe try searching
Zelenskyy: The Man Who Took On Putin
on YouTube or similar sites there?
posted by y2karl at 11:19 PM on March 18, 2022
I have the web skills of Zippy the Pinhead but maybe try searching
Zelenskyy: The Man Who Took On Putin
on YouTube or similar sites there?
posted by y2karl at 11:19 PM on March 18, 2022
Putin and the balloon hit it.
goat
footed balloon
man
posted by clavdivs at 11:57 PM on March 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
goat
footed balloon
man
posted by clavdivs at 11:57 PM on March 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Zelenskyy: The Man Who Took on Putin, is a 30-minute Channel 4 current affairs programme [UK Stream] broadcast alongside Servant of the People (first broadcast in 2015) which sees Zelenskyy play a high school teacher who accidentally becomes Ukrainian President after a video of him condemning government corruption goes viral on social media.
posted by Lanark at 3:17 AM on March 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Lanark at 3:17 AM on March 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Fun li’l political cartoon of the Russian bear vs. Paddington
I expect many will know that John Kovalic drew this because Zelenskyy, a longtime actor and comedian, voiced Paddington in the Ukrainian releases of those movies.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:20 AM on March 19, 2022 [15 favorites]
I expect many will know that John Kovalic drew this because Zelenskyy, a longtime actor and comedian, voiced Paddington in the Ukrainian releases of those movies.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:20 AM on March 19, 2022 [15 favorites]
Yeah, the other day I streamed Servant of the People on YouTube until I ran out of subtitles and I really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to watching the rest of it. I thought the production values were really high for a sitcom. Thanks for making this thread because I didn’t feel comfortable sharing this in the war thread. I also purchased a T-shirt from a reputable workout gear company (AgainFaster) who is donating 100% of the proceeds to Come Back Alive, UNICEF, and Doctors Without Borders.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 7:03 AM on March 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by sara is disenchanted at 7:03 AM on March 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
having a lot of media savvy and ties when needing to rally your people and the world around the flag is quite dang useful.
C.f. Winston Churchill, who is a good example of the fact that great war leaders are very frequently mediocre or worse during peacetime.
posted by howfar at 7:08 AM on March 19, 2022 [16 favorites]
C.f. Winston Churchill, who is a good example of the fact that great war leaders are very frequently mediocre or worse during peacetime.
posted by howfar at 7:08 AM on March 19, 2022 [16 favorites]
David Mitchell wrote, “You need the unbending Churchills to save us from the mass-murdering Hitlers but, with no Hitlers around, the Churchills are annoying as hell.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:38 AM on March 19, 2022 [34 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:38 AM on March 19, 2022 [34 favorites]
I'm afraid this won't end well. That said, there haven't really been too many inspiring leaders of late but he's one. Perhaps the only one.
posted by tommasz at 7:38 AM on March 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by tommasz at 7:38 AM on March 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
His transformation is incredible. Here he is in 2016 pretending to play a piano with his penis.
posted by xthlc at 7:45 AM on March 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by xthlc at 7:45 AM on March 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
I think that away from the "great man" theory of history, we have to view his pre-war presidency in the context of the material and political conditions existing in Ukraine when he first won election.
It's not like there are secret dials for corruption, economic productivity, or other factors secreted under the presidential desk and as soon as the right person is in place he can just control-alt-delete the country and fix it. I think the best assessment of his early presidency is that he wasn't quite equipped to do something that in any case nobody could have done and that outside candidates are uniquely vulnerable to that kind of disappointment.
posted by atrazine at 9:25 AM on March 19, 2022 [27 favorites]
It's not like there are secret dials for corruption, economic productivity, or other factors secreted under the presidential desk and as soon as the right person is in place he can just control-alt-delete the country and fix it. I think the best assessment of his early presidency is that he wasn't quite equipped to do something that in any case nobody could have done and that outside candidates are uniquely vulnerable to that kind of disappointment.
posted by atrazine at 9:25 AM on March 19, 2022 [27 favorites]
Seen somewhere, in response to some British gammon jingoism: “Churchill was not always right; he was just right once about one very important thing.”
posted by acb at 9:41 AM on March 19, 2022 [20 favorites]
posted by acb at 9:41 AM on March 19, 2022 [20 favorites]
It's interesting to me that CNN persists in spelling Zelenskyy without the last 'y', even while reporting that this is how the Ukrainian leader spells his own name in the Latin alphabet. Shibboleths are perhaps the oldest form of information warfare.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:05 AM on March 19, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 10:05 AM on March 19, 2022 [9 favorites]
Having media and social connections is definitely dang useful but is Zelensky that special versus any other political leader? There's an empirical question there, since all political leaders in a contemporary world depend on media and connections to a great extent already. The real test for Zelensky is how he will resolve the several impossible dilemmas faced by the Ukrainian people. And that has less to do with whether a leader is great or not in any narrow or essentialist sense.
posted by polymodus at 11:26 AM on March 19, 2022
posted by polymodus at 11:26 AM on March 19, 2022
The bar is pretty low for leader these days particularly for nation states dealing with a ton of corruption issues. I respect him for not running where I am pretty sure most world leaders would have and also keeping himself collected enough to galvanize world opinion to support ukraine. Thats no small feat. He may have done terrible job before and after this. Hopefully he and other Ukrainians survive so that he can be voted out as a terrible peace time president. At this point in time that looks like a fortunate problem to have.
posted by roguewraith at 11:44 AM on March 19, 2022 [14 favorites]
posted by roguewraith at 11:44 AM on March 19, 2022 [14 favorites]
I just hope the ubiquitous 'Z' on the Russian war materiel quickly becomes a homage to the (living) Zelenskyy and his (free) people.
As for what he was doing in 2016 with his penis, it's infinitely less horrible than what Putin was up to that year.
posted by chavenet at 12:00 PM on March 19, 2022 [10 favorites]
As for what he was doing in 2016 with his penis, it's infinitely less horrible than what Putin was up to that year.
posted by chavenet at 12:00 PM on March 19, 2022 [10 favorites]
Would that “playing” the piano were the worst thing anyone ever did with their penis.
posted by armeowda at 12:04 PM on March 19, 2022 [18 favorites]
posted by armeowda at 12:04 PM on March 19, 2022 [18 favorites]
As terrible as this war is in every other way imaginable, it's inarguably a tremendous lift to Zelenskyy's legacy. Even leaving aside the goodwill engendered by being attacked (which is not infinite; GWB and Giuliani pissed theirs away pretty freely when they got that particular gift), his skills are better suited to this crisis than everyday government. Two months ago he looked on-track to be at best a footnote, a mediocre leader who mostly seemed to prove that playing the President on TV does not make one a great President. AFAICT he's not a tremendous statesman, a visionary, a master of policycraft, or possessed in great quantities of any of the other qualities which make for great peacetime leaders (not that he's been a bad leader, and among other things he seems to have delegated a fair bit of the day-to-day responsibility onto good people to make up for his own shortcomings, but all polls indicate he wasn't very well beloved or regarded as very effective). But now he seems to have exactly what is needed. Oodles of charisma, a respectable level of physical courage, and an arresting presence whenever he's on camera, ready to deliver a great line or a speech.
posted by jackbishop at 12:18 PM on March 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by jackbishop at 12:18 PM on March 19, 2022 [7 favorites]
"Would that “playing” the piano were the worst thing anyone ever did with their penis."
Looking at you, Spiridon Ivanovich!
posted by symbioid at 3:12 PM on March 19, 2022
Looking at you, Spiridon Ivanovich!
posted by symbioid at 3:12 PM on March 19, 2022
Some of Zelenskyy's skills seem to me to come from his acting background: at our best, we read the room and meet the moment. A good, experienced actor has a sense of what the moment demands.
But while acting skill will give you the courage to address a room full of people, or political opponents, or the nation-- it sure as hell doesn't give you the courage to stay in a city being shelled by an army of which you personally are the primary target. That's all him.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:32 PM on March 19, 2022 [35 favorites]
But while acting skill will give you the courage to address a room full of people, or political opponents, or the nation-- it sure as hell doesn't give you the courage to stay in a city being shelled by an army of which you personally are the primary target. That's all him.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:32 PM on March 19, 2022 [35 favorites]
>>Is Zelensky that special versus any other political leader?
Unlike Australia's Prime Minister, Zelenskyy stays when his country is in trouble, and doesn't go on holiday to Hawaii.
posted by b33j at 4:56 PM on March 19, 2022 [9 favorites]
Unlike Australia's Prime Minister, Zelenskyy stays when his country is in trouble, and doesn't go on holiday to Hawaii.
posted by b33j at 4:56 PM on March 19, 2022 [9 favorites]
Having media and social connections is definitely dang useful but is Zelensky that special versus any other political leader?
Given that most of today’s political leaders are geriatric craven corrupt cowards, yes.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:05 PM on March 19, 2022 [8 favorites]
Given that most of today’s political leaders are geriatric craven corrupt cowards, yes.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 6:05 PM on March 19, 2022 [8 favorites]
Oodles of charisma, a respectable level of physical courage, and an arresting presence whenever he's on camera, ready to deliver a great line or a speech.
I feel that is seriously underestimating him. Charisma in itself doesn't mean much. It's the fact that he's understood exactly what his people needed to steady them to keep the country from breaking in the first shock, that he's so skillfully shaped his pleas to other countries to extract the help his country needs, that he's essentially shaped the battlefield of public opinion in the West so completely that Putin-lovers are for the most part running for cover. It's not the fact that he had the public performance abilities, it's the fact that he has brought them to bear with such extreme skill.
posted by tavella at 2:39 AM on March 20, 2022 [12 favorites]
I feel that is seriously underestimating him. Charisma in itself doesn't mean much. It's the fact that he's understood exactly what his people needed to steady them to keep the country from breaking in the first shock, that he's so skillfully shaped his pleas to other countries to extract the help his country needs, that he's essentially shaped the battlefield of public opinion in the West so completely that Putin-lovers are for the most part running for cover. It's not the fact that he had the public performance abilities, it's the fact that he has brought them to bear with such extreme skill.
posted by tavella at 2:39 AM on March 20, 2022 [12 favorites]
...and, as Pallas Athena said, great courage. Which is what anchors the power of his words and images.
posted by tavella at 3:06 AM on March 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by tavella at 3:06 AM on March 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
Having media and social connections is definitely dang useful but is Zelensky that special versus any other political leader?
I think a lot of political leaders would have been on the first plane out of Kyiv after the Russians crossed the border, happy to start a "government in exile" in Poland or wherever, protected by NATO, as many leaders of invaded countries in the past have done. I'm not sure he would have even taken too much blame for it. Hell, he probably would have been likened to Charles de Gaulle, and I suspect he could have pulled off his own L'Appel du 18 juin, if he'd been so inclined, broadcast to the world from somewhere safely removed from Russian missiles.
But he didn't. He stayed, and—although I don't want to imply that he was solely responsible—I suspect that act will be remembered as crucial to the national pulling-together that has enabled the Ukrainians to defend their country against the Russian aggressor with the success they have had.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:41 AM on March 20, 2022 [13 favorites]
I think a lot of political leaders would have been on the first plane out of Kyiv after the Russians crossed the border, happy to start a "government in exile" in Poland or wherever, protected by NATO, as many leaders of invaded countries in the past have done. I'm not sure he would have even taken too much blame for it. Hell, he probably would have been likened to Charles de Gaulle, and I suspect he could have pulled off his own L'Appel du 18 juin, if he'd been so inclined, broadcast to the world from somewhere safely removed from Russian missiles.
But he didn't. He stayed, and—although I don't want to imply that he was solely responsible—I suspect that act will be remembered as crucial to the national pulling-together that has enabled the Ukrainians to defend their country against the Russian aggressor with the success they have had.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:41 AM on March 20, 2022 [13 favorites]
Given that most of today’s political leaders are geriatric craven corrupt cowards, yes.
Compared to other good leaders, though. Because the reason there isn't because Zelensky is particularly media savvy, it's much more as a factor because he's of our generation and is more like an actual leader in comparison. If the argument is that acting or media connections has advantages, it has to be a meaningful empirical statement without such confounders.
More broadly I don't much like the accepted narrative that such-and-such had X background therefore they "rolled higher stats in charisma", therefore they make a better wartime or peacetime president. I find such analysis reductive and/or essentializing. Similar stuff like, Merkel was quantum chemist so she could out-strategize her opponents in the long game. It's a kind of pop psychology, it sounds plausible, makes a nice news story and meme, while it's not particularly harmful, but history has shown that people's biographical realities are more complex than that.
posted by polymodus at 3:00 PM on March 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
Compared to other good leaders, though. Because the reason there isn't because Zelensky is particularly media savvy, it's much more as a factor because he's of our generation and is more like an actual leader in comparison. If the argument is that acting or media connections has advantages, it has to be a meaningful empirical statement without such confounders.
More broadly I don't much like the accepted narrative that such-and-such had X background therefore they "rolled higher stats in charisma", therefore they make a better wartime or peacetime president. I find such analysis reductive and/or essentializing. Similar stuff like, Merkel was quantum chemist so she could out-strategize her opponents in the long game. It's a kind of pop psychology, it sounds plausible, makes a nice news story and meme, while it's not particularly harmful, but history has shown that people's biographical realities are more complex than that.
posted by polymodus at 3:00 PM on March 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
Zelenskyy did start his presidency with thoughtfulness and a sense of what might be possible.
He said to his party members, "Don't put up a photo of me in your office. Put up a photo of your family and children, and when you need to make a decision, look at that photo to help you decide."
Trying to source the quote, "You may be able to choose when you start a war, but you will likely have no choice about its end." About the only thing that Putin has not yet ruined for Russia, is China's support. NATO - check, membership even more desirable, strengthened. EU - check, strengthened. Germany - check, everyone wants Germany to rearm, strengthened.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 3:25 PM on March 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
He said to his party members, "Don't put up a photo of me in your office. Put up a photo of your family and children, and when you need to make a decision, look at that photo to help you decide."
Trying to source the quote, "You may be able to choose when you start a war, but you will likely have no choice about its end." About the only thing that Putin has not yet ruined for Russia, is China's support. NATO - check, membership even more desirable, strengthened. EU - check, strengthened. Germany - check, everyone wants Germany to rearm, strengthened.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 3:25 PM on March 20, 2022 [3 favorites]
It's a kind of pop psychology, it sounds plausible, makes a nice news story and meme, while it's not particularly harmful, but history has shown that people's biographical realities are more complex than that.
People are not defined by their jobs; their characters are not defined by their respective choices of profession. Even though most of us are programmed to think so, in order to keep the economy working.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:18 PM on March 21, 2022
People are not defined by their jobs; their characters are not defined by their respective choices of profession. Even though most of us are programmed to think so, in order to keep the economy working.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 8:18 PM on March 21, 2022
The Untold Story Of Volodymyr Zelensky | Full Biography Of Ukrainian President
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:15 PM on March 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:15 PM on March 23, 2022 [1 favorite]
is Zelensky that special versus any other political leader?
Zelenskyy is more special than average. I would say that as a political leader, he is less special than Merkel, and makes an interesting comparison to Ardern who is also much admired and has handled a number of crises. The politician he shares a more similar background with, is maybe Macron and I really never want to find out what Macron would do if someone made the mistake of invading France. Zelenskyy is more important/memorable than most recent leaders of Britain, Ireland or Australia. He is difficult to compare to Putin, Xi Jinping or a US President, simply because so few other world leaders have that level of power.
He has inspired a nation to resist invasion and been the catalyst for a reordering of European interests. As the otherwise mediocre President of a small, not particularly powerful or well-developed European nation that's pretty impressive. Very few are tested as he has been, and fewer still rise to the occasion.
posted by plonkee at 9:58 AM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
Zelenskyy is more special than average. I would say that as a political leader, he is less special than Merkel, and makes an interesting comparison to Ardern who is also much admired and has handled a number of crises. The politician he shares a more similar background with, is maybe Macron and I really never want to find out what Macron would do if someone made the mistake of invading France. Zelenskyy is more important/memorable than most recent leaders of Britain, Ireland or Australia. He is difficult to compare to Putin, Xi Jinping or a US President, simply because so few other world leaders have that level of power.
He has inspired a nation to resist invasion and been the catalyst for a reordering of European interests. As the otherwise mediocre President of a small, not particularly powerful or well-developed European nation that's pretty impressive. Very few are tested as he has been, and fewer still rise to the occasion.
posted by plonkee at 9:58 AM on March 24, 2022 [1 favorite]
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