Originally published at: Prankster puts a portrait of Putin in Moscow elevator and records reactions | Boing Boing
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I sort of wish they blurred out the faces. I worried for any reaction from the government for these comments.
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yeah I can kind of imagine the prankster sitting tied to a chair and trying to explain to some thugs " but I love putin I just wanted to show how much we all love love putin and the reactions from people were because they love putin so much and no one thought the painting did him justice you see now we all friends who love putin … yes? "
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I’d love to have a drink with the first guy, but Russia’s likely off limits for a while.
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Was from a couple years ago… definitely had more free speech back then…
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The biggest tell here is that nearly everyone immediately looks behind the picture to see if there’s a camera.
I remember one building I used to live in somebody would urinate in the elevator from time to time-- I can’t tell if a portrait of Putin would invite more of that or scare tinklers away.
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I was frustrated that no one looked at the obvious camera in the corner! maybe those were edited out 
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My immediate reaction as well.
And then, as a follow-up, how many were resigned to ‘oh well, I guess we’re at this next stage then’.
As this was from 2 years ago, it does give a sense of how, no matter what it might seem from the outside, the Russians themselves would be cautiously relieved by a change in their entire government. It would take time for the caution to fade into the background, but I don’t think even at first there would be much resistance to becoming more like Ukraine (rather than the other way around).
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That’s always a fascinating moment, the societal equivalent of “ok, it looks like I’m that guy* now” admission on the part of individuals.
We’re still in enough denial in the U.S. that we haven’t reached that moment, but it’s going to arrive sooner than we think.
[* i.e. the type of guy he always deplored]
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No one had a sharpie? He needs a mustache and buck teeth! STAT!
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I was thinking that too. But let’s assume he got them to sign releases.
It’s an interesting experiment, unthinkable during Lenin or Stalin.
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The longer, unredacted version of this video is more interesting. At 0:22 a guy walks in and can clearly be heard saying “твою мать”, which translates to “your mother” (with an implied “Ёб” before that, which I’ll leave to the imagination of the reader).
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I always thought it amusing that the local post office has a picture of the POTUS on the wall; but, for some reason, they never did get around to putting You Know Who’s portrait up there.
Lots of trumpanzees running around in the area, too, so it’s surprising none of 'em seemed to notice or care.
Haven’t been there lately, so I don’t know if Uncle Joe’s pic is there or not, but it would be even more amusing if it is.
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