February 20, Pozirk. Belarusian urban dwellers prefer Western movies, music and books over Russian ones, exiled researcher Filip Bikanaŭ said at the presentation of a survey he conducted with his colleague Kanstancin Nieściarovič.
Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they picked Western movies and TV series against 21 percent who watched those made in Russia. However, 22 percent said they liked Soviet movies. Respondents criticized Russian movies for uninteresting plots, low quality and violence.
The survey also showed that 26 percent listened to Belarusian music; 22 percent, Western music; 19 percent, Russian; while 17 percent chose music made in Soviet Belarus, followed by Soviet-era music with 11 percent. Russian music was described as primitive pop sung by untalented singers, while some respondents also noted the support of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Literary tastes were divided: 13 and 2 percent for Western and modern Russian literature, respectively. Almost a quarter of respondents preferred Western classics; 22 percent, Russian classics; 14 percent, Belarusian classics; and 4 percent, modern Belarusian literature.
Russian authors’ plays scored 16 percent, the same as Belarusian productions against 10 percent of those who preferred Western plays.
Russian cultural influences were the most pronounced only in blogging and stand-up performances. More than 40 percent of respondents preferred Russian comedians against 8 percent who followed Western ones. Russian bloggers scored 14 percent; Belarusian, 6 percent; Ukrainian, 2 percent; while Western bloggers were not mentioned at all.
