I enjoyed the show quite a bit more than you did, but I won't go into that because at the end of the day, taste is taste. I can understand someone not enjoying the show from a stylistic standpoint, or from a craft standpoint. It's not exactly Hamilton.
One thing I do want to respond to is your final paragraph - I completely disagree with your assessment of the message, to the point where I might venture to say that you sort of missed the point, although I suppose these things are up for interpretation.
To me, the whole point of the show was to draw attention to the stupidity and immaturity of the Space Race, and at the expense of these dogs. It's not "Pro-USSR" it's just that we focus more on the USSR because that's where the dog story takes place. It's anti-America and anti-USSR, and pro-dog! At no point are we asked to celebrate the Soviets.
(SPOILER BELOW)
The only Russian we're meant to sympathize with at all is the scientist, and even he ends up being the "tragic fool" in the end - so caught up in his "duty" and his "ideals" that he gives up his humanity. Toward the end of the show, Laika basically "haunts" the scientist, and Laika is hurt and betrayed that the scientist knowingly sent her to die, despite claiming to love her. Because the lives of these dogs were sacrificed in the name of some abstract "war" or "progress." This is where the whole point of the show is hammered home. Though I think the messaging is present throughout the show, as we contrast the innocent and hopeful dogs, with the d*ck-measuring contest between the USA and the USSR. |
