Why Russia Is Not America

A few hours ago, I was mindlessly pressing buttons on the remote, when suddenly I froze: Nickelodeon, a kid’s show, teenagers going crazy — and among them, Michelle Obama.

She is playing herself. The children are making silly jokes about her and her husband the president. They are bouncing around and she is bouncing along with them. Security is being made fun of openly.

I even had to investigate because I could not believe my eyes.

Indeed, in 2011 Michelle starred in one episode of “iCarly,” a series about a girl who does her own web-show. According to the script, she comes to thank the heroine on behalf of her daughters for her excellent work and, having canceled an important meeting, she takes part in the filming.

It all makes an impression. Of course, a simple comparison is unavoidable: Why not try and imagine Lyudmila Putina in a similar situation? Go ahead.

Oh, America. It is a country where people go out and drink without snacks. But that is not what is so interesting. (Consider this a “coming-out”: It is true that I consider the U.S. a nearly ideal country — but alas, not the one governed by the real Obama, but the one inhabited by Homer J. Simpson, the cartoon.)

However, there really is a grandiose culture gap here. No matter the persona, it seems to me that in our culture, this type of contact with the ruling power is unthinkable. It would be scandalous, inappropriate. I could go on writing a lot more, but this is enough for a notebook.

The thing is, with all our love or hate, we maintain a distance. We keep in mind that, when it comes to the ruling powers, they are not people exactly. They are either demigods or insects. That is for everyone to decide for themselves, but they are not quite people either way. And that is normal.

Actually, here is a question for the experts: In “The Simpsons,” as we know, celebrities usually give their own voices to the cartoon version of themselves. (There is even an exquisite story about Michael Jackson relating to this. Those aware of it know what I am saying.) Well, in the episode where Michelle arrives at the school by helicopter to morally support Lisa, is it really Michelle’s voice?

(One last thing I have remembered is perhaps the most powerful example of the culture gap: the scene in “The Simpsons” where Murdoch goes to Moe’s for a drink and asks that Fox News not be turned on; he probably lent his voice for that as well.)