The idea for the reality show originated long ago; recently "Brighton Beach" has found itself the center of attention among the Russian community. It has provoked heated arguments, socio-political action, and the possible formation of a new "Russian" organization.

By February 2010, it had become well-known that three young producers – Elina Miller, Alina Dizik and Christine Mahin – were planning on filming a television show about Brighton and its inhabitants. "Brighton Beach" was supposed to belong to the reality show genre, but according to the articles that appeared in the mainstream American press, the filmed product might be rather different from the real life in Brighton. The producers maintained that they wanted to present a truthful portrayal of Russian-speaking society to show Americans what Russians are really like, and even to quell several stereotypes. However, they added that this portrayal would not necessarily be realistic, but would likely be subordinate to the demands of pop-culture.  

The press also established that "Brighton Beach" was created in the image of the famous (or, rather, infamous) show "Jersey Shore," which presented viewers with a simplistic caricature image of young Italians from New Jersey and evoked indignation in many Americans of Italian heritage. In addition, articles asserted that dozens of young Russian-speaking men and women are already expressing their desire to be featured on "Brighton Beach" and are competing to show the producers that their eccentric, provocative and vulgar behavior could outdo the behavior of Snooki, "The Situation" and the other stars of "Jersey Shore."  

It seemed then that the majority of the "Russian" community ignored the press. However, as it later became clear, a group of our leaders and activists under the leadership of John Lisyanskiy, assistant to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, chose the tactic of waiting and vigilantly tracking the events relating to the show as they unfolded.  

"I've been in politics for 12 years and every day I interact with people who are deeply involved with every community, who follow the tendencies of their developments, who take into account all the positive and negative events," says John Lisyanskiy. "I have been opposing primitive and prejudiced representations of Russian-speaking Americans for a long time and I was concerned by the fact that the producers of "Brighton Beach" wished to present our young people in such a superficial and ludicrous light. At the same time, I did not know if the producers would successfully accomplish their goal; I decided to wait and observe. Before long, it came to my attention that important business people had expressed an interest in the show and it would actually become reality."  

In October, word got out that "Brighton Beach" was purchased not by youth-centric MTV, as was expected, but by the more family- and woman-focused Lifetime. New stories on the show appeared in the American press, explaining that in accordance with Lifetime's demands, the show would be humanized and even feminized; the show's new incarnation would chronicle the lives of three generations of Russian women in America and portray the difficulty of immigrant life.  

However, this did not calm Lisyanskiy. First of all, eight or nine months after the information about the show appeared in the press, a series of Russian scandals burst out in our country – spy scandal, Medicare fraud, scandal with daycare centers, and the most infamous Claims Conference funds scandal – and John and others activists understood that the television series, portraying a caricature of Brighton's youth, could further exacerbate contemptuous and hostile relations toward the community that was caused by these scandals.  

Second, according to Lisyanskiy, the words of the creators of the project and spokesmen from Lifetime were at odds. In the announcement for the coming casting call it was emphasized, once again, that the creators were looking for the "Russian Snooki" and "The Situation." That is – hyperactive and immature young men and women, who only think about food (kielbasa, borscht, and pel'meni), drinking (vodka), deafening music (euro-techno), luxury cars (the father's Mercedes), partying at Russian clubs, and sex. Several popular newspapers – such as the Daily News – made use of these announcements in their articles, thus disseminating them.  

"This newspaper is widely circulated and masses of readers are going to assume that our young people behave exactly as they are portrayed," says Lisyanskiy, "Meanwhile, the executives at Lifetime have not reacted to these articles in any way. That's when I decided to act: I started to discuss possible plans of action with important leaders of the Russian-speaking community. I spoke with many politicians and they agreed with me. As a result, we wrote an open letter to the administration of Lifetime."

The letter, which was signed by many important representatives of the "Russian" community and prominent New York politicians among them NYC Public Advocate Bill De Blasio, and sent by the Russian-speaking American Leadership Caucus, was addressed to Gena MacCarthy, one of the executives at Lifetime. According to Lisyanskiy, the Caucus has not yet been officially formed and is not registered, but he hopes that it will soon appear in the New York socio-political arena, defending the interests of Russian-speaking Americans.  

The letter expressed concern over the possibility that "Brighton Beach" could become a tasteless and superficial show based on ethnic stereotypes and portraying caricatures that are not faithful representations of our youth. The letter also emphasized that the U.S. Russian-speaking community is one of the fastest-growing and best educated in the country, that its cultural values are far above the scope of cheap pop-culture, and its real heroes are people like Joseph Brodsky and Sergey Brin, and not shallow young people like the notorious Snooki who are only capable of eating, drinking and partying.  

"I willingly signed the letter John had sent me," said well-known journalist and community activist Ari Kagan, "Against a background of other 'Russian' scandals, it is very important that the show's creators not perpetuate another absurd stereotype. I live in Brighton, my parents lived there, and many good, decent people live there. This letter is a preventive and, I think, effective measure."

However, several well-known members of our community believe that Lisyanskiy's actions are unfounded. "Lifetime has already emphasized that it will be producing a family show, that the new version vastly differs from its predecessor," says Yelena Makhnin, executive director of the Brighton Beach Business Improvement District. "The creators plan to portray three women – representatives of three generations. Of course, restaurants, night clubs and parties will be featured on the program, but they are also a part of our lives! And the show will be good publicity for Brighton, bringing us tourists," she added.

Raisa Chernina, president of the Be Proud Foundation, agrees with Makhnin. "The camera crew for "Brighton Beach" came to the contest "Her Majesty, Grandma," which is run by our organization," says Chernina. "This alone suggests that the show is family-oriented."  

John Lisyanskiy and his supporters are certain that the letter was neither unnecessary, nor belated, since the first episodes of "Brighton Beach" are currently being filmed.

"Brighton is our home; we love it and try to make it better," says Pat Singer, founder and executive director of the Brighton Neighborhood Association. "I would have liked for the show to present the human face of our region, portraying its hard-working, respectable residents and not just its much-talked-about mafia and unbridled youth."

New York State Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny (D-District 46) voices hope that "the show's creators will take our genuine cultural characteristics into account rather than over-emphasizing negative tendencies that are not typical for our community."

Meanwhile, the Internet has become a forum for heated debate of the show and comments, which, alas, emphasize that very "negative tendencies" in Russian-American community. What follows are only a few examples of some rather unflattering opinions that Americans maintain regarding "Russians."

"Please, please, please get a shot of my neighbor living in a newly redone mansion, wearing one of her five chinchilla coats, buying caviar with her food stamp card, and getting back into their 16 year old sons new 550 Mercedes Benz."
 
"Russians! All getting government benefits and social security disability, food stamps you name it, and you great Americans pay for it. God bless America! Work harder Americans so the Russians can live well in your country. Wake Up!!!"

"Leeches! Send them back. Close the borders to all. This is a Hotel and there is "NO VACANCY!"
 
"They should make sure before they shoot that they are not illegal immigrants and more spies!"

"Is everyone on the show going to be obnoxiously rude with superiority complexes? And are all their grandmothers gonna have EBT cards and stacks of $100s in the pocket of their fur coats?"

 "These Russians are the new mafia; they have a stronghold on narcotics, prostitution, insurance fraud and scamming all these government assistance programs."

"Unfortunately, such images of 'Russians' are common not only among followers of pop-culture, but even among educated people," said Sam Kliger, American Jewish Committee's liaison with the Russian-speaking community. "Not long ago a professor called me and said that she was in the process of writing an article about Russian-speaking Jews for an encyclopedia. She expressed interest in the socio-cultural institutes formed by 'Russians' in America. In her opinion, the most widespread of these institutions are night clubs! I answered her rather sharply; I reminded her that there are night clubs everywhere and that Russian Jews are a hard-working, educated, and successful people, 70 percent of which have has a higher education."

Comments on the Internet prove that the "preventive" measures taken by our activists in the current situation are justified, just like their attempts to show Americans that we are "the most charming, attractive, and intelligent." Combating and dismissing negative stereotypes is necessary; however, we should not forget that where there is smoke there is fire – stereotypes don't appear out of nowhere. In our community there are occurrences upon which stereotypes are based and these also need to be combated.  

Dmitriy, a Russian-speaking American, expresses some interesting ideas in this vein on the Internet. He believes that we, unfortunately, "ignore the rather obvious gaps in our level of development as citizens of the U.S. and of the world."

"In essence, financial/political success and cultural emptiness are not mutually exclusive," he writes. "Can you deny the massive ignorance among our general population? The shallow nature of what nowadays passes for 'Russian-American' culture? The scores of mansions and townhouses in Brooklyn built on fraudulent Medicaid billing?

"When you walk the streets of Brighton Beach, hear the 'music' coming out of the stores, see the cheap and deceptive advertisements and look into the absolutely empty eyes of  'the toughest guys', does it not bother you at all? If not, I don't see any problem here, and there's no sense in crying foul (except, perhaps, as a rallying tactic of some sort). In any case, don't expect a show for and about shallow, materialistic youths to mention that their parents, despite having set a clearly terrible example for their children, are very good at making money."

So we see, "Brighton Beach" has once again made our community the center of public attention and roused interest in Americans about their Russian neighbors. At the same time, debates surrounding the show have forced some Russian-speaking immigrants to look at themselves from a different perspective and consider whether or not we have lost our true moral and cultural values in our pursuit of a simplistic version of the "American Dream."

The televising of "Brighton Beach" is still to come and we are due to find out if this show will dismiss negative representations of "Russians," serving as a positive endorsement of our community, or if it will darken our image, causing yet another scandal.