Lukashenka’s Belarus is stronghold of evil for the British

One turns on a film about Sherlock Holmes, and the first thing one sees is a black screen and large white letters: “Minsk. Belarus”.

Then a big empty room with broken out panes is shown. It is a daytime, but there is no electricity inside. Sherlock interrogates a man, their breath misted in the freezing air. It is cold and dark. Minsk, Belarus.

As TUT.by writes, amid the new wave of popularity of the master of logical reasoning after the film “Sherlock Holmes” by Guy Ritchie, the worldwide renowned BBC channel crated its own film about Sherlock Holmes, transferring him into the 21st century. The principles of deduction remain the same, but are applied to today’s reality: a nicotine patch instead of a pipe, internet and iPhone instead of The Times, and central London instead of slums. Holmes is young, pale, agile; Dr. Watson is practical, reliable and sentimental. It is more interesting to watch this film than the Victorian classics: heroes and plots are close and understandable; objects are familiar and real, that is why it is easily understood and stays in one’s memory. The film was a real success, it was broadcast on Sunday evening, prime time, and had an impressive audience of 7.2 million viewers.

And all of them (plus those who could download the film from the BBC website for free, and those who would buy a DVD), started viewing the film from “Minsk. Belarus” on a black screen. It is clear that by the rules of the genre demand a dark side, enemies, and especially a country constituting a danger. This role traditionally belonged to Russia, and to China for a short period in the 1990ies. And now – “How is that Russian case?” Watson asks. “Be-la-rus”, Holmes spells in response. And besides, the Christmas issue of the favourite series “Only Fools and Horses” the main character asks: “So what, should I send that to drug dealers to Belarus?” Such mentioning of our country are getting more and more frequent.

One would think, what’s wrong with that, and maybe Belarusians should be happy. Finally the country is talked about in front of millions’ audience, and it makes no difference what exactly is said about the country. But there is a difference: Belarus firmly occupies a memory cell “a dangerous and underdeveloped place; one should distance oneself from it”; it is depressive, dreary and black-and-white. And it means that investors would not like to bring money to this country, buyers would not have a desire to pay for goods from this country, and tourists would avoid visiting it. Investors, buyers and tourists are first of all common people, and Sherlock Holmes freezing in Minsk, with vapour rising from his mouth, is more emotionally influencing and convincing for them than reports of officials about positive changes of the Belarusian business legislation at costly investment forums.

In the episode under discussion Sherlock unmasks a Belarusian spy, as though he spoke English, his skills are poor. The same happens with promotion of Belarus’ image in Europe: officials are tired with touting investors, and there are no visible achievements. The Belarusians are wasting efforts in the wrong place: they should work with a wide audient, with mass media, mass culture, to create a fertile soil, a positive basic attitude of Europeans to the country in general. Only after that financial and human flows are to start to work their way to Belarus. Otherwise three minutes in the BBC film would cross out months of hard work and government expenditures. You should provoke interest of people – and investments would follow.