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October 20, 2005
united nations
Long Way Round, for those who don't know, is a TV documentary chronicling the London-to-New York motorcycle trip undertaken by actors Ewan Macgregor and Charlie Boorman last year. They struggled through remotest Mongolia and Siberia, where often there were no roads, so a support crew rode a day behind them to help with the various crises that occurred. The support crew was largely British but was led by the producer, an American, and included a Russian doctor.
In barren Siberia, the support crew caught up with the motorcycles. What ensued struck me as a little microcosm of international relations. Boorman had severely injured himself, and the Russian doctor was aghast, appalled, and morally outraged that Boorman would even consider going on.
"Zis eez so fooleesh, to reesk zer healths like zis. For what? Zey have famileeze, you know? Just stupid, stupid!" the doctor scolded, making the cigarette hanging on his lower lip bob like a conductor's baton. I was utterly charmed by this guy. The perfect Russian.
Later, the support crew was gingerly driving their SUVs through five feet of disgusting standing water. The vehicles konked out, and the Brits took to slogging through the muck on foot. Then the SUV driven by the American plowed through at breakneck speed, violently sending a wake of muck at his British companions—and getting through without stalling. The look on the Brits' faces said it all, a telling combination of respect, bewilderment, envy, and utter disgust. I thought the moment crystallized Anglo-American relations perfectly.
posted by john at 8:52 AM • permalink