„Chernobyl“ (TV series, 2019), written by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck
Inconvenient truth
by patrick wilfert (2020)
A lot has been said about the many qualities of this outstanding production, and half a million people made it the highest ranking tv-series on imdb, with an average vote of nine-point-something (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7366338/). Critics are understandably overwhelmed by the scenography and impressed by brilliant actor´s performances. Other than that, they seem to outdo each other in being meticulous about historical details. There is nothing wrong with historical fact checking, but astoundingly the allegorical dimension of „Chernobyl“ seems to be widely overlooked and left unmentioned.
After five hours of brilliant entertainment, a quite unspectacular picture from the final episode stood out to me: The portrait of a soviet Mickey Mouse lookalike, standing abandoned and left to rot somewhere in Pripyat, the ghost city next to the nuclear power plant. There are definitely more iconic objects and sceneries in what is left of Pripyat, since the dream of endless cheap energy went up in flames, 34 years ago. Editing this shot, rather than some gigantic rusty hammer and sickle on top of a soviet era skyscraper for example, seemed to be a pretty careful choice.
As much as „Chernobyl“ is about the Soviet system, the social and political dimension of disaster management at the time, it is a classical parable play: What should not be, can not be. The system is not to question, only individuals are to blame. Whatever the inconvenient truth may be - if it does not meet the interests of the actual system of power and it’s profiteers, it will be denied. The final episode with it´s precise lawsuit scenes makes it very clear how enlightenment will be oppressed, how those who try to tell the truth risk their lives.
The lesson to learn here is pretty much the same around the world, at all times. Dare to speak up and you'll find yourself isolated, humiliated, character assassinated, financially ruined... if not tortured and assassinated right away. Certainly, there are some cultural differences: As a Saudi-Arabian journalist, you might get cut into pieces in your own embassy (Jamal Khashoggi, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45812399), while in Malta , much closer to that tradizione Italiano, you simply explode sitting in your car (Daphne Caruana Galizia, https://www.theguardian.com/.../malta-car-bomb-kills...).
In Russia you quickly end up in prison for something someone made up, unless you deserve more original and definite treatment, like good cup of tea with a splash of poison. Anna Politkovskaya, who survived a poisoned cup of tea served to her on a domestic flight, was then shot two years later entering her apartment building. (https://www.nytimes.com/.../navalny-poison-russia-kremlin...).
Prosecution under fake accusations is of course the big favourite throughout the „civilized world“, at least in cases that get enough media coverage, as keeping up appearances matters to the hypocrites in charge. So as an Australian publisher, you are kept in solitary confinement in a British prison cell, waiting for your extradition to Big Brother - after your life and health has been ruined under the most Kafkaesque circumstances, and basic human rights have been denied to you for a decade already (https://www.theguardian.com/media/julian-assange). Corruption on highest political levels, human rights violation or authorised war crimes don’t seem to be the problem to the rulers of the world. But publishing the truth about it is.
What we see is a decomposing soviet Mickey Mouse lookalike. We all know his deranged friend Donald is just the same: a nightmarish reminder of disillusionment, a rotten to the core caricature.
© 2026 patrick wilfert. all rights reserved.