Thread by @SlavaMalamud

More on "The Queen's Gambit."
Besides the fact that it is:
1) a typical American sports movie,
2) a visual joy,
3) a caricaturistic but true at heart portrayal of the USSR (our aesthetics were indeed drab, even if Ep. 8 seemed a bit Rocky IVesque),
there is one other thing...

https://twitter.com/SlavaMalamud/status/1334287850045640708

Namely, the mixing of sports and politics, which is a minor, but important, theme in the episode.
Earlier in the series, there is a glimpse of two KGB officers following Soviet chess players around, something that was indeed normal and expected (no doubt, Kasparov's suggestion)..

However, TQG did something other films didn't: turned the situation around and showed that the US during the Cold War could be just as bad in this regard, if not worse.
Indeed, the Soviets always treated sports (and chess WERE considered a major sport in the country)...

... as nothing more, or less, than an extension of the state's foreign policy. Wins were political statements, losses were political setbacks, the entire universe of international competition was officially governed by the Communist Party's Department of Propaganda...

Athletes were political ambassadors who were as arduously coached on how to behave in the West and what to say (and not to say) to the fans and media as they were on how to throw javelins, leap over hurdles or smack the pucky into the net-thing with the doodad thingamajig...

But at least the Soviet state was decent enough to wholly provide for these athletes. They were well paid, had much better living conditions than 99% of Soviet citizens, all of their expenses were taken care of wholly, their coaches were salaried state employees...

In the US, of course, even champion chess players were wholly dependent on private sponsors. The State Department quickly provides for a spook to follow Beth around (just like the KGB follows Borgov) but won't pay a red dime for her travel or accommodations...

The American spook is just as invasive, restrictive and obnoxious as KGB officers were. Beth is followed, "protected" from fans, explicitly told what to say, constantly watched. And all of this AT HER OWN EXPENSE.
I thought this was a nice touch. I mean, all of it is true...

And it's a good reminder that both nations weren't exactly a model of freedom and goodness during the Cold War, even if the USSR was a much worse country to live in.
(Also, 999 thumbs up to Beth for giving a hearty middle finger to the Jesus folks.)

But where America comes of smelling much less than roses is the last scene, when Beth is being prepped for meeting LBJ. While the spook allows himself to speak about the president in not so glowing terms (something the KGB would never dream of when speaking of Brezhnev)...

... the entire premise of the situation is rather disgusting. The government, which did less than nothing to help Beth and only made her life more difficult, is quick as a bunny to take credit for her success and bask in its glow. And, bingo, sports are politics in America, too!

Which, of course, we already knew, since Smith and Carlos also happened under LBJ.
The Soviet government totally did this all the time, but at least it paid for the privilege. Ironically, being much more capitalistic than its US counterpart.
Like I said. A nice touch.

This isn't, again, to say the USSR was a better country. Or to draw false equivalencies. Beth will likely suffer no recriminations for her noncompliant behavior back home, while a Soviet athlete would, big time.
But it's the side of the coin nobody else is eager to show. So kudos