History Main / WhyWereBummedCommunismFell

* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' did a metaphorical version of this by having the Klingon Empire sue for peace. The bad guys are conspirators on both sides trying to sabotage the peace process because they don't want the familiar world of Federation vs. Klingons to end. Kirk himself feels somewhat this way at first ("No more [[TheNeutralZone Neutral Zone]]. I was used to hating Klingons."), but he [[CharacterDevelopment comes around]]. The film went into production when the IronCurtain was falling and it ended up being released just nineteen days before the Soviet Union was officially dissolved. In fact, ''Star Trek VI'' actually predicted the August Coup. The film's plot is set in motion when MikhailGorbachev's {{expy}} character is assassinated by hard-liners in his own government. The real coup occurred while the movie was being edited and, with Gorbachev's survival unclear, the filmmakers were left to wonder how much life would be imitating art.

* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' did a metaphorical version of this by having the Klingon Empire sue for peace. The bad guys are conspirators on both sides trying to sabotage the peace process because they don't want the familiar world of Federation vs. Klingons to end. Kirk himself feels somewhat this way at first ("No more [[TheNeutralZone Neutral Zone]]. I was used to hating Klingons."), but he [[CharacterDevelopment comes around]].
** Not this was just before the USSR finally fell, but it was when the rest of Eastern Europe was breaking free of the IronCurtain. In fact, ''Star Trek VI'' actually predicted the August Coup. The film's plot is set in motion when MikhailGorbachev's {{expy}} character is assassinated by hard-liners in his own government. The real coup occurred while the movie was being edited and, with Gorbachev's survival unclear, the filmmakers were left to wonder how much life would be imitating art.

* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' did a metaphorical version of this by having the Klingon Empire sue for peace. The bad guys are conspirators on both sides trying to sabotage the peace process because they don't want the familiar world of Federation vs. Klingons to end. Kirk himself feels somewhat this way at first ("No more Neutral Zone. I was used to hating Klingons."), but he [[CharacterDevelopment comes around]].

* ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' did a metaphorical version of this by having the Klingon Empire sue for peace. And this was just before the USSR finally fell, but it was when the rest of Eastern Europe was breaking free of the IronCurtain.
** In fact, ''Star Trek VI'' actually predicted the August Coup. The film's plot is set in motion when MikhailGorbachev's {{expy}} character is assassinated by hard-liners in his own government. The real coup occurred while the movie was being edited and, with Gorbachev's survival unclear, the filmmakers were left to wonder how much life would be imitating art.

* In Film/Toys this apparently Leland Zevo's StartOfDarkness;

** Academia in general suffered from this. There has now been a move away from the arts, humanities, social sciences, and hard sciences--and towards engineering, business, and medical school--coinciding with the fall of the USSR

-->-- '''''SciFiDebris'' reviewing ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'''''

** The series also features a criminal organization known as Hotel Moscow, which is composed of veterans of the Afghan War. It's leader, [[MagnificentBastard Balalaika]], is a disillusioned former Soviet Special Forces commander who turned to a life of crime after being screwed over by the government in the wake of the war. It's... [[YourMileageMayVary debatable]]. The end of Fujiyama Gangsta's Paradise arc could be explained only by her being, you know,.. deep in the loop. Just undercover.

-->-- '''''SciFiDebris'' reviewing ''StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'''''

* ''StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'' did a metaphorical version of this by having the Klingon Empire sue for peace. And this was just before the USSR finally fell, but it was when the rest of Eastern Europe was breaking free of the IronCurtain.

* In a 1991 ''BloomCounty'' strip, a passerby is flabbergasted to see Opus the Penguin playing "cowboys and Indians" with his friends. [[DeliberateValuesDissonance "You're fighting Indians in 1991?" the stranger asks.]] Opus concedes the point and then declares "Let's fight Commie spies!" No way, declares the stranger; they're too busy [[BurgerFool slaving away at the fryer]] in the new [=McDonald's=] in Moscow. Opus tries again: [[TheWarOnTerror "Arab terrorists!"]] Sorry, comes the reply; [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp they're now our allies]]. "[[StarTrek Klingons]]," begins Opus, getting desperate now - but he's quickly informed that [[TheWorfEffect a Klingon warrior]] is now serving on the crew of the ''U.S.S. Enterprise''. Let's face it, the stranger concludes; it's the "end of history," and there are simply no more bad guys.

* Subverted on September 11, 2001.

* A lot of scientists feel this way. NASA's funding was at its high point, and anyone with a physics degree was basically guaranteed an awesome high-paying job right out of college. After the Cold War ended, funding for a lot of these programs was cut drastically. That, coupled with the fact that there was an influx of immigrant scientists from Eastern Europe, including many who were Nobel laureates, meant a drastic decrease in the number of available science jobs.

** In Berlin, many people make a living by selling relics of the Soviet past such as Social Realist art, Soviet was medals, hats, and there is even a restaurant that specializes in selling East German food.

* A lot of scientists feel this way. NASA's funding was at its high point, and anyone with a physics degree was basically guaranteed an awesome high-paying job right out of college. After the cold war ended, funding for a lot of these programs was cut drastically. That, coupled with the fact that there was an influx of immigrant scientists from Eastern Europe, including many who were nobel laureates, meant a drastic decrease in the number of available science jobs.

* In JamesBond:
** ''{{GoldenEye}}'' wondered if JamesBond was even relevant now. This is one of the reasons some consider it the best of the Brosnan films. M in particular bluntly told Bond he was "a relic of the Cold War".
** ''CasinoRoyale'' has a throwaway line where M grouses about the new political scene, ending with, "Christ, I miss the ColdWar!"

*** On the other hand, from the perspective of politics and freedom, the ex-Communist states of Europe (save UsefulNotes/{{Belarus}}) are way nicer to live than the Central Asian ex-republics and even Russia itself (any objective observer will tell you that Russia is a half-dictatorship with an unsustainable sham of an economy). Not for nothing were the Baltics, Bulgaria, and Romania (and soon, Croatia) admitted to the EU.

** This also means that there is a high proportion of beggars and vagrants in former Communist cities. Most of these beggars are men in their thirties to fifties, who grew up with the expectation that the state would provide for them and they were unable to cope when things fell apart.

* The plot of the second ''{{Patlabor}}'' (a series which previously suffered quite heavily from TheGreatPoliticsMessUp) movie revolves around a terrorist plot intended to show the world how vulnerable the military budget cuts brought about by the end of the Cold War have made people ([[spoiler:at least it was before Tsuge hijacked the plan for his own personal vendetta against the apathetic citizenry & {{Armchair General}}s who hung him out to dry when his attempts to develop a HumongousMecha school of combat fell apart]]).

* From ''AmericanDad'', Sergei the former-KGB agent lost his wife and son to capitalism when communism fell, so he went to America to "steal away Stan Smith's son... FOR COMMUNISM!" He failed, so he decided to plant his seeds of revenge, to grow some plants of revenge (which could also be used in a stew of revenge) and keep cultivating revenge until "the time was right."

* In a 1991 ''BloomCounty'' strip, a passerby is flabbergasted to see Opus the Penguin playing "cowboys and Indians" with his friends. [[DeliberateValuesDissonance "You're fighting Indians in 1991?" the stranger asks.]] Opus concedes the point and then declares "Let's fight Commie spies!" No way, declares the stranger; they're too busy [[BurgerFool slaving away at the fryer]] in the new [=McDonald's=] in Moscow. Opus tries again: [[TheWarOnTerror "Arab terrorists!"]] Sorry, comes the reply; they're now our allies. "[[StarTrek Klingons]]," begins Opus, getting desperate now - but he's quickly informed that [[TheWorfEffect a Klingon warrior]] is now serving on the crew of the ''U.S.S. Enterprise''. Let's face it, the stranger concludes; it's the "end of history," and there are simply no more bad guys.

->''I miss the Cold War. Things were so simple then.''
-->-- John Derbyshire

->"I miss the Cold War. Things so simple then."
-->-- John Derbyshire

** ''[=~GoldenEye~=]'' wondered if JamesBond was even relevant now. This is one of the reasons some consider it the best of the Brosnan films. M in particular bluntly told Bond he was "a relic of the Cold War".

** A plot to kill Gorbachev and keep the Cold War going was the subject of ''The Package''.

* The characters in ''Film/GoodByeLenin'' try to hide the fall of communism from their mother who just woke from a long coma after a stroke, as they fear she might die when the truth is revealed to her.
** The film is actually part of a larger East German art movement called Ostalgie, which is based around nostalgia for the old communist years of the GDR. You'll note the presence of old East German cartoons throughout, the idolization of Sigmund Jähn, the protagonists' consternation over the loss of their favorite brand of pickles, and the general malaise that sets in with the city's mad rush toward the worst aspects of materialistic capitalism.