History YMMV / Chernobyl

!!The 2019 miniseries:

%% Please do not add any Broken Base or Base-Breaking Characters entries until at least six months after the release date. Remember that Broken Base is for prolonged conflicts.

** If you're into haunting drone-based ambience soundtracks, the way Music/HildurGudnadottir's compositions for the series capture the dread of nuclear contamination (using a number of sounds from the nuclear power plant where the series was filmed) is especially chilling. The WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue also owes much of its emotional impact to the [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous Slavic Chanting]] of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLZPfMHWPWk "Vichnaya Pamyat"]][[note]]"Vichnaya Pamyat" means "Memory Eternal," an Eastern Orthodox funeral prayer for the deceased[[/note]].
** The soundscape produced for the series certainly builds on the minimalistic electronica kicked off by both ''Alien'' and ''Blade Runner'', but uses a more game-like aesthetic that is highly reminiscent of the heights of the dynamic interplay between background and foreground ambience found in SurvivalHorror environmental sound design. Think ''Silent Hill'' and other greats.

** The images of radiation poisoning would once again return to headlines in 2022 when it was reported that Russian soldiers occupying Chernobyl during the Russo-Ukraine war were infected with radiation.

* AmericansHateTingle: As was to be expected, the series was far more controversial in Russia than in the rest of the world. In particular, its use of artistic license had attracted criticism even from the "liberal opposition-aligned" commentators with firsthand knowledge of the situation, while both the pro-state media, and many in the wider society, which is patriotic and/or Soviet-nostalgic at large, had seized on the inaccuracies to dismiss the entire show as a lie and a work of propaganda. On the other hand, the more Western-oriented and "liberal" youth had often praised it in line with the Western opinion, thus intensifying the split. The entire controversy had even resulted in the creation of ''VideoGame/ChernobylTheUntoldStory'', an indie video game that parodies the claims in the series by taking them UpToEleven. The 2021 film ''Film/ChernobylAbyss'', which shifts focus away from the many mistakes and failures of the Soviet system involved to the firefighters and liquidators, was praised in Russia meanwhile (although its director and producer have acknowledged the importance of the 2019 mini-series).

** Tankies (usually pro-Stalinist extremists) on social media who use the miniseries to compare the USSR's response to Chernobyl ''favorably'' to how the U.S. government has handled disasters like Hurricane Katrina or the Flint water crisis, ''[[InsaneTrollLogic going so far as to claim the miniseries vindicates Soviet-style communism.]]'' This despite the miniseries clearly depicting the Soviet government as corrupt and incompetent -- prioritizing its ideology over facts -- which contributed to the disaster and bungled the response at several points afterward.

* ValuesResonance: There are parallels that can be drawn between the [[UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} 1986 Chernobyl incident]] and [[UsefulNotes/Covid19pandemic 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic]]. Notably, initial communist government reaction of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation_by_China downplaying the severity of the incident]], and censuring [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Wenliang experts]] who tried to warn others of its danger. Until the truth can no longer be contained, and all hell breaks loose. A number of other viewers also drew parallels to what they considered to be a similar HeadInTheSandManagement approach to the pandemic in the West, particularly in the U.S.

* ValuesResonance: There are parallels that can be drawn between the [[UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} 1986 Chernobyl incident]] and [[UsefulNotes/Covid19pandemic 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic]]. Notably, initial communist government reaction of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_misinformation_by_China downplaying the severity of the incident]], and censuring [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Wenliang experts]] who tried to warn others of its danger. Until the truth can no longer be contained, and all hell breaks loose.

** The images of radiation poisoning would once again returned to headlines in 2022 when it was reported Russian soldiers occupying Chernobyl during the Russo-Ukraine war were infected with radiation.

** Shitposting groups about the series on Website/{{Facebook}} make [[BlackComedy jokes]] about how Vasily's [[{{Squick}} final]] [[{{BodyHorror}} state]] makes him look like a pizza or a lasagna, and how some characters actually [[CrossingTheLineTwice confuse him]] with such and eat him.

* AmericansHateTingle: As was to be expected, the series was far more controversial in Russia than in the rest of the world. In particular, its use of artistic license had attracted criticism even from the "liberal opposition-aligned" commentators with firsthand knowledge of the situation, while both the pro-state media, and many in the wider society, which is patriotic and/or Soviet-nostalgic at large, had seized on the inaccuracies to dismiss the entire show as a lie and a work of propaganda. On the other hand, the more Western-oriented and "liberal" youth had often praised it in line with the Western opinion, thus intensifying the split. The entire controversy had even resulted in the creation of ''VideoGame/ChernobylTheUntoldStory'', an indie video game that parodies the claims in the series by taking them UpToEleven.

** "If these worked, you'd be wearing them." [[lablenote:explanation]] Andrei says this in response to the proposed facemask the miners needed to wear to protect them from radiation, which became applicable during the Covid-19 pandemic where a great deal of mask skepticism came from the politicians, media outlets and celebrities constantly advocating them while flaunting doing that themselves. [[/labelnote]]

** On the other hand, some reviewers in Russia (and even in Ukraine) also called the series "anti-socialist" and "anti-Soviet". But for purpose of bashing, rather than praising.
** And then there are tankies (usually pro-Stalinist extremists) on social media who use the miniseries to compare the USSR's response to Chernobyl ''favorably'' to how the U.S. government has handled disasters like Hurricane Katrina or the Flint water crisis, ''[[InsaneTrollLogic going so far as to claim the miniseries vindicates Soviet-style communism.]]'' This despite the miniseries clearly depicting the Soviet government as corrupt and incompetent -- prioritizing its ideology over facts -- which contributed to the disaster and bungled the response at several points afterward.

** Craig Mazin has noted how the lessons of Chernobyl are more than applicable to climate crisis of today, with a clear and obvious disaster that directly threatens the lives of millions being obfuscated and covered up by corrupt, complacent, and incompetent authorities who actively hinder any attempts to mitigate it.

** Its applicability to the coronavirus has become more and more relevant in the [=US=], with many individuals and media providers advocating any number of false narratives/potential treatments related to the virus, alongside denial of science (particularly vaccination reluctance in the wake of the Delta variant in mid-2021). "The price of lies" indeed...

** There's been reactions by several right-wing pundits about the series is a damning indictment of all leftist thinking, mostly (if not exclusively) due to the fact that the setting is the Soviet Union, leading to Mazin [[https://theintercept.com/2019/06/05/what-the-horror-of-chernobyl-reveals-about-the-deceit-of-the-trump-era/ defending the series as an argument against]] ''any'' short-sighted bureaucracy unwilling to listen to experts about ongoing RealLife catastrophes.
--->'''Mazin:''' Chernobyl was a failure of humans whose loyalty to (or fear of) a broken governing party overruled their sense of decency and rationality. [[ShutUpHannibal You're the old man with the cane]]. You just worship a [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump different man's]] portrait.

** Similarly, as stated in MemeticMutation above, some people joked that [[BodyHorror Vasily's body in the final stages of [=ARS=]]] looks like [[ITasteDelicious lasagna]], [[IAteWhat which actually isn't any less horrific]] [[IAmAHumanitarian when you think about it]].

** Shitposting groups about the series on Website/{{Facebook}} make [[BlackComedy jokes]] about how Vasily's [[{{Squick}} final]] [[{{BodyHorror}} state]] makes him look like a pizza or a lasagna, and how some characters actually [[CrossingTheLineTwice confuse him]] with such and [[IAteWhat eat him]].

** In ''{{Film/Thor}}'', Creator/StellanSkarsgard's character mentions [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk a scientist pioneer in gamma radiation]].

* WhatAnIdiot:
** ''Dyatlov.'' Even though Legasov justifiably blames the Soviet government for contributing to the disaster, at the show trial he still makes it clear that Dyatlov's insane actions were the primary cause, laying out just how thoroughly stupid and dangerous his actions were. Dyatlov very knowingly violated every safety procedure, every rule in the book, every bit of common sense, to complete a test that he should have known would have been impossible to perform under the circumstances and would have given useless data ''at best''. While he did it with the (for once, understandable) belief that the AZ-5 emergency shutdown would work as intended, he still drove a nuclear reactor into meltdown for no sane reason. When the personnel objected to his orders, he yelled at them. When Akimov balked at his insanely dangerous order, Dyatlov threatened to destroy his life if he didn't comply. What's particularly baffling to the control room staff was that Dyatlov insisted on forcing the test to take place despite the reactor not meeting the conditions necessary to even ''conduct'' one, let alone produce a valid result.
** Khomyuk, Legasov, and Scherbina express this sentiment against the Soviet state itself at times. In particular, when the state gave West Germany the propaganda number for the radiation level when looking for a robot capable of operating in high-radiation environments to do essential cleanup work--naturally, with the actual radiation level being many times greater than admitted, the robot immediately fails due to intense radiation, wasting lots of time and money. Khomyuk is in disbelief when she finds that the AZ-5 emergency shutdown could, because the control rods were tipped with graphite, actually make things much ''worse'' for a brief time before the reactor powered down...and the KGB and Soviet leaders deliberately kept all of that a state secret, even from the people managing and running the reactors themselves.
** At his show trial, Dyatlov has the gall to interrupt everyone and blatantly lie that he wasn't even in the control room when the control rods were removed from the core, despite numerous witnesses all saying that he was, that he gave the order, and that he threatened Akimov when he initially refused. Given that this was a ''show trial'', and the only way to avoid severe punishment (or execution) is to basically express sincere guilt, shame, and humility, it was an incredibly dumb thing to do -- so much so that the prosecutor, Legasov, and the judge are baffled that Dyatlov even tried it.

** Its applicability to the coronavirus has become more and more relevant in the [=US=], with many [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment individuals and media providers]] advocating any number of false narratives/potential treatments related to the virus, alongside denial of science (particularly vaccination reluctance in the wake of the Delta variant in mid-2021). "The price of lies" indeed...

*** Its applicability to the coronavirus has become more and more relevant in the [=US=], with many [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment individuals and media providers]] advocating any number of false narratives/potential treatments related to the virus, alongside denial of science (particularly vaccination reluctance in the wake of the Delta variant in mid-2021). "The price of lies" indeed...

** It didn't take long for Chinese netizens to start pointing out certain similarities in the way the CCP was (mis)handling information concerning, and its general response to, the coronavirus outbreak and how the Soviet Union dealt with the disaster as depicted in the series. Cue a BannedInChina crackdown on any such discussion and a suspension on new sales. Thus emphasizing the point, really.

*** Its applicability to the coronavirus has become more and more relevant in the [=US=], with many [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment individuals and media providers]] advocating any number of false narratives/potential treatments related to the virus, particularly vaccination reluctance in the wake of the Delta variant in mid-2021. "The price of lies" indeed...

** It didn't take long for Chinese netizens to start pointing out certain similarities in the way the CCP was (mis)handling information concerning, and its general response to, the coronavirus outbreak and how the Soviet Union dealt with the disaster as depicted in the series. Cue a BannedInChina crackdown on any such discussion and a suspension on new sales. Thus emphasising the point, really.
*** Its applicability to the coronavirus has become more and more relevant in the [=US=], with many [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement individuals and media providers]] advocating any number of false narratives/potential treatments related to the virus, particularly vaccination reluctance in the wake of the Delta variant in mid-2021. "The price of lies" indeed...

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The disaster didn't have to be as big as it was if only the Soviet government was more honest ''with itself'' about the dangerous design flaws of that reactor type, and if the emergency response was focused more on saving people than on covering up everything. The Aesop of the entire series is: "This is the cost of lies."

* ValuesResonance: There are parallels that can be drawn between the [[UsefulNotes/Chernobyl 1986 Chernobyl incident]] and [[UsefulNotes/Covid19pandemic 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic]]. Notably, initial communist government reaction of downplaying the severity of the incident, and censuring [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Wenliang experts]] who tried to warn others of its danger. Until the truth can no longer be contained, and all hell breaks loose.