Popular Culture Review Vol. 16, No. 1, Spring 2005 | Page 20

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Popular Culture Review
Finally, it is clearly cosmic irony that we find in the epic poem, written
by Vladimir Marakovsky shortly after Lenin’s death, these immortal words:
“And in future times / looking back / at these days / Lenin’s head / is what you’ll
first see.”50 Similarly, a delegate to the Central Committee in 1919 commented,
“And although Ilich has a head like no other on earth, it is still necessary that
around that head there be people.”51 Surely he did not envision those “people” as
affluent martini drinkers.
Conclusion
Having thus made the argument that the tale of Lenin losing his head in
Las Vegas is an ironic one, let us conclude by suggesting that perhaps the
greatest irony of all is that the whole affair seems so right, so appropriate and
predictable, so Las Vegas. Where else in the world could this have happened?
And while amused, who among us is the least bit surprised that it did happen in
Las Vegas? Therefore, perhaps in the big picture, the events do not contradict or
reverse our expectations, and thus the story of Lenin losing his head in Las
Vegas is not ironic at all.
University of Nevada
Dina Titus
Notes
1 Interview with Carl Sibola, Manager, Red Square, Las Vegas (October 6,1999).
2 Elaine Marshall, “Vodka’s Revolution,” Las Vegas Life (June 1999): 24-25; Andrew
Ramsay, “Comrades in Decadence,” Las Vegas Weekly (December 14, 2000): 51; Heidi
Rinella, “Into the Spirit,” Las Vegas Review Journal (February 25, 2004).
3 Jonathan Gold, “Las Vegas,” Gourmet (October 1999): 208-15.
4
Michael Paskevich, “Red Square Offers Unusual Take on Russian Cuisine,” Las Vegas
Review Journal (May 5, 1999).
5 John L. Smith, “Amid Strip’s Spreading Splendor, Mandalay Bay Fashions Fun,” Las
Vegas Review Journal (March 4, 1999).
6 “Mandalay Bay’s Statue o f Lenin Glorifies Tyrant,” Las Vegas Review Journal (March
28, 1999).
7
g
“Dictator’s Likeness Here Un-American,” Las Vegas Review Journal (March 28,1999).
“Lenin in Las Vegas,” Las Vegas Review Journal (March 14, 1999).
^ “Red Alert,” Las Vegas Review Journal (March 15, 1999).
10 “After a Couple of Vodkas, People May Not Notice Anything Missing,” Wall Street
Journal (April 14, 1999).
11 “Red Alert,” ibid.
12 Geoff Carter, “Bad Religion’s Concert Plays Second-Fiddle to Headless Lenin,” Las
Vegas Sun (March 26, 1999).
13 “Headless Lenin,” Las Vegas Sun (March 29,1999); and “Communist Statue in Vegas