Why did they name the show Russian Doll?
Watched Russian Doll recently and it was enjoyable but really made me wonder about the title. Like what does the show have to do with Russian dolls? Even the poster used it:
Best Answer
The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Natasha Lyonne in January 2019 and explains:
Poehler came up with the title as a literal idea of what the protagonist would represent. In those early days of brainstorming Russian Doll, Nadia was conceived as someone who "has an external presentation that we all put out into the world and, once you take the deep dive, has this whole other person working in there," Lyonne explains. "The idea that we had come up with was choose your own adventure style, where you could make a choice to try every person out at a party, but who would still be stuck with themselves at the end. And that’s the person you were really going to have to look at."
(Amy Poehler co-created the TV-series.)
A Russian (or Matryoshka) doll according to wikipedia:
A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure, which separates, top from bottom, to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside, which has, in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on.
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What does the term Russian Doll mean?
Russian-doll definition Filters. (allegorically) An issue or situation which repeatedly reveals more levels of complexity. noun.Is Russian Doll based on a true story?
Natasha Lyonne has a message for people who see \u201cRussian Doll,\u201d the time-trippy dark comedy on Netflix she co-created and stars in, as a kind of television memoir: The show is personal but not autobiographical.What is Russian Doll based on?
Based on a character Lyonne had long imagined \u2014 essentially a hard-partying, alternate-reality version of herself named Nadia \u2014 the series explores the nature of life and death, goodness and regret, of memory, ghosts, family, and the New York City she loves.What is the message of Russian Doll?
Natasha explained Season 2's central theme with The Hollywood Reporter. She said, "The deeper layer of this kind of Russian Doll metaphor is that there isn't a shortcut around the mountain.\u201d She explained, \u201cYou must go through the mountain; you must climb up and back down the other side.\u201dNatasha Lyonne Shares How She and Amy Poehler Created Russian Doll | The Tonight Show
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Answer 2
It's a double (triple?) entendre.
First, the character is of Russian heritage. And in particular, a Russian Jew.
This also summons up Winston Churchill's famous line,
I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma...
Which may aim to evoke the Russian Matryoshka doll.
It's even more complicated for Russian Jews. That is relevant because of the very heavy Jewish topicality and symbolism in the show, that the character is Russian, and that the actress, Natasha Lyonne, has deep Jewish heritage.
Then there is the direct symbolism of the Russian Matryoshka doll, as that pertains to the constant deaths and rebirths. And particularly, as the character slowly by trial and error, uncovers the layers of her personality, ego, and the way she presents herself to the world.
The character also does her makeup in near comical extremes, in a "dollish" sort of way.
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Images: Erik Mclean, RODNAE Productions, RODNAE Productions, Anna