Did Stalin Go Hollywood?

Did you know North Korea's Kim Jong Il is obsessed with the film "Scarface"? That might explain why the Dear Leader is always acting all Tony Montana on us. But Lil Kim might not be the first totalitarian with a taste for the tinsel. I'm looking at you Joseph Stalin!

After the Russians took over Romania in the '40s, Stalin gifted the city of Brasov with his name. That's right, for about half a dozen years, the city of Brasov was named Stalin because apparently Stalingrad wasn't enough. Still, the two biggest ways he went (323) had to do with the hills and the region.

First, Stalin literally put his name in the hills. No, he didn't put up a big sign, but he did put up Christmas trees planted in such a way that they spelled his name. In the winter, all the trees lose their leaves, but since these imported Christmas trees held onto theirs, the good townsfolk could look up at the winter woods and see STALIN written in the trees.

Christmas trees? To quote my homegirl Sarah P, "Say it ain't so, Joe!" There's no Christmas trees in Commieland! What, did you put mistletoe over your office door and sing a few "Hark! The Herald Angels" carols, too?

Second, Mr. Frost bequeathed his name to a town in the heart of Transylvania loaded with everything from the Black Church to Dracula's Castle. Who does he think he is, Bela Lugosi? Come on, Stal, the world already thinks you're a bloodthirsty tyrant, and you plant your name in villa de vampire? "Dracula" is enormous at the time, from the hit film to the Bram Stoker book that became the first global seller not named the Holy Bible. Even today, Brasov is the biggest Halloween spot outside America! So Joe, you trying to tell us you're the king of the vampires?

Whether or not Stalin really did go Hollywood -- it's not like he wore skinny jeans and glittery shirts and passed out "Producer" cards -- the people of Brasov seem to think he did. On numerous occasions, I heard locals refer to the town as Stalinwood. When I asked what that meant, I heard, "It's an old joke." If only J.S. had been born in the age of reality TV…

In 1953, the great land giver finally gave his body to the land, and the town cut down those trees faster than you can say toasted marshmallows. Stalinwood officially became Brasov again in 1960, and the city even put up a Hollywood-like sign. You have to wonder if they put it up just to spite Stally from his grave.

Images by ScotchMist and Nikholas Federiko courtesy of Flickr.