There used to be a poster on this board by the name of Ivan Astikov. It took me a while.
The credits of the public radio program Car Talk has a whole series of these. (Assistant Fleet Manager: Lisa Carr, Accounts Payable Clerk, Moscow Office: Dasha Chekhov)
In*** MAD Magazine***, parking lot attendants had names like Nick Adore, Gundy Motor, Leif Rubber, Randy Batterydown, and Skip Braking.
What Jackmanni said.
To answer affirmative to the OP I would think you’d have to have first encountered Rocky and Bullwinkle as an adult.
(and obviously have heard of Gudunov)
mmm
I’m a lot more familiar with Early Modern Europe history than 19th century (or any century) opera. I probably had heard about the opera at some point in the past, but it never cemented in my mind as anything worth remembering. But if you’re the kind of kid who likes studying Royal Family Trees in the encyclopedia, you’ll see Godunov in a weird tangled mess of a situation when you look at Russia’s in the 16th to 17th Century.
In the cartoon Beanyland, Beany, Cecil, and the Cap’n fly to the moon to build a theme park, loosely based on Disneyland. One of the attractions was called the “Darned Old Duck Pond.”
Count me as one of the few people who heard of Boris Godunov first. I barely watched any TV as a kid and Rocky and Bullwinkle was before my time anyway. I was also a dork who developed an interest in the history of Tsarist Russia around age 11-12 after finding my mother’s copy of Nicholas and Alexandra in the basement. Any further reading on Ivan IV brings up his name pretty quickly.
Heard of Gudenov first, but never made the connection. Thank you!
I guess I’m a idiot, because I have never heard of Boris Gudonov, and have no idea what opera you’re talking about. If someone came and pointed a gun to my head, I’m lucky if I could even name five operas, and that’s even if they let me go with “Tommy”. I don’t think I can. I might be wrong, but I don’t think this is unusual.
I looked up the Wikipedia page for his name, and still have no idea why the average person is supposed to know him.
We human beings have such trouble understanding that other people don’t know everything that we ourselves know. It’s very weird, and (as in this case) it can be kind of annoying at times.
No, never having heard of Boris G., either the man or the opera, does not make you an idiot. Far from it. The average American, even the average educated American, won’t have any idea who Gudunov is. And shouldn’t, really.
We might expect Americans to know about Stalin, Lenin, Catherine the Great, Dostoyevsky, Tchaikovsky, a few other Greatest Hits of Russian history…Gudunov doesn’t rank that high.
We might expect Americans to know about The Magic Flute, the Ring Cycle, Carmen, La Boheme, a few other Greatest Hits of Opera…again, Gudunov isn’t near the top of that list.
If you read a lot of Russian history, took a couple of courses on Russian history in college, lived in Russia, have strong Russian family roots, then there’s a good chance you know about the man. If you can name a couple dozen famous Russians without resorting to fictional characters, you probably know about him. Doesn’t mean the rest of us will.
If you’re an opera buff, listen regularly to the Saturday afternoon broadcasts, like to argue the merits of Famous Soprano I vs. Famous Soprano II, then you probably know about the opera. If you can name a couple dozen operas without breaking a sweat, you probably have some familiarity. Doesn’t mean the rest of us will.
I know about Boris G. because my dad was something of an opera buff; when I mentioned Boris B. at one point (Dad knew NOTHING about pop culture) he grinned and explained the connection. I know enough on my own about opera to have run into references to Boris G. later on. (I can name two dozen operas.) (Though I was a history major I never did run into Boris G., the real one, and I doubt I could name two dozen Russians.) But if you haven’t heard of Gudunov, that certainly shouldn’t brand you an idiot or anything resembling it.
I wonder how many people recognize Badenov’s favorite curse and know the significance of it. I had to explain it to my older brother, who was a pretty smart guy but knew very little about Russian history or culture. I understood it because I had to read a lot of Russian literature in grad school.
“Raskolnikov!” Raskolnikov was the villain in Dostoevskii’s Crime and Punishment.
See, I was going to go – with the gun against my head – The Magic Flute, La Traviata, and then it was going to shit. Um, Porgy & Bess is technically an opera, right? So I have two more before the trigger is pulled. Hence hoping the gunman goes for “Tommy” and then I’ll have to rack the inner recesses of my brain and hope I can remember Carmen or La Boheme. Wait, Marriage of Figaro! And NY Times Crossword in the last couple of days reminded me of Verdi’s “Otello” (well, no so much “reminded” as “informed me of”). So maybe I’d live!
See, Raskolnikov, I know. Badenov, not so much.
I’m still wondering why the average six-year-old is supposed to know him first, because there is no way a kid has not seen Rocky and Bullwinkle unless the family is Luddites.
Forgive me for not knowing, but how old is that?
I wonder how many people get the significance of the country Boris and Natasha were from: Pottsylvania.*
I always thought it was hilarious that Boris and Natasha were so obviously Russian and Fearless Leader was so obviously a Nazi. No contradictions there, nosiree! 
*I’ll give you a hint: Syvania means “forest.” 