9GAG Posts: Idyllic Romania
Image Source: https://9gag.com/gag/aXXVO7g?ref=ios.s.others
Image Description
This is a collection of images from Maramures, a region in Northern Romania, that shows different landscapes including mountains, hills, haycocks in a field, a church made of wood, a small house in the middle of nowhere, a river flowing in between mountains, and finally, five Romanian young girls dressed in a traditional Romanian national costume.
Image Analysis
The reason why I chose to talk about this post is because it relates to a less known (yet still relevant) trope connected to Romania, and one that has positive connotations, more precisely that of Romania as an idyllic land, a natural paradise, and a remote land where things rarely change. While this is mostly used as a negative characteristic of Romania, in this case, it is seen as a positive aspect. Romania is portrayed as being a beautiful place, where one can walk among landscapes that have not yet been exploited by humans and turned into urban settlements, and where time seems to stand still.
If under different circumstances, the presence of wooden churches, modest settlements, and generally undeveloped regions, could have constituted a reason to "accuse" Romania of being backwards, here, backwardness is transformed into an unspoiled paradise, which is seen as something that maybe more countries should aspire to. Romania is a model worthy of being followed, one of the last places in Europe that can still serve as a refuge to people looking for natural beauty and peace of mind.
One of the comments on this post also reinforces the idea that not all foreigners regard Romania as being backwards. The comment reads "I've been there, Romania is nothing like what people believe it to be, it is one of the most cleanest [sic] countries I have seen." As we can see, people who visit these Romanian regions do not seem to be repelled by them, but rather impressed.
