Although the White Lady is a comedy, it is
at the same time a sharp sociological
analysis of how the socialist authoritarian
regimes of Eastern Europe worked. What
does it tell us?

The W
h it e L
a dy

what is it about
• Satirical and critical view of socialist authoritarian regime
in Eastern Europe
• Addresses authoritarianism, censorship, and media control
in 1960s Czechoslovakia
• Uses humor and satire to provide sociological insights into
regime manipulation and control
• Highlights how people were coerced into obeying
oppressive rules

• the regime's ideology aimed to
control every aspect of people’s life
(from water tap to imaginative
thoughts about the White Lady)
• control over the instalment of the
water tap – started accusing each
other

fear of
losing
control

• disruption of the regime's goal of equal well-being distribution
• indignations were quelled by the charismatic speeches of the
regime's chief

believing in
lies
• truth-tellers, like Pupenec, are considered crazy and
isolated; he is a protagonist in a movie
• Pupenec attempts to seek help from Prague
authorities regarding the White Lady – gets more
disappointment
• lies are everywhere – officials the White Lady’s
kindness for their own sake

ignorance on
all levels
• easier to ignore or pretend to ignore the truth
• we see (and do not see) what we want and what we find
appropriate in terms of particular conformist environment
• Komonice’s people unconcern about the whole absurdity
• no place for unpopular (and moreover negative) view

conlusions and
reflections
bad news: such regimes are still
viable nowadays

The film's comedic elements are juxtaposed with the harsh
reality of life under oppressive Eastern European regimes,
which no freedom of speech, thought, and action