Back in the 40's to the early part of the 80's a lot of Hollywood and their fellow travelers LOVED the USSR. To them, it was a utopian society. Even the publication of "The Gulag Archipelago" couldn't shake their rose-colored view of the USSR. But in the late 80's when Perestroika came into being, and especially after the Wall fell and the USSR dissolved, Hollywood's opinion of Russia turned sour. They were no longer communist and this upset the leftists. Since then, Russia has been Hollywood's enemy. So now, we're seeing historical impressions of the USSR as evil, whereas before, the capitalist stooges of the West were the bad guys.
In is movie, "Black Widow's parents are portrayed as duty-driven Apparatchiks who abandon their children to the EVIL state. Not exactly "The Americans."
One thing I can't believe though. Parents looking to keep attention of them as they played Americans wouldn't let their young teen daughter dye her hair purple, especially in the 1980s. Also, why would she waste efforts using a knife against someone in a hard-shell body suit??