Woodsy Branch
Kimberley Dillon 2015
Thursday
Monday
Argo - Why No One Should See It
http://gyulchatai.tumblr.com/post/39324363449/argo-why-no-one-should-see-it
Argo- Why No One Should See It.
I saw the lastest Ben Affleck nightmare yesterday.
It could not be more islamophobic if it tried.
The entire film plot is about 6 americans in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution.
Cause that was the atrocity, that americans working in the embassy were stuck in Tehran.
Not the thousands upon thousand of Iranians who suffered. At either the hands of the Shah or Khomeini.
I am not saying the Iranian revolution was something pretty. It really wasn’t.
However here is some of the examples that I found particularly disturbing in the portrayal of Iran in Affleck’s Argo.
- When the Iranian people spoke Farsi in the film there were no english subtitles. If an american spoke farsi there magically appeared subtitles.
- Every single Iranian in the film was angry. This was the only emotion they could express. According to Argo all Iranians are hostile.
- Showed no culture, not a single educated Iranian of there own right. The one time an Iranian was educated was one guard who studied in the West so he would know how to ‘trick’ the americans. Maybe two examples if you count the people in the Iranian embassies in Turkey who spoke English but fell easily to the American’s lies.
- There was one “good” Iranian who was a housekeeper to the Canadian amabassdor. No character development at all, she serves her purpose and leaves. Apparently fled to Iraqi cause thats going to end well for her children.
- The streets of Iran were made to look like the streets of hell. The streets are shown with either one of these characteristics 1. angry Iranian mob protestors who are in favour of the Khomeini 2. militia terrorizing and murdering it own citizens 3. Dead bodies such as a person being hung form a crane, actually they just keep referring to that one body over and over again 4. A car on fire with aperson in it burning alive and no one cares. No fire trucks, no police. no samaritans.
You see these bodies but there is no reason with in the film to care. It is just desensitizing north american audiences to seeing dead Iranians. They are supremely objectified in death and life.
- At the end when they did the “this is a true story, this is how the future lives of americans went da da da “part they never mention the future of Iran or the Iranian characters. None of them. Iran is hell end of story. No one cares especially not Affleck.
- The Shah is the good guy of course. And the ” Islamic Republic” is bad. Emphasis on Islam republic in a very specific close up shot of a man writing that.
Affleck, was your film funded by racist conservatives ? I mean really WTF were you thinking.
This movie plays out as another American propaganda film about how Iran should be target #2. That all americans should think that country is filled with uncivillized monsters. Funny enough it is one of the countries who refuses to have any foreign policy with the U.S.
Do yourself a favour and if you want a reasonable portrayal of the Iranian revolution and a sample of the culture rent Persepolsis (2007) written and directed by Iranian refugee and graphic artist Marjane Satrapi.
Argo- Why No One Should See It.
I saw the lastest Ben Affleck nightmare yesterday.
It could not be more islamophobic if it tried.
The entire film plot is about 6 americans in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution.
Cause that was the atrocity, that americans working in the embassy were stuck in Tehran.
Not the thousands upon thousand of Iranians who suffered. At either the hands of the Shah or Khomeini.
I am not saying the Iranian revolution was something pretty. It really wasn’t.
However here is some of the examples that I found particularly disturbing in the portrayal of Iran in Affleck’s Argo.
- When the Iranian people spoke Farsi in the film there were no english subtitles. If an american spoke farsi there magically appeared subtitles.
- Every single Iranian in the film was angry. This was the only emotion they could express. According to Argo all Iranians are hostile.
- Showed no culture, not a single educated Iranian of there own right. The one time an Iranian was educated was one guard who studied in the West so he would know how to ‘trick’ the americans. Maybe two examples if you count the people in the Iranian embassies in Turkey who spoke English but fell easily to the American’s lies.
- There was one “good” Iranian who was a housekeeper to the Canadian amabassdor. No character development at all, she serves her purpose and leaves. Apparently fled to Iraqi cause thats going to end well for her children.
- The streets of Iran were made to look like the streets of hell. The streets are shown with either one of these characteristics 1. angry Iranian mob protestors who are in favour of the Khomeini 2. militia terrorizing and murdering it own citizens 3. Dead bodies such as a person being hung form a crane, actually they just keep referring to that one body over and over again 4. A car on fire with aperson in it burning alive and no one cares. No fire trucks, no police. no samaritans.
You see these bodies but there is no reason with in the film to care. It is just desensitizing north american audiences to seeing dead Iranians. They are supremely objectified in death and life.
- At the end when they did the “this is a true story, this is how the future lives of americans went da da da “part they never mention the future of Iran or the Iranian characters. None of them. Iran is hell end of story. No one cares especially not Affleck.
- The Shah is the good guy of course. And the ” Islamic Republic” is bad. Emphasis on Islam republic in a very specific close up shot of a man writing that.
Affleck, was your film funded by racist conservatives ? I mean really WTF were you thinking.
This movie plays out as another American propaganda film about how Iran should be target #2. That all americans should think that country is filled with uncivillized monsters. Funny enough it is one of the countries who refuses to have any foreign policy with the U.S.
Do yourself a favour and if you want a reasonable portrayal of the Iranian revolution and a sample of the culture rent Persepolsis (2007) written and directed by Iranian refugee and graphic artist Marjane Satrapi.
Sunday
Moved ! New Tumblr !
Dearest Blogger Friends !
I have moved to tumblr so if any of you would like to join me there please do ! The new theme is Russian things I like but I still include the usual GPOY, photos, poems, notes, music etc..
http://gyulchatai.tumblr.com/
Much Love, Kim
I have moved to tumblr so if any of you would like to join me there please do ! The new theme is Russian things I like but I still include the usual GPOY, photos, poems, notes, music etc..
http://gyulchatai.tumblr.com/
Much Love, Kim
Wednesday
Thursday
Sunday
An Illumination
Today I visited my 92 year old aunt. A strong, brave woman with a penchant for writing. She has single handed collected, complied and wrote a book on the family lineage. She has also travelled world and married an eccentric farmer my great uncle Harry ( who lived to be 98 and even to that age managed to scare bulls with his voice, he also got his pilots licence in his 60's among other crazy adventures).
While the cousins and my parents were talking amongst themselves ,my great Aunt took my hand and with great sincereity and empathy she said " You are making the right decisions, you are living life right. You are doing good job, you really are and dont forget it." This struck a nerve with me because up till this point I had not realized how badly I had needed to hear this. A hole in me filled and this relief brought me to tears.
From someone who has seen much. From an elder , a person of real experience. Someone has seen the birth of many children and the death of many friends and family. A person who has witnessed the basics of nature from harvest to harvest in varying weather and conditions both physically, emotionally and spiritually. The words from my sage were genuine and she knew what I needed to hear, I felt a reverberation in my soul.
My grandmother when she was alive had told me when she was a young woman she had three choices:
1. Homemaker ( which was the one society approved of the most )
2. Nurse
3. Teacher. The option she chose. I recently found out that if you chose teacher you had to be single. You were not allowed as a woman to be both a teacher and married. Their reasoning was that they didn't want to "lose" a teacher to pregnancy but we know better now what the real reasons were.
She told me I had some many options and that I should really take advantage of that. She told to be do something that made me happy, that I had an obligation to seize this opportunity to the fullest for all the women how came before me who didn't have these choices.
This conversation has been ingrained in me. We only had two very meaningful conversations that I can remember this one and the other being when I told my grandma I was going to marry for money. She stopped the car in the middle of an intersection and looked me dead in the eye and in a very stern and authoritarian voice she said " You will marry for love and for no other reason."
I am not sure if my clever, beautiful female friends have felt a pull in their lives to settle for a certain kind of "traditional" relationship or life path. But I felt that pressure recently and have been scoured. Because I want to marry for love and nothing else but I don't want compromise my opportunities in the process. I want to use my gifts and skills to the fullest, I want to pursue them to there very edge, there very threshold. Even in our age this is not going to be the same for me as it will a man. There are still preconceptions about what I have to give up, about some crazy rightful sacrifice I have to make. But I am going to battle to this to the bitter end.
Please do not think that I think all men are trying to put the shackles of patriarchy on my ankles and wrists. Because this is not true. I know some great men such as my father, my friend J and my best friends significant others who are in full support of equality, who I believe would do battle side by side with us.
At the end of the visit my great aunt hugged me and said " Have a great life."
Mission Accepted.
While the cousins and my parents were talking amongst themselves ,my great Aunt took my hand and with great sincereity and empathy she said " You are making the right decisions, you are living life right. You are doing good job, you really are and dont forget it." This struck a nerve with me because up till this point I had not realized how badly I had needed to hear this. A hole in me filled and this relief brought me to tears.
From someone who has seen much. From an elder , a person of real experience. Someone has seen the birth of many children and the death of many friends and family. A person who has witnessed the basics of nature from harvest to harvest in varying weather and conditions both physically, emotionally and spiritually. The words from my sage were genuine and she knew what I needed to hear, I felt a reverberation in my soul.
My grandmother when she was alive had told me when she was a young woman she had three choices:
1. Homemaker ( which was the one society approved of the most )
2. Nurse
3. Teacher. The option she chose. I recently found out that if you chose teacher you had to be single. You were not allowed as a woman to be both a teacher and married. Their reasoning was that they didn't want to "lose" a teacher to pregnancy but we know better now what the real reasons were.
She told me I had some many options and that I should really take advantage of that. She told to be do something that made me happy, that I had an obligation to seize this opportunity to the fullest for all the women how came before me who didn't have these choices.
This conversation has been ingrained in me. We only had two very meaningful conversations that I can remember this one and the other being when I told my grandma I was going to marry for money. She stopped the car in the middle of an intersection and looked me dead in the eye and in a very stern and authoritarian voice she said " You will marry for love and for no other reason."
I am not sure if my clever, beautiful female friends have felt a pull in their lives to settle for a certain kind of "traditional" relationship or life path. But I felt that pressure recently and have been scoured. Because I want to marry for love and nothing else but I don't want compromise my opportunities in the process. I want to use my gifts and skills to the fullest, I want to pursue them to there very edge, there very threshold. Even in our age this is not going to be the same for me as it will a man. There are still preconceptions about what I have to give up, about some crazy rightful sacrifice I have to make. But I am going to battle to this to the bitter end.
Please do not think that I think all men are trying to put the shackles of patriarchy on my ankles and wrists. Because this is not true. I know some great men such as my father, my friend J and my best friends significant others who are in full support of equality, who I believe would do battle side by side with us.
At the end of the visit my great aunt hugged me and said " Have a great life."
Mission Accepted.
Saturday
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