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Is Iran using Lord of the Rings to quell protests?
As security forces and protesters continue to clash in Iran, the government has begun using propaganda and entertainment in an attempt to quiet the populace, TIME magazine has reported—and it turns out that a Lord of the Rings marathon on Tehran 's Channel Two is part of that plan.
The newsweekly was contacted by a resident of the capital, who asked for anonymity. He or she reported that "Iranian television usually treats its viewers to one or two Hollywood or European movie nights a week. But these are not normal times, so it's been two or three such movies a day. It's part of the push to keep people at home and off the streets, to keep us busy, to get us out of the regime's hair. ... Channel Two is putting on a Lord of the Rings marathon as part of the government's efforts to restore peace."
The writer shared that many viewers are finding a political subtext to Peter Jackson's trilogy:
"I wonder which official picked this film, starting to suspect, even hope, that there is a subversive soul manning the controls at seda va sima, central broadcasting," wrote the anonymous Iranian. "It is way too easy to find political meaning in the film, to draw comparisons to what is happening in real life. There are themes that seem to allude to Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the candidate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims to have defeated: the unwanted quest and the risking of life in pursuit of an unanticipated destiny. Could he be Boromir, the imperfect warrior who is heroic at the end, dying to defend humanity? Didn't Mousavi talk about being ready for martyrdom?"
Visit TIME magazine for further analysis.
By Lophius at 8:41 PM ON 06/25/09
One film to rule them all, and in the darkness blind them...
By igpnicki at 9:04 PM ON 06/25/09
They can't figure out that Sauron and Saruman are Ahmadinejad and Khamenei? This reminds me of when teh Bush administration did the thing representing themselves as the rebels from Star Wars. Don't you get it? *You're* the evil empire.
By Parrothead0333 at 10:03 PM ON 06/25/09
I couldn't have said it better myself there Lophius. Hopefully they will see what igpnicki has pointed out and it will backfire on the government.
By Kevin S. at 11:03 PM ON 06/25/09
The thing about movies not set in the real world is that you never know what politics somebody is going to read into them. At the time these movies were released, Americans took them as a vindication of Bush's War on Terror, due to their depiction of absolute good and evil. However, a Muslim fundamentalist might just as easily see the September 11 hijackers as the Fellowship and the U.S. as Mordor.
Similarly, the administration probably thinks America is Mordor, Obama is Sauron, and Khamenei is Gandalf. They're so out of touch with some of their own people that they have no idea how the populace is actually interpreting it.
By Bobanort at 8:22 AM ON 06/26/09
With that beard (if he wore wizard robes, of course) Khomeini kind of does look like Gandalf.
By Smegoog at 8:44 AM ON 06/26/09
Well, if yer gonna do a marathon that's gonna keep people off the streets for AT LEAST a couple days, LOTR is the one to use...it's only like 75 1/2 hours long.
By Noneofyourbusiness at 10:38 AM ON 06/26/09
Do they not realize that the Middle Eastern analogue people, the Haradhrim, are minions of Sauron in this story?
By hass at 12:01 PM ON 06/26/09
There's no actual evidence of fraud in the Iran elections. Every claim about vote rigging has a perfectly reasonable and rational counter-claim. See IranAffairs.com for more FACTS about the alleged election fraud in Iran.
Don't believe what you're told. THINK: WHY WOULD THEY RESORT TO FRAUD when the opposition leader, Mousavi, is very much a regime insider and hardly a threat to the system?
By Muldfeld at 4:56 PM ON 06/26/09
Interesting POLITICAL discussion, Sci Fi Wire. I hope you can allow it to remain free.
I agree with hass. Noam Chomsky was referring to Juan Cole's suggestion that it's very possible that Ahmadinejad would have won, but that the regime didn't want a 2nd round of voting if he didn't get a majority, so they clamped down on accurate vote counting. I hope the Iranian people have a freer society, but I'm disgusted at the US media pretending to care so much, when really they just want to humiliate their enemies, and didn't care about the democratic election in Palestine. They did the same thing in pretending to care about human rights in Russia, until the USSR fell apart. Even now, the focus on Michael Jackson proves how hollow their interest in the Iranian people always was. It's about ratings driven by cheap nationalism, folks. The US should stay out of it and allow the Iranian people to sort it out because supporting the opposition will only aid the side of the regime.
I'm not a fan of The Lord of the Rings (Tony Blair's favorite story of all) because it's morally simplistic. That's why I endorse BSG and The 4400 Seasons 3 and 4. This way people can't just dismiss "the other".
By Bluestar at 3:24 AM ON 06/27/09
is hass an Iranain? maybe a supporter of ahmadinejad, otherwise he doesn't have the right to talk about things he doesn't know.
mousavi is somebody inside the regim, but no regime is completely unanimous. the election was rigged, if it was not, they would have recounted the votes before all this happens. I am living in this hell, and i know what's going on in here. it is humanity that is trampled in here, don't talk about it like it is something funny!
By billindc at 9:36 AM ON 06/27/09
bread and circuses -- a long-time tradition that often works.
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