The first two hour segment of this was great. A Dutch journalist on vacation meets a local Iranian girl and they marry. He stays in Iran...for 19 years so far. The first part was made while Obama was still president, in 2015. Just about anybody will talk to him - people on the street, a Muslim fanatic, clerics, an alcoholics anonymous group where alcohol is illegal, even a beauty salon operator - so American news agencies tap him often. Why will they talk to him? Three reasons besides the fact he is personable. First he is Dutch and not British or American - the documentary points out that Iranians HATE the Americans and the British. Second, he married an Iranian. Third, he chose to stay in Iran, so he is subject to the same laws and hardships as the others.
Every Friday there is a call to prayers where hatred of America as the great Satan is preached. From a western perspective it is hard to think of "services" where you go to get your hatred propped up, but this is their tradition.
Don't think that Iranians just fall in line behind everything this Islamic Republic does. Most are quite cynical about the government and how arbitrary their enforcement of Islamic law is. One single 32 year old woman mentions how draining the entire experience of living under Islamic law has become to her, and says she is leaving Iran for the west at her earliest opportunity. Another group looks at a dry river bed and says that the president is due for a visit in a couple of weeks and that the water always reappears during those visits. Sure enough, he visits and the water reappears for a few weeks.
Iran isn't really a backwards country. It's a country with a few authoritarians and a few more true believer fanatics keeping control of the masses with laws that seem arbitrarily enforced with punishments that vary so widely that people are afraid to rebel openly - they might get a suspended sentence, they might get 70 lashes, they might get 20 years in prison. And it really has nothing to do with connections as to what happens to you.
As is usual with Frontline, this is really a worthwhile watch and very insightful.
Every Friday there is a call to prayers where hatred of America as the great Satan is preached. From a western perspective it is hard to think of "services" where you go to get your hatred propped up, but this is their tradition.
Don't think that Iranians just fall in line behind everything this Islamic Republic does. Most are quite cynical about the government and how arbitrary their enforcement of Islamic law is. One single 32 year old woman mentions how draining the entire experience of living under Islamic law has become to her, and says she is leaving Iran for the west at her earliest opportunity. Another group looks at a dry river bed and says that the president is due for a visit in a couple of weeks and that the water always reappears during those visits. Sure enough, he visits and the water reappears for a few weeks.
Iran isn't really a backwards country. It's a country with a few authoritarians and a few more true believer fanatics keeping control of the masses with laws that seem arbitrarily enforced with punishments that vary so widely that people are afraid to rebel openly - they might get a suspended sentence, they might get 70 lashes, they might get 20 years in prison. And it really has nothing to do with connections as to what happens to you.
As is usual with Frontline, this is really a worthwhile watch and very insightful.
