Iran Film Special: The Simpsons Are Gone, But You Can Still See Shrek in Tehran (Edwards)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 7:29
On Tuesday we carried the news that authorities have banned the sale of dolls of The Simpsons. While Spiderman and Superman were appropriate figures, because they fight the oppression of the poor, Bart, Lisa, Homer, Marge, and Maggie are an irreligious family.
This reminded me, both from personal experience and from reading, of the enthusiam of Iranians for icons from "Western" television and film. And that in turn reminded me of this article, originally posted in March 2010, from our colleague Brian Edwards:
Downtown Tehran, winter: impossible traffic, the energy of 9 million Iranians making their way through congested streets, the white peaks of the Alborz Mountains disappearing shade by shade in the ever-increasing smog. The government’s declared another pollution emergency, and the center city is closed to license plates ending in odd numbers. The students at the university, where I am teaching a seminar on American Studies, are complaining openly about the failures of their elected officials.