sundries

[rm]

Last night we went to see Leila an Iranian film from 1996 at BAM as part of the "Muslim Voices" festival. The director, Dariush Mehrjui, was in attendance for a Q&A, and oh, what a Q&A it was.

Now I'm used to people here having really limited knowledge of the Middle East and Muslim law and custom. Certainly, I think my knowledge is inadequate, but I'm also constantly reminded of how significant it is in comparison to most Americans. Patty, of course, having spent so much time there is additionally ahead of me.

Anyway, ignorance was on full display last night. People argued with the director telling him that he could not be telling us the truth about what Iranians think of men taking second wives, when he spoke of how it is looked down upon in the middle and upper classes and was an issue in the recent elections. In fact, every question about gender made me deeply uncomfortable, because it was also so fixated on the fact that these women wear hijab, the film must only be a comment on women's actualization.

But the film is not a comment on that. If anything on the gender front, it has a great deal to say about the overt power of women -- yes, overt, even with hijab! -- and the infantilization of the men in the story. But no one was interested in how the male gender was portrayed, because the men seemed freer to the audience preoccupied with hijab, even as women were more powerful, wealthier and successful throughout the film.

People analyzed characters using the word "martyr" which it was so clear they would not have done for the same story in a Western context (Big Love anyone?) and people even told the director his intent, insisting he wanted to have the characters touch at points, but was clearly not allowed. This was met with a sharp rebuke by the director, for trying to Westernize his film. "You, you westerners, you want to show show show everything. We are orientals. We value privacy."

Another woman went on and on about the men's clothing, insisting that it was supposed to be cool and modern, while the woman's clothing was not (hijab is not "not modern" and there is a point in the film of a covering that someone is gifted with from Paris!) and did this mean men in Iran were progressive and women were not. It went on and on, with the questioner also insisting the film was shot in the 1970s (the film stock did admittedly make it look older than Western films of the same time) and trying to talk about how the men were sexualized and dudes because of their aviator sunglasses. Again, I was appalled. Read your program and know something about clothing please.

People mispronounced the title of the film, repeatedly (it's a name you hear in the West a lot and you just watched the bloody movie) and were just generally appalling. I was deeply embarrassed for this really reknown director who had traveled 24 hours to be there.

My next door neighbors and the only friend I had outside of school growing up, were Iranian diplomats. I learned to play chess from the family's father and was always invited over for these endless meals and I was fascinated by the degree to which the setting of the film felt familiar for just those small reasons.

Overall, I really loved seeing this and the Richard III on two successive nights. It made this idea that we (Americans) are the center of the world, particularly ludicrous.

The JASMart near my office has closed. SAD!

There's some sort of BBQ festival going on near work with a giant trailer out proclaiming the awesomeness of pork.

Last night Patty and I went to the restaurant where we had our first proper date because the only craving I could come up with in terms of dining experiences was "dark and sexy." I was suitably rewarded.

I have two tickets to see Fritz Lang's Metropolis at BAM on June 27 at 9pm with live accompaniment by 3epkano. Like an idiot, we've already a calendar conflict that night. If you want them, $30 for the pair.

I want to pass on a link someone on my friendslist found. The organization provides high quality food at deeply discounted prices. There's no income requirement or paperwork to order, and it's been suggested that people who don't need the service use it anyway and donate the money they save to the charities of their choice. What's really notable through is the vegetarian and allergan-free options. I know my celiac diagnosis tripled my grocery bill -- for someone struggling financially, it's the type of thing that can cause serious chaos. Anyway, hopefully this is useful to some of you: http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

Comments

[ladypeculiar.livejournal.com]

How incredibly frustrating-- this is honestly why I just can't bring myself to attend Q&A's in New York anymore. The people who get their hands in the air the most are generally not the people you want to be speaking.

The film sounds interesting though-- was this a one-time thing or is there a run or do you know or should I just google okay nevermind I'll just google. :)

I also may take you up on your Metropolis tix, I'll email you tonight!

[rm.livejournal.com]

One time thing, but available from Netflix.

[byzantienne.livejournal.com]

-- damn, I wish I was back in NYC by then, I love Metropolis!

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

G'ah! I am so glad I wasn't there for the Q&A. A Persian may too socially astute to go ballistic on the nice people who showed up to see the movie - but I would have been so tempted to boom ranty!

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I love "Metropolis" and Fritz Lang in general.

I wish I could say that living in the Middle East actually made one more aware and knowledgeable... alas, even liminal countries are too Western to not see the Orientalism inherent in the majority of our interactions.
*sigh*

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

The biggest favor (among *so* many) my parents did for me was insisting that I travel when I was young. Sending a know-it-all American 15-year-old out into the wider world to get some of that arrogance slapped down, and it taught me to shut up and listen, and that rest of the world lives very well with neither my US-centric advice nor my approbation.

[billijean.livejournal.com]

hmmm... I read recently a review of angelfood ministries... and it wasn't kind. I can't remember offhand where I read it, but if I do, I'll come back and link it.
The gist of it was that the reviewer, while pleased with the quality of food and the different options, wouldn't recommend them because, for one, a religious flier was included in every delivery. And there were also concerns about the structure of the organization - i.e. executives all related and paid disproportionately high for a charity, etc. Again.. if I can find the link, I'll bring it.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Please do, as when I first saw it, I was like "there's a punchline, because there always is"

[drfardook.livejournal.com]

Was this it?

http://www.charitygovernance.com/charity_governance/2009/03/the-devil-is-in-the-details-angel-food-ministries.html

[billijean.livejournal.com]

Nope. But that seems to cover it. Thanks :)

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that either of those faults are enough to really dislike Angelfood Ministries. From what I can gather, no one else is doing as good a job.

[sushis.livejournal.com]

Damn. I would have thought that the people who would value the chance to see such a film wouldn't be such morons!

So frustrating when people use exposure to something new as an excuse to impose their preconceptions, rather than as an opportunity to actually learn something.

[sethg]

+1!!!!!ELEVENTY!!!!

[fangirlsays.livejournal.com]

I just ordered the allergen-free option this past Thursday. We were actually told that they need people who are not low-income to keep buying, because they buy in bulk and need to continue moving food out as it comes in. I had been reluctant to buy from them because I was worried I was taking food away from someone else who couldn't afford to buy it elsewhere, but the people with Angel Food Ministries assured me it wasn't so.

[kireishojo.livejournal.com]

I just wish there was a single one of those in my state. it would really help in finances for us but hey gues i'm SOL for now

[dr-is-in.livejournal.com]

If you can get a local church in your area interested, there is info on their site on how they can become a distribution center.

[kireishojo.livejournal.com]

i'm lasped catholic and my husband is pagan. I don't really know the churches in the area.

[dr-is-in.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that could be a bit of an obstacle.

[kireishojo.livejournal.com]

but thank you for the info.

[dr-is-in.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I got the info for the place from the social worker at my husband's dialysis clinic. While we're not "poor", this takes some of the strain off us financially that we have because of med bills.

[kireishojo.livejournal.com]

i understand. I have an epileptic cat.

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

I have a friend from an area of the world where polygamy is accepted and talking to her about American polyamory can be really interesting in terms of highlighting privilege in uncomfortable ways. Sorry people were so dumb!

[marcmagus]

I imagine such a discussion could be really valuable, probably in a lot of ways. If you feel inspired and able to post about your experience in talking to your friend about the topic, I'd enjoy reading about it, and appreciate a link.

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

Thanks for asking - I'll see what I can do.

[perlandria.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[marcmagus]

Thank you.

[tod-hollykim.livejournal.com]

1) Ah, yes, the Big Apple BBQ. There was a segment on it on the Food Network a few months back when they had some shows on BBQ.


2) And I wish I had some money! I'd love to see Metropolis!

[tintop-lizzy.livejournal.com]

Saw that film on UK tv ages ago. Your countryfolk do need to remember Copernicus, don't they, well...

Educate. Even when you are tired of hearing the crap even more times, educate, inform and explain. Living and working in multicultural situations I am unusually well informed and relatively acceptant. Some have a long way to go before even a tolerance is achieved. That's even before issues of gender etc come to the fore.

[i-amthecosmos.livejournal.com]

I get Angel Food, and have off and on for two years. My mother told me about it when I was seperated from my husband and living in low-income housing. Now that me and the husband are back on, I still get it (times are tight).

I have notice that the "signature box" (the regular box with meat) has gone down in quality recently. Frozen french fries, hot dogs, and premade ground beef dinners are replacing the largely chicken and some good beef/pork they used to have. There is a new seafood box, which I ordered last month but didn't recieve due to a shipping problem. So no reviews for that yet.

The fruit/veggie box is very good. In order to get it, you have to order one of the main boxes (either the signature, the seafood, senior frozen dinners or allergen free, at least at the church I get mine in).

They are doing considerably less preaching than they used to, and even that was fairly low key (by Southern born-again standards). As for their tax-exempt status, I have no opinion yet until I see what else happens. I do know that they get federal money under Bush's fool faith-based plan. Therefore as an atheist, I have no trouble ordering this-my taxes paid for part of it, after all.

[weirdodragoncat.livejournal.com]

sadly, Angel Food Ministries isn't available in our area. The closest is Visalia...which really isn't close to us. About 9 years ago, we had something similar in my area called Share. We never could figure out what happened to it...it just went poof.

I miss that. It was a good deal. Hopefully AFM will creep up our way soon.

[i-amthecosmos.livejournal.com]

Last I heard, Share was in only one state. I think it was Wisconsin.

[weirdodragoncat.livejournal.com]

That sucks...they *used* to be here in CA. That was like 9 years ago though. I still wonder what happened.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Would this be a good time to politely mention that referring to yourselves as "Americans' and your nation as 'America' never comes off sounding really modern?(We do it too, but we know we're being informal.)
I love your country, but it's like living next door to the Clampetts.
Who are good people. Just not deep people.

[newsbean.livejournal.com]

Curious - do you have something by which we should refer to ourselves as? As far as I know, "American" is pretty much what's available. If I'm wrong, I'd be interested to know.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

The name of your country is the United States. Historical precedence allows you the lack of qualifier, since the Netherlands no younger uses the term. The other two United States in America would be The United States of Mexico and the United States of Argentina.
By no stretch of the imagination is Hawaii part of America, but anyone anywhere would be expected to know that it is part of the U.S.
If 'U.S. citizen' is too cumbersome, it may amuse you to know that for the last 250 years the rest of the English speaking term has been referring to you as 'The Yanks,' from an archaic 16th century slang word for a pirate(which sense is no longer implied.)

[newsbean.livejournal.com]

Colloquially, yes. In terms of something that would appear in a more formal context, no, which is really what I am more interested in. Sorry that I didn't make that more clear. And in the case of both the United States of Mexico and the United States of Argentina, the citizens do generally go by "Mexican" and "Argentinian" the form that "American" takes.

Obviously, the Americas is much larger than just the US! No one else in the world is expected to refer to themselves as "Citizen of France" or "Citizen of Canada." And "Yank" does still carry quite a bit of derogatory connotations. (Particularly in some parts of the US.) So I'm not sure how it can be expected that we would adopt it. If there's not some genuine alternative, it's a little frustrating to be told that using "American" is being like the Clampetts.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

I'm assuming that United Statesians is a non-starter from the get go. Likewise U.S.ians. U.S. Citizens, The People of the the U.S., U.S. people. and the Union all sound felicitous, depending on context.
Blithely referring to your country as America, which is not anybodies country, just grates.

[newsbean.livejournal.com]

"Blithely referring to your country as America, which is not anybodies country, just grates."

That is a point on which I completely agree. I, personally, always refer to it as the United States. It's the question of what to call the citizens that is interesting to me. I would gladly switch over to something besides "American" if there was an obvious, or even mildly workable, choice. I think all of the options you offered work just fine in print, but lord! I would not want to try and pronounce them or use them in every day speech. Likewise, referring to myself as a Yank and all the attendant baggage.

I guess there's not really an awesome alternative?

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Last I heard, the people of the Czech Republic didn't know how to refer to themselves either.

Before she became a Canadian citizen, my mother could only describe herself as 'A British subject.' Nothing else would have been accurate.

Citizens of the Irish Republic have similar lumbar with the name thing.

And of course 'I'm a Soviet citizen' was what even ethnic Russians from the Russian Federal Republic of the U.S.S.R. said, back when that was the case.

My country almost named itself 'The United British Colonies of North America.' At the last drunken minute, they went with the name of the largest colony(which was about to be divided into Ontario and Quebec.) Ubcnanian. Think about it.

At least you have an awesome country. Even if the name is awkward.

lumbar

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

*lumber

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

And anyway, we love the Clampetts!

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

*no longer uses the term

(No idea what my fingers where thinking.)

[frodo-esque.livejournal.com]

I saw this movie not 3 months ago randomly on netflix. I enjoyed it very much and absolutely saw what you did-- that it was the women in Persian society that have the greatest power. My goodness, look at the amount of control the mother-in-law had in the film-- she ruled the roost!

It's also interesting to note that while many in the Western world see the hijab as derogatory towards women, most Muslim woman see it as a badge of honor. A sign of modesty in the name of religion.