Mettle, Muscle and Majority
By: Ali Attaran
It is not unusual to see minor incidents turn into subjects of heated political debate in the Iranian political environment; yet the latest case of politicization of the trivial emerged from an unexpected situation: a stand-up comedy contest.
The popular comedy show Khandevaneh, its name in Persian a blend of words for 'laughing' and 'watermelon', has launched a knockout stand-up competition since last month. While competitors, actors, actresses, and satirists perform in front of a studio audience, the winner of each leg is elected by all viewers who send their choice via text messages to the program.
Celebrities strive on social media, especially Instagram, to whip up supporters and get to the next round of this first-of-its-kind contest. Yet, one Reformist journalist added excessive heat to the competition on Thursday with his provocative style of vote-collecting, and not for himself.
Bozorgmehr Hosseinpour, editor-in-chief of the popular, pro-Reform teen magazine 'Chehelcheragh' (Chandelier), asked followers of his Instagram account to vote for Amir Mehdi Jule (pronounced 'Zhooleh'), a former satirist of the magazine, against popular actor and heartthrob Amin Hayayi. But what were his criteria?
"In my opinion, one becomes disqualified from receiving votes after acting in the "The Golden Collars", Hosseinpour wrote.
He referred to a controversial 2011 production boasting to be "the most political film in the history of Iranian cinema" that narrated the pre- and post-election twist and turmoil of the 2009 presidential campaign from a Principlist point of view. Hayayi played the role of an Iranian intelligence agent in the movie who strived to foil the British MI6 plots aimed to stir unrest in Iran.
Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, chief of staff for former president Mohammad Khatami who spent a few months in prison after the 2009 presidential elections, also rallied support for Jule, publishing in his Instagram account a photo of Khatami solemnizing Jule's marriage.
Facing strong objections, Bozorgmehr Hosseinpour removed his Instagram post one hour later and changed his Instagram bio to a quote from British philosopher: "I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong." Later on Sunday afternoon, he published a new post, apologizing for his remarks and for "tainting art and satire by politics." Abtahi's Instagram account also turned private and is inaccessible for non-followers since at least 6 PM on Sunday (Tehran time).
The Principlist media reacted to this campaign bitterly, criticizing Reformists for their "unfair, unethical" attitude towards Amin Hayayi. The rally in their opinion contradicted the Reformists' advocacy for freedom of speech and proved their hypocrisy.
Jule and Hayayi also undertook some damage control and tried to debunk the political climate around the competition. "I beg everyone to pay attention to comedy only and avoid polarization," Jule said in an interview with YJC news agency. "I'm here to make you smile, and nothing more," Hayayi said.
A neck-and-neck contest is still going on between the two performers at the moment, however, with a strikingly narrow margin of less than 100 votes between the two, while each has received around 1,861,000 at 12 AM (Tehran time) on Monday.
It is not the first time that art-for-art's sake mentality is cast aside, and political commitments come to the fore. A similar tug-of-war happened in late March 2011, when supporters of the Green Movement called for boycotting 'Ekhrajiha', The Outcasts, produced by vigilante-turned-director Massoud Dehnamaki. Instead, they encouraged fellow supporters to buy the tickets of 'A Separation', produced by Asghar Farhadi, director and later Academy Awards winner. Farhadi was an open supporter of the Green Movement.
The 2009 presidential elections left a wound inside the Iranian politics and society that has yet to be healed. Supporters of the now defunct (?) Green Movement still believe that the presidency was stolen from their candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. That may explain why they try to flaunt their number at any occasion where voting is at work. The Islamic Republic loyalists on the other hand are still furious with the post-election protestors who embarrassed the establishment in the eyes of the international community. Against the Green Movement and its supporters, they have not relented vitriol and derision.
Against this backdrop, the election of a 'moderate' president and the relative marginalization of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a deeply divisive figure, from politics, have done little to bridge this gap. As long as the 2009 wound exists, any potential occasion lends itself to polarization.
