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Iran Tries To Pacify Protesters With Lord of The Rings Marathon

Iranian state television's Channel Two is playing a Lord of the Rings marathon in an attempt to keep people inside watching hobbits and not protesting in the streets. Normally, people in Tehran are treated to one or two Hollywood movies a week, but with recent events the government hopes that sitting through a nine-hour trilogy will take the fight out of most of the protesters. Perhaps this was not the best choice in films if you want your people not to believe that "even the smallest person can change the course of the future."

54 of 419 comments (clear)

  1. Drivel by oneirophrenos · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bah, I didn't like those movies at all. If I was in Iran, I'd probably be so pissed off that they're showing me such garbage that I'd take to the streets and wreck at least a couple of cars.

    1. Re:Drivel by conspirator57 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      LoTR is allowed in Iran? I thought it was too secular, or blasphemous, or something.

      --
      "If still these truths be held to be
      Self evident."
      -Edna St. Vincent Millay
    2. Re:Drivel by Loadmaster · · Score: 3, Funny

      If this movie doesn't work they'll have to give them the newest Hollywood movie: Bruno. That should fly well over there.

    3. Re:Drivel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Only sometimes? May I suggest a marriage counselor?

    4. Re:Drivel by osu-neko · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Most Iranians love Americans, love Hollywood, etc. They just hate our government.

      In that respect, they're a lot like most Americans...

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
    5. Re:Drivel by conspirator57 · · Score: 4, Informative

      with relation to Islam, yes it is.

      Also, i recall an interview with Peter Jackson in which he described reconciling his worldview with Tolkien's in the context of remaining faithful to the artistic vision of LoTR. He (in my view) misapplied a Tolkien quote dismissing allegory by claiming that LoTR couldn't have Christian or theist themes buried in it. My guess is that if Tolkien considered it (which is likely given his rigor elsewhere) he may have perceived God as a universal entity and had no reason not to include theism in his fantasy. I also find it hard to believe that Tolkien hated allegory all that much given his life long friendship with Lewis, an admitted writer of allegory. One might say that allegory was the majority of Lewis' work. Yet I've not seen any criticism of Lewis' allegory in their correspondence.

      --
      "If still these truths be held to be
      Self evident."
      -Edna St. Vincent Millay
    6. Re:Drivel by eggnet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think the Iranians hate their own government more than the US government, by a lot.

    7. Re:Drivel by Tolkien · · Score: 4, Funny

      Naw, I'm agnostic. :)

    8. Re:Drivel by monsterinlaw · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Most Iranians love Americans, love Hollywood, etc. They just hate our government.

      In that respect, they're a lot like most Americans...

      Well, I am an Iranian and I'd say using the word "love" carries a bit of exaggeration. I think Americans are as cool and any other nationalities including Israelite. Actually, my best friends where I live are Americans, not because I love them but because we have common concerns. Also "hate" is exaggeration. I personally see Obama's administration a legitimate thing and his policies seem much wiser than Bush's. And AFAIK most educated Iranians agree with me on those things. In fact as someone else has put, I mostly hate my own governors than those of any other country.

    9. Re:Drivel by rhennigan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except many Iranians hold the US responsible, at least in part, for their many government problems they currently experience.

  2. Hmmmm. by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, speaking for myself, I wanted to kill people on the exit from 2 out 3 of those movies, so this may not achieve the intended effect.

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  3. Wonderful! by voss · · Score: 5, Funny

    Lord of the rings in the original farsi! Can someone tape it for me?

    1. Re:Wonderful! by conspirator57 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Everyone knows that Tolkien was Klingon. Just like Shakespeare.

      --
      "If still these truths be held to be
      Self evident."
      -Edna St. Vincent Millay
  4. No TV and Beer make Homer Something Something by ZirbMonkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    Since beer is already off the list for Iranians, that leaves only one option.

  5. This may not be a bad thing. by dilip · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe the Iranian censor board will be able to cut out anything unneeded and make the movies more compact and watchable. I love the movies, but they can induce numbness to the posterior if watched more than one at a time.

  6. Freedom! by mcvos · · Score: 4, Funny

    Where is my vo... Ooh! Legolas!

    1. Re:Freedom! by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 4, Funny

      But they don't have elves in Iran. Achmandinnerjacket said so at the university talk. It was elves, right? Something like that.

    2. Re:Freedom! by tzjanii · · Score: 4, Funny

      No no, they have elves, it's the fairies that they're missing. :-P

      --
      Slashdot is a pretty cool guy eh posts dupes and doesn't afraid of anything.
  7. Re:No Extended Version? by Megane · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's probably in pan-n-scan too.

    JIHAD!

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    #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  8. Re:Can't have it both ways by SatanicPuppy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Uh yea. Blatantly rig an election, and people tend to get pissed off. It's about more than just lining up in front of the cute little box. They had substantially more votes than people in more than 10(?) districts, and the race which was predicted to be very close, turned out to be a complete landslide. Every observer called the election rigged, even some of the internal ones.

    And you're wondering why they're pissed?

    --
    ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
  9. What will happen by pudge · · Score: 5, Funny

    "A day may come when the courage of men fails ... But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, men of ... Iran! Allahu Akbar!"

    1. Re:What will happen by Loadmaster · · Score: 5, Funny

      Either way It's a Trap!

    2. Re:What will happen by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It is when it runs counter to how they want things done. But when they see an opportunity to use Hollywood and Western culture to their advantage, they won't shy away from it. In the end, they are just politicians. Highly corrupt, brutal politicians, but politicians nonetheless.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    3. Re:What will happen by ajs · · Score: 3, Funny

      They're probably redubbed that bit to:

      "The filthy British and American orcs have us pinned down with their green-hued protests, but we must rise up and smite them all, even if it means our deaths!"

  10. Re:Link by raju1kabir · · Score: 4, Informative

    Try this one: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/06/24/tehran_seven/index.html

    P.S. Is Slashdot's CSS just going to get weirder and weirder until the site can't used at all? Now the comment field is about 3cm wide.

    --
    "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
  11. Wrong movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They should have showed 300 instead.

  12. Sex sells... by denzacar · · Score: 5, Funny

    and scantily clad women.

    You've said it!
    You should see some of the new burqas and chadors they are shipping to the stores. Sexy as hell.

    You can almost see the eyebrows.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
    1. Re:Sex sells... by m.ducharme · · Score: 4, Informative

      Oh dude, you have no idea.

      --
      Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
  13. American meddling huh? by Garbad+Ropedink · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So the tyrants of Iran are blaming this whole mess on the American media, then they're tying to placate the protesters with American media? A movie trilogy about a bunch of people banding together to overthrow an evil tyrant no less. Nobody could draw parallels between things like the dark riders and the police riding motorcycles beating people with clubs.

    The sense of irony is weak with the Iranian dictatorship...

    --
    And that was the last Terry Fox run I ever participated in.
    1. Re:American meddling huh? by H0p313ss · · Score: 3, Funny

      So the tyrants of Iran are blaming this whole mess on the American media, then they're tying to placate the protesters with American media? A movie trilogy about a bunch of people banding together to overthrow an evil tyrant no less. Nobody could draw parallels between things like the dark riders and the police riding motorcycles beating people with clubs.

      The sense of irony is weak with the Iranian dictatorship...

      Or the Iranian leftist media just managed to *WHOOSH* the evil overlord.

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    2. Re:American meddling huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      So... this would be the "dictator's cut" that they're watching...

  14. A little trick they learned from us by transporter_ii · · Score: 4, Funny

    After they saw how they lost sleeper cell after sleeper cell here in the US:

    http://www.theonion.com/content/news/after_5_years_in_u_s_terrorist
    .
    .

    --
    Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, religion destroys spirituality
  15. Re:Hey MPAA! by Eric_Scheirer · · Score: 3, Informative

    Iran is not a signatory to WIPO. They do not respect copyrights of works produced in other countries.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_and_copyright_issues

  16. Re:Can't have it both ways by JumperCable · · Score: 5, Informative
    Is it really to much to ask them not to kill their own citizens in the streets and abduct them from their homes for torture & potential death?

    http://iran.whyweprotest.net/news-current-events/2327-green-brief-8-a.html

    1. The event of the day was the protest held at Baharestan Square in the late afternoon. Although the exact number cannot be fully known, my sources claimed somewhere between 5,000-10,000 people tried to join the rally. Things got violent when security forces that had been waiting there for hours moved in as soon as a small crowd had managed to gather. They used force to brutalize the protesters and scatter them faster then they could regroup. Police were also patrolling the areas around Baharestan and people were attacked even as they fled Baharestan and go to the outer edges of the area. This continued for at least two hours.

    2. Force was utilized without discrimination; however, media reports about a complete massacre cannot be confirmed by my more reliable sources. What I can confirm is at least 3 people were killed; the police used batons to beat people quite viciously - leaving dozens injured, not just in Baharestan but also in the areas around Baharestan. Shots were also fired and at least 2 of the fatalities were as a result of gunfire. Tear gas was also used to disperse them. We cannot confirm the use of axes on protesters. It could have been isolated incidents. But a wide-spread use cannot be confirmed. There were reports of killings at Lalehzar as well. Lalezhzar is a park in Tehran which has been completely taken over by security forces and is being used as a quasi-de fact base. Pictures are scarce and videos cannot be confirmed at this point either. The police were checking cell phones throughout the area as well as in other parts of the city and deleting images or videos or confiscating the phone altogether.

    3. The area was surrounded also by vans and cars belonging to the security forces. Injured protesters and those protesters the police could hold onto were promptly thrown into these vehicles and moved to undisclosed locations. It has been suggested that Evin prison is being used to house most of the prisoners, but the sheer number of protesters easily could mean that make-shift prisons have been built around Tehran to house these people. Some sources indicated as well, but this cannot be confirmed right away. Most shops around Baharestan were closed so people had nowhere to hide. Cell phone service was also jammed so no help could arrive for those stranded and the vicious and wide-spread beatings and arrests could continue.

    4. The security forces were being heavily helped by helicopters. They flew all over the city and informed security forces of places where people had gathered. Security forces arrived in minutes and dispersed crowd. However, people were extremely persistent. Gatherings and small rallies took place in several places and the quicker they were dispersed the quicker more sprang up. This continued late into the night until people dispersed on their own. The sheer tenacity of the protesters is heartening and many twitter sources indicated that no matter what happens they will go to streets and protest. Hezbollah e Ansar were also spotted from time to time. Plainclothesmen also did their part of the arrests as they drove around the city in motorcycles.

    5. There were also other arrests in Iran today. At least 70 university professors and other professionals held a meeting today with Mousavi at the end of which, all of them were arrested as they exited the meeting area. Reports also confirm that Mousavi's chief lawyer, Ardsher Amir Arjman has also been arrested. There is no real confirmation of whether Mousavi has been arrested or he's free. However, there are strong indications and SOME sources that claim he is currently under house arrest. For a partial list, please click here: List

  17. Eagles? by Carl_Stawicki · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe the Iranians can figure out why Frodo didn't just ride the eagles to Mt. Doom in the first place.

    --
    This is my signature.
    soid st egr.hyTa rsiugm usnin
    Any questions?
    1. Re:Eagles? by Experiment+626 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Frodo is not level 70, and is thus unable to use a flying mount.

    2. Re:Eagles? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      The Eagles didn't want to get involved because it didn't directly effect them at first. Once they saw that the Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Ents and Hobbits had done most of the hard work and it looked like Orcs would probably be after their eggs pretty shortly they turned up to help out. Oh sure they helped out in a non-combat way up till that point, saving Gandalf and providing equipment. However they demanded a hefty price that set back the Shire years technology wise and really helped boost their own post war economy putting them in a very favorable position while the rest of Middle Earth tried to rebuild. They really fell out of favour with the rest of Middle Earth in the years after Sauron was defeated because they just wouldn't shut up about how they defeated Sauron all by themselves.

      That wasn't very subtle was it?

    3. Re:Eagles? by Knara · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The history is a little more complex than that: http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/s/sauron.html

    4. Re:Eagles? by mike260 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Would those be African or European eagles?

  18. Iran hopefully welcomes ... by galego · · Score: 4, Funny

    their new hobbit overlord.

    Oh wait! That's North Korea ... my bad!

    --

    Que Deus te de em dobro o que me desejas

    [May God give you double that which you wish for me]

  19. This will cause trouble... by MiniMike · · Score: 5, Funny

    From what I've heard, most people voted for a Star Trek marathon, not LOTR. The Guardian Council denies anything is wrong with the vote count, despite the official count being 17 billion votes for LOTR vs -8 for Star Trek.

    I wonder if this is going to cause any trouble...

  20. Another movie perhaps? by mtmra70 · · Score: 3, Funny

    How about Star Wars then....

  21. Re:No Extended Version? by BetterSense · · Score: 5, Funny

    One does not simply Jihad into Mordor.

  22. Re:Can't have it both ways by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Funny

    Every observer called the election rigged, even some of the internal ones.

    Russia has recognized the elections as fair.

    In completely unrelated news, Russians have been campaigning for a return to the methods of Stalin. Not a joke.

    --
    Qxe4
  23. Re:Link by maxume · · Score: 5, Funny

    Calling it optimized is a bit much. Maybe it accidentally works better there, or something like that.

    --
    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  24. Play them in reverse order by spookymonster · · Score: 3, Funny

    That way, Frodo starts out near-death from exposure to the outside world, but ends up happy at home, blissfully ignorant of what's going on outside the shire, while his ancient and powerful Supreme Leader takes care of all that messy 'freedom' stuff....

    --
    - Despite popular opinion, I am not perfect.
  25. nitpicking by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Come on; it doesn't matter which U.S. state the film was made in; the point is it's all American media.

    1. Re:nitpicking by don.g · · Score: 4, Funny

      Typical American lack of geography. Everyone knows that New Zealand is a state of Australia.

      --
      Pretend that something especially witty is here. Thanks.
  26. On the other hand ... by Wrath0fb0b · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Perhaps this was not the best choice in films if you want your people not to believe that "even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

    On the other hand, it does reinforce the notion that brown people are a fallen race of brutes that are incapable of even the most basic language, let alone organized self-government. If the Iranians start believing that canard, then there goes the revolution.

    Then again, JRRT's solution is that a nice little white dude from England will come fix it up for you because he's so damned pure of spirit and incorruptible by evil (hah). Of course, he will bring with him some elves and dwarves (also white), a wizard with the surname "the white" and some other random white dude that claims the right to be King because his daddy was King and he has a nice looking sword (that apparently being a perfectly good reason to assert your right to absolute authority).

    Somehow, I don't think the Ayatollahs want that conclusion sinking in either.

    1. Re:On the other hand ... by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Informative

      Man, do you have to bring race into everything? Seriously, how many 'brown skinned' people do you think are going to look at orcs on the screen and say, "oh, that is me."

      The idea is ridiculous. Tolkien wasn't racist.

      Not only that, Persians are white caucasians. Check it out. Please be gone with your weird racial ideas.

      --
      Qxe4
  27. Re:The Grotesquely Ugly Truth by conspirator57 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Iranians bear 100% of the blame for the existence of a tyrannical government in Iran. We should condemn Iranian culture and its people.

    i agree with you except for this. our past and current interventions both in Iran and with its neighbors have directly contributed to the rise and sustainment of the current Iranian government.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax

    --
    "If still these truths be held to be
    Self evident."
    -Edna St. Vincent Millay
  28. Re:Warsaw Pact Vs. Iranian Despot by mikerz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why "condemn" ? Yes, the people are ultimately responsible for their government. But condemnation is entirely unnecessary, and frankly degrading.

  29. Re:Read the Silmarillion by Knara · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Gee, a mythology where a theological figure falls from grace? That ONLY happens in Christianity!

  30. Re:The Grotesquely Ugly Truth by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

    No country operates in a vaccuum. Period.

    Well, except for Moonistan.

    --

    The enemies of Democracy are