Slashdot Mirror


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."

19 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 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."
    2. Re:Drivel by eggnet · · Score: 5, Insightful

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

    3. 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.

    4. 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. Wonderful! by voss · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  3. Re:No Extended Version? by Megane · · Score: 5, Funny

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

    JIHAD!

    --
    #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  4. 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!

  5. Wrong movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They should have showed 300 instead.

  6. 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
  7. 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.
  8. 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

  9. 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?
  10. 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...

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

    One does not simply Jihad into Mordor.

  12. 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.
  13. 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.

  14. 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