19 June 2013
Monday, 02 April 2012 00:00

Laughing at Ourselves, Iranian Style

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As an Iranian-American who is always trying to fix the ruined image of Iranians (by the mainstream media and politics), I wish I would wake up in the morning and miraculously find out that the whole world has changed its attitude toward us.

In my dream, the American public knows that Iranians are a misunderstood nation that, unlike their despotic government officials, do not say hateful things about other nations. (For example, I enjoyed the love messages exchanged between Iranians and Israelis in the past week.)

Also, in my dream, my audience have realized it is possible to laugh at ourselves, our politics, our governments and our officials--just the way Iranians are doing so in Iran as the only option left for them.

In my dream, loving a "crazy" country like Iran since we are constantly bombarded with negative massages about it becomes easy, fun and a beginning for dialogue and understanding.

Anyways, last week, as I was drowned into such thoughts I came across this photoshoped image of Keyhan Newspaper, a hardliner newspaper in Iran, which not only made me laugh but also gave me the hope that my dream could come true.

I admire this creativity because I believe whoever has created this photo is sending a witty message to the Western and Iranian politicians and is holding a mirror to their ridiculous policies. What do you think?

 

An imagined front page of conservative Iranian newspaper Keyhan which would never publish such skin-exposing pictures reads "poverty strikes Europe after banning imports of Iran's oil."

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About the Columnist: Parisa Saranj

Parisa is a journalism graduate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is currently a MFA Creative non-Fiction writing candidate at Goucher College. She began writing about her native country, Iran, at her personal blog IranStories.com to share everything she loves about Iran and Iranians, minus all the politics (if that's possible).

Tired of being asked the most basic questions about Iran, all based on stereotypes and lies, Parisa just wanted to provide a pure image of what life is like in Iran...what is it like to be an Iranian woman. Now, Parisa brings her I Heart Iran section from IranStories.com exclusively to Aslan Media.

Follow Parisa on Twitter @parissasaranj
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