Iran's Dixie Chick?

Iran's Samira Makhmalbaf took home the Grand Jury prize at Cannes for At Five in the Afternoon, by all accounts, a powerful film about the Taliban's oppression of women. But don't mistake her for a George W. Bush fan:

"I would like to dedicate this prize to all the women of the world," said Makhmalbaf, the youngest of the 20 directors competing for the top Cannes prizes.

"My film is about a woman who dreams of being president but as George W. Bush is the world's most powerful president, then I'd rather remain a director", she said.

Comments

[Tommy_Grand]

"I'm not at all sure that the women of Afghanistan are better off under the various warlords than they were under the Taliban. Maybe in Kabul they are, but as far as I know the rest of the country is a complete shambles."

Blah blah blah. You're not "sure" that every single woman's life has improved (we don?t necessarily know ALL the facts! Maybe the stories are exaggerated! Maybe rural conditions don?t match the improvements in the cities! There is some possibility - however remote - that conditions are worse not better! We are taking too much credit for modest gains! Etc. etc. etc.) Beneath your rhetoric, you know that most Afghani women's lives have improved since we defeated the vile Taliban, and that very few women are worse off. Why try to skirt this good news with qualifiers, conditions, and sophomoric arguments about uncertainty?

[tonio-k]

we'll know the lot for womyn has improved as soon as a hooters opens up over there in iran or afghanistan.

seriously, just as the left wing here and in western europe take any opportunity to insult the current administration, they insist on foreign aid instead of getting rid of farming and textile subsidies that really do prevent a middle class in such places, and thereby making the lot terrible for the whole of them, especially women.

inronically, these people who believed in the "greening of america", are making the situation worse. maybe not ironically. "typically" is probably phrased better.

or we could establish the province of whine-and-bitch-istan, where such people, male and female, could live in bleeding heart spleandor.

[Mark Borok]

"You're not "sure" that every single woman's life has improved"

Alright, then, what do you know about the current situation in Afghanistan? I mean, know for sure, based on facts, and not on conjecture?

[Tommy_Grand]

That is precisely the sophomoric "uncertainty" response I expected. No one knows with 100% certainty what's happening in all parts of Afghanistan - including the Afghanis - but the most reliable reports (WHO, UN) indicate some measure of improvement. Despite the paucity of all-inclusive, irrefutable evidence, even cynics like you suspect that conditions for women have improved a tad since the Taliban's fall. There are precious few absolute, incontestable facts in the universe - fewer still in geopolitics. Nevertheless, I'm willing to bet heavily that ousting the overtly misogynistic Taliban was good for Afghani women. And I suspect you agree.

[fyodor]

When talking about whether or not women's lives have improved in Afghanistan, do you (any of you) mean in comparison to men's lives or absolutely? It is entirely possible that some degree of discrimination against women has been lifted but that a general deterioration in living conditions nevertheless makes their lives worse. Of course, it's always tough to measure those kinds variables against each other. Regardless, I don't think there's a whole lot of information coming out about current life in Afghanistan outside of Kabul, other than that local warlords wield more power than the Kabul government. Like Mark Borok, I'd like to know if anyone else here knows more about it than I do, or if you're simply assuming that with the Taliban gone women's lives must have improved ipso facto?

[ali]

I think you people know nothing about iran . because you only watch fax and cnn & ...
your goverment dose not let you to know realities about iran...

[Eric]

"I think you people know nothing about iran . because you only watch fax and cnn & ...
your goverment dose not let you to know realities about iran..."

I think you're looking for an excuse to sound condescending and self-righteous, seeing how the vast majority of the discussion here has been about Afghanistan rather than Iran.

But if you'd like to enlighten us, feel free. I suspect that some here are more knowledgable than you think. And btw, to the extent that Americans are ignorant about Iran, it has less to do with any government agenda than with the fact that American mass media has mostly degenerated into over-commercialized, soundbite-laden drivel.

[Mark Borok]

"That is precisely the sophomoric "uncertainty" response I expected. No one knows with 100% certainty what's happening in all parts of Afghanistan - including the Afghanis"

Then how do you explain the comment I was responding to, the one that said that Bush's war in Afghanistan had "clearly" improved conditions for women there? Is it sophomoric to express uncertainty when there is no way to be certain, or to express certainty without cause? Because the Taliban was evil, does that mean no equal or greater evil could come to take its place?

[Tommy_Grand]

Identify the evidence which will convince you - beyond any doubt - that the situation for women in Afghanistan is improving and I will instruct my research staff track it down and post it here. On the other hand, if you are among those cynics who believe that any internet link is potentially unreliable, I won't bother.

[SM]

"your goverment dose not let you to know realities about iran..."

Hey ali -

Whereas the freedom loving government of Iran lets you see the "true reality" of life in the USA ...

This seems to be a constant with many people outside the USA or for that matter inside it too - apparently you have to listen to the BBC to find out what Amerika is really like. On the other hand they are pissed off when any unflatering detail of their society appears in the NYTimes etc.

[Lefty]

Here's a link to some Afghanistan living statistics. http://www.unicef.org/statis/Country_1.html

The place is 80% rural, has been fighting wars for over 20 years and is suffering the worst drought in living memory. Safe water is available to 11% of the rural population, 25% in the cities. Female literacy rate is about 30%, half a million men have died in wars in the last 20 years and the average annual income is $250.

Only the top 1% or so of politically or economically connected women give a rat's ass about politics or whether they wear a veil or not. They are starving.

[Joe L.]

Sad, isn't it? Did Iran remove the Taliban? Does Iran allow women the kind of rights US women have? Yet, even confronted with this reality, Ms Makhmalbaf can't pass up her chance to insult Bush. Intersting, is this so she can get back into Iran and avoid trouble, "See I insulted the Great Satan. I'm not a threat." Or is this just more blind hatred from the intelligentsia?

[JT]

To be Iran's Dixie Chick, she would have to criticize the leader of HER country, or she would have to do something to alienate her fans (for example, she could PRAISE Bush).

I watched the speech last night on Bravo and was struck by two things: 1) Bush's war in Afghanistan, the setting for her award winning film, clearly improved the lives of women in that country. 2) Her method of criticizing Bush was a bit confusing. She would only want to be president of her country if the most powerful president in the world is a good person? One might think that she would want to be president so that she could challenge Bush and other powerful world leaders. Or maybe she was praising Bush, kind of like someone (who likes Steven Speilberg) saying "I want to be a film director but as Speilberg is the most powerful director in the world, I'll stick to my day job."

[Mark Borok]

I'm not at all sure that the women of Afghanistan are better off under the various warlords than they were under the Taliban. Maybe in Kabul they are, but as far as I know the rest of the country is a complete shambles.

[Glenn C]

Why should anyone believe she's sincere? Consider earlier this year a prominent female was given a suspended sentence of a flogging for kissing a man during an awards ceremony. Meanwhile the government has announced a major crackdown on various internet sites, and funtime in Teheran still means watching the Republican Guards rally and shout "Death to America!"
Maybe she meant what she said, maybe she's just trying to keep herself out of trouble with the regime back home. Who knows?

[clark]

Dixie Sluts will never get one cent of this Americans money!!!! CLINTOON SUCKS!!! LOL--GWBISGOD
um, sorry. I thought I was on Freerepublic for a minute

[Anonymous]

repugs censor dixie chics! No blood for oil! Chimpy sucks!!!!

sorry I thought I was on DU for a minute

[Eric]

This reminds me of the story of RAWA, that Afghan feminist organization that did a lot to bring the world's attention to the crimes of the Taliban, but wound up opposing the American military campaign to rid the world of those Cro-Magnon troglodytes.

Ever since ethe days of Plato, there's always been a segment of the intelligentsia that's looked down on the concepts of economic and military power. They've viewed these things as crass and vulgar, and beneath the intellectual pursuits that they engage in, even when it's only these things that allow them to carry out their pursuits in any measure of safety, comfort, and freedom. In this age of rampant anti-Americanism, the aversion has just become more pronounced.

[Jon B.]

The narrower the mind, the broader the statement.

[joe]

Lefty's righty. We delude ourselves into thinking veils and government edicts are the most important determinants of quality of life for Afghan women, because these things are dynamic points of debate for American political ideologies.

What would convince ME that the lives of Afghan women have improved? Hearing them say it themselves. Fat chance I'll ever get to hear they think.

[Gary Gunnels]

For the most part, Afghanistan is a shithole, Taleban or not. Maybe w/o the Taleban, Afghanistan has a brighter future, but it remains a shithole at this point. Same goes for Iraq; which will likely become more prosperous more quickly because it has more than poppies and rugs to trade.