Further into darkness

Using the language of "cultural protection", Iran's "Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council" has banned foreign movies from the country:

There won't be any liquor-swilling God-denyers on the Iranian silver screen any time soon. Drug takers, secularists, liberals, anarchists and feminists are out, too.

That's what a committee of Islamic clerics, led by new hard-line President Ahmadinejad, ruled earlier this week when it banned foreign films. The clerics singled out in the ban elements of Western culture that were judged as affronts to the government's vision of Iran's Muslim culture.

With the decision, Iranians felt one of the first cultural reversals of the opening to the outside world they enjoyed under their former reformist President Mohammad Khatami.
[...]
The clerical council has not said what a film must contain to be ruled as promoting secularism or liberalism, meaning decisions will be made on an ad hoc basis.

"It's a useless decision. It gives a sword to people to act based on their personal interpretations," said Ahmad Pournejati, a former member of the council.

Pournejati said terms of the ban were so vague that they may apply to any Western film. Members of the council could not be reached for comment. They are hand-picked by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters.

Keep it up, mullahs. The youth of Iran, who now make up more than half the population of the country, are being pushed closer and closer to the breaking point.

Posted by damian at October 27, 2005 07:46 AM | TrackBack