This week Lionel and I had the pleasure of having our friend Cyrus Nowrasteh as our guest on Poliwood. Cyrus is the co-writer (with his wife Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh) and director of the recently-released controversial (isn’t that the word I’m supposed to use?) film The Stoning of Soraya M. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, that’s the movie based on the non-fiction account by Freidoune Sahebjam of a stoning for adultery in rural Iran in the eighties – only the adultery had not taken place. It’s an indictment of sharia law that is remarkably timely, fortunately for the filmmaker if not so much (thus far) for the Iranian protesters. It’s a very powerful movie and obviously worth supporting under the circumstances as well. Go and see it.
Our interview with Cyrus, who also wrote The Path to 9-11, is here. All other Poliwoods here. As always, we welcome your feedback.
Cyrus Nowrasteh’s efforts to attract feminists to view The Stoning of Soraya M. were doomed to produce mediocre results. Only a relatively few of these women will have any genuine interest—in their heart of hearts. The film is about the disgusting misbehavior of dark skinned people. This makes them feel yucky and discombobulated. They might have been enthusiastic had Soraya M. been a victim of white bubbas living in the Old South. Logically these women are on the same page with Mr. Nowrasteh. They may even nod their heads up and down in complete agreement while speaking to him. As matter of fact, he probably didn’t hear even one dissenting voice. Nonetheless, on a gut level they are unable to get past their race guilt.
Excellent, excellent interview and I’m looking forward to seeing the movie.