In Monday’s Financial Times article “Iranians turn off state TV after soap is dropped,” it was reported that Iranians are increasingly upset with the state television system Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) because it cancelled a soap opera (Black Coffee) with one of Iran’s most popular actors, Mehran Modiri. The state censored the series due to its sensitive theme about a historical authoritarian regime whose mistakes were removed from Iran’s history books. Since the state television network dropped the show, Modiri made DVDs of the program of which he sold 500,000 copies the first day.
Clearly, Iranians are big fans of the soap opera genre. Understanding this market, foreign satellite broadcasters are providing the content denied by state television. Although Iran’s constitution gives power to the state media, many Iranians own illegal satellite dishes, using them to access outside channels such as BBC Persian and Voice of America.
One of the more popular satellite channels is Farsi1, a partially owned by Rupert Murdoch who runs News Corp, a global media conglomerate. Farsi1 shows Farsi-dubbed soap operas and sitcoms from America, Columbia and Korea. According to an article from the Daily Beast, “the real draw of the network is its dubbed versions of Latin American Telenovelas, which have most of the country in their melodramatic grip.” Likewise, according to an article from Middle East Online, “Farsi1, which has been on the airwaves for just over one year, is now much part of the social fabric that the shows it airs are popular all across Iran, even in the remotest villages.”
It should come as no surprise that telenovelas are popular in Iran, given the effect of telenovelas on the global media economy. In her article, “Ugly Betty goes global,” Jade Miller says that telenovelas are “appealing cultural products traversing global networks of capitalist cultural concerns.” One of the reasons that telenovelas are universally popular is due their accessibility – anyone can relate or connect to the stories, which are often “rags-to-riches” narratives.
The telenovelas don’t seem to have a deep cultural impact, especially in countries like Iran who have a strong national identity. According to the Middle East Online story, “Some Iranians believe that the government tolerates Farsi1 because its standard fare of entertainment does not present a political challenge, and may offer a useful distraction from the troubles facing the country.”
If the IRIB wants to reconnect with Iranians, it should seriously consider the popularity of telenovela “Second Chance” and broadcast accordingly.
Financial Times article:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d2158c02-d555-11df-8e86-00144feabdc0.html
Daily Beast article:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-09/rupert-murdochs-invasion-of-iran/
Middle East Online article:
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/culture/?id=41123
Jade Miller “Ugly Betty Goes Global: global networks of localized content in telenovela industry” Global Media and Communication 6, no. 2 198-217 (BLACKBOARD)
I think the popularity of genres in relation to whether or not a country is high or low context, is really interesting. Americans tend to love a cut and dry melodrama with everything tidy at the end. Europeans tend to favor an ambiguous tragedy. (I'm swiping this from a lecture Dr. Weaver gave us in Cross Cultural Comm)I think this explains why our movie industry flourished the way it did over the past century and why we need to pay closer attention to what we market overseas. I read an article about Bollywood's popularity in Nigeria having to do with the fact that many Hollywood movies are 'shameful' for trying to glorify sex and drugs and not understanding why we would sell such a movie to a place that might find it offensive.
ReplyDeleteThe Daily Beast article is amazing. The world is concerned, and rightly so, of too much American influence. But Rupert Murdoch seems unstoppable.
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ReplyDeleteI have never lived in Iran, and none of my Iranian friends ever talk to me about television, much less soap operas in Iran, so my understanding of media and popular television in Iran is unfortunately limited by a few articles.
ReplyDeleteThis issue is slightly interesting to me because this again presents the idea of popular culture, versus tradition, versus what the state wants people to know about and think. One very basic piece of information I am lacking in understanding a portion of the issue is: how many television stations are available in Iran? Because of the use of illegal satellites and proxy servers, I imagine the amount may vary depending on the household, but how many stations, legally, are in Iran. In these stations what is covered? Is it primarily news/propaganda? Is it religious programming? What about cultural programming? I am faintly aware of the strong Persian identification in Iran—how much of what people watch pertains to ancient history? The FT article mentioned Black Coffee, a soap opera about ‘a dictatorial and incompetent regime whose mistakes were later eliminated from Iran’s history books’. Not having seen this show, I wonder what would make people feel sensitively about it. Is it that Iran is trying to cover up the past? Is it that the soap opera takes place in the future and is actually talking about Iran’s current government? Or is it a reference to the fall of the proud Persian Empire?
Aside from that, I’d like to understand how much media talks about the Persian Empire’s many conflicts with Islam? The Middle East Online article presents in a good point too, in response to FT’s inclusion of Khabar Online’s “The television is losing its credibility day by day”. Alternative channels must be tolerated by the government in light of current political dramas and upheavals. In fact, some dramas may serve in the government’s interest by drawing attention away from what is actually going on, and keeping people ignorant to politics. Similarly in the United States, we have more mind-numbing television—sitcoms, stand-up comedy, reality shows, soap operas and others—than we have informed politics.
Even the few Americans who watch the news regularly understand the full implications of what they are viewing. Very little understand the history and/or the historical ramifications of current events. If a government ever wanted to exploit its citizenry, they should follow our model, and allow more soap operas.
and I think the link for the ME online article is broken (or maybe its just my computer, here's an alternative for anyone who might have this problem http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=41123)