Page 162 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

IDEOLOGICAL APPROACH

councilors, rigged elections, and vocal women’s rights groups. In fact,
one of the plotlines involves the town “enriching” its staple food, peas,
in a clear parallel with Iran’s disputed uranium enrichment program.
Ahmad Eslami, a resident of Tehran, Iran, comments, “This show is just
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beautiful. The whole Islamic Republic is right here.” Barareh Nights is
watched by 90 percent of people with access to a television, now most
of Iran’s 69 million people. 34
Another fan of the show, who would only give the name of Khosro, can
clearly explain the contemporary context of one of the subplots: “A little
while ago they had the village elections. People were paying bribes and
promising cash. Two of the candidates were clearly Rafsanjani [a former
two-term president] and Karroubi [a former speaker of parliament].”
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But even in countries that allow freedom of speech, allegories enable
the audience to see current events and issues in a fresh way. For instance,
V for Vendetta (2005) is a futuristic film that takes place in Great Britain,
which has become a fascist state. The story focuses on the efforts of one
man to overthrow the corrupt dictator. According to journalist Michael
Janusonisis, although the story takes place in a distant time and place,
the film is actually a commentary about the current political climate in
the United States.

It’s set in a near-future Britain which, through a government that manipu-
lates the media and constantly issues terror alerts, has become a fascist
state ruled by a powerful, uncompromising megalomaniac. But parallels
to current events in the United States are obvious. . . .
Yet it’s the parody of current events that linger from V for Vendetta
as it takes aim at a powerful government that’s trying to hang onto its
power by any means possible, even using the lap-dog British Television
Network to foist its propaganda on a gullible—or so it believes—public.
Go outside, the government warns, and you risk catching the avian flu.
And if someone blows up the Old Bailey court, the TV spin is that this
was an emergency demolition needed to remove a dangerous old building
from the London landscape.
Perhaps most controversial is that the film poses the question of whether
terrorism is sometimes necessary when it comes time to battle repression or
an unpopular ruler and whether it can be condoned in such instances. The
repercussions of that question will echo down the corridors of history. 36

Certain genres are particularly well suited for allegories. For instance,
the futuristic setting of the science fiction genre furnishes perspective on

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