23 June 2009

Anonymous Iran

I have never seen anything more worthy of going viral in my life. Please, take these words and spread them, repost them, and if you are a member of the media or good with technology, act on them. The people of Iran are showing immense courage and providing the kind of example the world needs. The American people should take note: there is nothing more important than protecting our voting rights, and demanding accountability from our government and media.


TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2009

A Message to the International Community from Inside Iran

This was found in an undisclosed location. The text is as follows:

I apologise in advance for the tone and style of this letter to you. The people in Tehran of whom I speak on behalf are weak and tired. I hope you are able to clearly understand the message we are sending to you. This letter is a call to all people outside of Iran, both Persian expatriates and other people. At the present time this is very important for the fate of Iran. To quote Napolean: "There is but one step between victory and defeat." We in Iran are at the same critical step. Your help is of the most urgent importance.
Tonight I was just up on the roof. I was at home and began hearing the voice of a young girl crying out from her roof top, "Allahu Akbar!" I began to join in with her chant until I had no strength remaining to yell. "Allahu Akbar! We're all together!" For 30 minutes we cried out into the night together. Eventually I became a bit frustrated and nervous about being on the roof and came down. But the sound of the girl continued. She began chanting loudly, "Iranians join together! Support, Support!"

These words warmed the hearts of those of us within the range of her voice. The last few days I have been all around the city, demonstrating and chanting. This girls voice touched me most of all.
Here in Tehran people are scared. The rumors are swirling about people who are identifying demonstrators from pictures found online and then going to their homes at night and attacking their families. Yesterday
CNN aired a video with a voice screaming from inside a house. The video showed darkness, but the sound of a woman begging Basiji to leave her home has galvanized us. People are scared!

Another video has also put fear into a lot of Iranian people. That is the video of the late Neda Agha-Soltan (the woman shot on the street who died). Neda's death has perplexed people. As foreign media has been removed from our televisions, we are dependent on Iranian State Television which is practising a severe psychological warfare with our minds. Now everywhere people go they are watching who is behind them. All over the streets of Tehran are clothes which have been left behind by those arrested by police and Basiji. Today I became downhearted when I saw only a few thousand at 7 June Square for Neda's memorial. God, we all have to get our spirits back! Right now, time is very critical! We have these immediate needs:

  1. Please tell your governments that if they are seen as interfering or supporting our actions - then we have lost! I believe that if we can receive covert resources and support without prompting action by the regime, our enemy will be severely suppressed. Today we heard from sources outside of Iran that we can not win. Those who are saying this in the media please notice: You must also mention the success of the results thus far. For the sake of the spirit of our demonstrators, you must mention that we are making great strides. Your words have the power of giving energy to our cause. The actions against us will only escalate unless the legitimacy of this government is removed from popular opinion. We only have ourselves to depend on. Today the commander of the Tehran Police refused to implement the suppression orders sent down to him by the Government. This was a small success, however many were later arrested when the information became known to the Officials.
  2. People are afraid to demonstrate without money or resources. Many are afraid that a general strike will drain bank accounts and thus cripple our efforts. Please be cautious when calling for demonstrators to remove money from banks, stop shopping and work. While it is effective for us to use these measures, please be cautious and regard that we are making necessary plans within our groups. Your information being sent en mass through public mediums is falling directly into the hands of our enemies.
  3. Continue blocking Iran regime websites. We continue needing Firefox plug-ins, anonymous portals and IP devices. If you can find a way to provide those to us, it will be important in our efforts.
  4. Iranian State Television is creating massive distorition of truths. Their reports are stirring fear and frustration in the people. They collect information from foreign media websites and report just the opposite, or design filtered propaganda to distress our efforts. The Iran television news is showing pictures that have been collected off websites of the demonstrators, and they are asking viewers to send in informative leads to who the face belongs to and where they live. Recently many have blanked out the face of the demonstrators before uploading our pictures. That is a great help to our cause.
  5. The Regime is accusing foreign governments and Western media with unfounded charges. Their motive in doing so is to create chaos and diversion. They are provoking governments to take a position instead of well-thought passive defense. The State-Run News plays up the Western governments as imperfect and problematic - attempting to inspire people to stop these protests for fear of becoming like the Western nations. These allegations have been extremely critical of the USA and President Obama administration. What we feel is best would be the United Nations to call on Iran's regime to hold another election. We all have the courage to face this, so International Community, as your governments to pressure the UN to act on requesting a new election in Iran. Also continue to call on your governments in Europe and America to visibly appear neutral and do not show explicit support. The USA administration is doing that and it helps so much. President Ahmadinejad is very worried at this hour of the protests.
  6. It is very likely that quite soon our leaders: Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami will be arrested. It is also very likely many other political leaders will be detained. We call on the International Media to continue broadcasting fair information while remaining responsible.

18 April 2009

Of Underdogs and Overnight Sensations

Like everyone else with an internet connection and a pulse, I bawled like I’d been snorting onion juice at the ultra-viral video of Susan Boyle surprising the judges and audience of Britain’s Got Talent. But with each callous description, with each wide-eyed commentary, I find myself growing more and more dismayed and angry.

First of all, consider the cynical manipulation of their viewers by the B.G.T. producers and editors. Following the undiscovered virtuoso of former snaggle-toothed cell phone salesman Paul Potts, the formula for success must have become crystal clear to the producers. “Unlikely” (read “ugly”) contestant possesses world-class talent, comes on show to jeers and guffaws, and proceeds to produce a stellar performance with accompanying standing O and “shocked” judges. We conveniently forget that everyone involved with the show knew exactly what to expect, the oft-irritable Simon Cowell included. It’s not as if they hadn’t heard her initially audition for the show – they can’t possibly drag everyone who shows up onto stage. And if you watch the banter and audience reaction preceding her performance, it’s clear that everyone is “in” on the “joke” except for Susan herself.

So, while the show led to her worldwide fame, it was ultimately at the initial cost of her dignity as a serious artist, and potentially at the cost of her long-term viability as having a serious career, once the inevitable backlash starts. There’s a cruelty and cynicism in the clip that betrays all of the “feel-good” status of her amazing rise. We’ve grown so accustomed to seeing slick, over-produced acts who have been groomed by stylists right down to their toenails that we apparently believe external features have something to do with one’s vocal chords or lungs. We’re used to multi-tracked vocals, pitch adjustments, and a hundred other digital enhancements. A singer’s qualifications for pop stardom, in other words, rely less on talent, hard work, and practice, and more on “image” and star-quality these days. (Interestingly, a fact that seems clearer in American Idol than in the other Cowell productions.) But it’s clear from even a cursory reading of Susan Boyle’s biography that she has been a singer for her entire adult life, singing in church choirs in her village, and even appearing on a recording ten years ago. This isn’t an overnight sensation, but someone who has plodded along as a working artist, studying with others when she could, holding her dream inside her for her 47 years. She hasn’t been singing in her shower, she’s been performing in public weekly, just like thousands of talented singers in churches and community productions everywhere.

The fact that anyone could be surprised once she opened her mouth says nothing about Susan or the quality of her talent, but speaks volumes about US. We all like to think we don’t judge by appearances, but this is about more than that even. Everything in Susan’s life works against who we “think” someone with her talent should be: looks, yes, but also age, weight, lifestyle, and even geography. Every article mentions that she has cats, every article comments on her mode of dress, and every article mentions that she’s “never been kissed”. These classifications build upon the stereotype of the “spinster-singleton-small-town-cat-lady” in order to increase the “surprise” that she manages to sing so beautifully.

How different the story would be, however, without the game show. Susan Boyle is a very good singer (from the 2 songs I’ve heard, anyway), but is she good enough to get discovered any other way but through a game show? Well maybe, if “getting discovered” was about talent anymore….it’s not. We tell ourselves that we live in a meritocracy, that having enough talent or enough drive is enough to get us through the magical doors of fame and fortune, but the gatekeepers no longer care about talent, or drive, or hard work: they care about marketability and profit. And Susan Boyle is marketable, but only based on our wicked assumptions that people we have collectively deemed “ugly” can’t possess world-class talents. After all, would you have forwarded her video as an “inspiration” had a stylist tweezed those bushy eyebrows and tarted her up a bit first? Be honest: would you?

And really, what IS “ugly”? The popular and quirky television show Ugly Betty would have us believe that America Ferrara, a stunning girl dressed up in goofily clashing outfits, braces, and glasses represents the tv version of “ugly”. But there’s the rub: modern beauty is as manufactured as Betty’s supposed ugliness is. Look to the plethora of makeover shows for your evidence of how simple it is to turn a hot mess into hotness. Anyone with enough money can be beautiful these days, it has little to do with genetic gifts or healthy living. Our ultimate shallowness and vapidity has eclipsed us, and found us lacking: few of us qualify to be “beautiful” by today’s standards, unless we’ve opted for plastic surgery or spend a large part of our budgets on makeup and hair products. Meanwhile, eating disorders in young girls have doubled since the 1960’s, 12.1 million Cosmetic Surgeries were performed in 2008, and the latest trend for 5-year old girls is mani / pedi parties in spas. Focus on appearance has obscured all other qualities a human may have. We buy the books based on the covers and don’t even crack the spine.

We all love rooting for the underdog, but I think we fail to see our own patterns in creating the very condition of underdog-ness. Our expectations and habits dictate what we listen to and whom we pay attention to. We’re all guilty of judging on first appearances and buying based on the packaging. Even in the art world, looks and youth play a part in what artists make it into the best galleries & museums, though neither should have anything to do with marketing artwork. With the monolithic entertainment culture that has grown up in America and spread like a viral video throughout the world, we only see talent that has already been manufactured for us, with little of the inherent creativity of the artist left to shine through. A band’s marketing and image sells them as much, if not more than, the music itself does, whether on a major label or an indy start-up. We rely on hype and PR instead of our own instincts and tastes, and only find underdogs after they’ve been discovered by someone else and groomed for our consumption AS underdogs. We’ve lost our sense of discovery.

So, I would like to issue a challenge, to anyone reading this. Go out and see the bands you’ve never heard of, buy art from local artists, go out and DISCOVER the talent in YOUR community instead of waiting for them to “get big” and then pretending you went to their early shows. Hunt out the underdogs in your own community and SUPPORT them. Every single community on this planet, large and small, urban or rural, has talented people in it. If you miss them while you’re gobbling up the latest Hollywood offering and downloading the next Billboard hit, then ultimately, the one missing out is you. Susan Boyles are all over: go forth and find them.