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Sean Penn in Iran

by Erik Olsen (RSS feed) on Aug 23rd 2005 at 3:29PM

We whined a bit a while back about Sean Penn's foray into international journalism and his trip to Iran, and now Penn is posting dispatches from there. His second series of articles appeared today in the SF Chronicle. At first glance, in the opening paragraph actually, we learn that he had some difficulty holding his bladder while sitting through a religious service…file this under "more than I needed to know." But it gets better (sort of), and I found the dispatch a kind of fascinating look into the country, as well as into Penn's perspectives on international affairs.

Because of the high profile of his trip (just google it, you'll see), he hooks up with some high profile folks. He meets with Mehdi Rafsanjani, a campaign director and son of former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who does his best to play up the "America as hypocrite" argument you often hear from people outside the states (and which in some cases is spot on…although in this case seems quite hollow if not downright stupid), but he does a fine job not letting the comments stand on their own, and answers them with an appropriate dose of skepticism. In all honesty, Penn sucks as a writer. His editors need to do a much better job fine tuning his tortured prose. Just take this graph:

While I have said there is a great warmth toward Americans, it's never far from your mind that you're one bedside book in the toilet away from death. One handshake with a woman away from jail. A visitor is subject to all the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran and all its thinly veiled oppression. And less thinly veiled restriction on the press. It's like dancing on a volcano. So, who was this "Star Wars" Sith? And why did he want to give us his connections?

I guess I understand what he's saying, but man, I gotta throw a syntax flag. Pweeee! Five yard penalty.

That said, Penn roams over a lot of topics, from freedom of the press (or lack thereof) to the Iran/Iraq war to sexual mores, but I have to say Penn doesn't really examine these issues in a satisfying way. And the implicit comparison of Iranian dissidents being jailed and/or killed with the imprisonment of Judith Miller left me wondering what he was talking about.

I enjoyed the fact that Penn decided to take his interviews beyond powerful figures and hangs out a bit chatting with regular folk. These are some of the nicest bits. Anyway, I'll keep tuning in and see where this goes. What do other folks think?

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Carl Dec 18th 2005 5:08PM

I think celebrities should stick to acting or singing and quit trying to use their celebrity status for political purposes.

Just look at Tom Cruise. What sane person would take medical advice on post partum depression from a guy who (a) dropped out of high school, (b) his life's work consists of acting in movies and (c) isn't female so doesn't truely know a damn thing about it.

I haven't read his latest round of columns, but I am familiar with his coverage of the Iranian elections. It boggles my mind to think that Penn is still so vocal about how bad our government is... while hob nobbing with Iran's big wigs.

Diane Tober Dec 18th 2005 5:08PM

While I can appreciate Penn's desire to go to Iran and see for himself what it is like, I don't understand how this is portrayed as
a 'journalistic' event.

If the point was to get more information out to the American public about Iran, the Chronicle should have sent someone more informed about Iranian culture, history, language and politics. Elaine Sciolino is a good example of an informed journalist who has devoted much of her career to Iran and the Middle East.

There are so many inaccuracies in his reporting that it does little more than reinforce the misjudgements Americans already have of Iran. He refers to the agents accompanying him to his interviews as "Siths." This is offensive, portraying them as somehow less than human, if not "evil" as the "Siths" in the recent Star Wars movies.

He talks about women covering their faces--women rarely do that in Iran, even the most devout. He talks about all the women on the plane being transformed by the all-encompassing chador before they disembark. Less than a third of Iranian women wear the chador. Most wear a scarf and simple coat, called a manteau. He sounds as if he is the one bothered by the required coverings because he is no longer able to gawk at a woman's midriff. His quest to find an alcoholic beverage is right up there with his desire to talk to former President Rafsanjani.

His ruminations about being "a handshake with a woman away from jail" or a "bedside book...away from death" are absurd. I am a single woman who lived in Iran with my two young blond American children for six months in 2002. I've traveled to Iran 3 times in the past five years, and am about to go for the fourth time. I always felt completely safe in Iran.

If Penn wants to educate
the "American public" then he should cut the sensationalist garbage he employs to spice up his writing. He has a responsibility to the Iranian and American people to get his facts straight.

I conducted extensive research on relations between low-income Iranians and Afghan refugees living in urban and rural Isfahan. I will be contributing my experiences to an American audience as soon as my material is ready. I think Penn's approach is irresponsible.