I’ve been following the story, as best I can, of Iranian actress Gohar Kheirandish. She kissed a male film director, a colleague, at an awards ceremony. The mullahs had a freak-out, holed up in their dream palaces of unreality, based on the mores of the 7th century, and she has been given a suspended sentence of 74 lashes.
Imagine what would have been done to Adrien Brody and Halle Berry in Iran, for their passionate kiss at the Academy Awards. They would have been killed!! Kheirandish just kissed her colleague on the forehead, for God’s sake.
Try to imagine it. Adrien Brody passionately kisses Halle Berry when he wins his award. They are not married. They are not even dating! Halle Berry is married to someone else! Yes, there were pictures of it all over the news the next day, but … it’s already been forgotten. Who cares? Adrien Brody couldn’t believe he had won, he was thrilled, and also Halle Berry is hot. He took his moment. We ASSUME that this is all right, in general. Or, if people disagree, then they just sit around and mutter in their homes, staring at the television, grumbling about the licentiousness in Hollywood. Whatever. No harm done. In Iran = 74 lashes.
Every time a story like this comes out, I think of the celebs in Hollywood right now, whining about how persecuted they feel, about how tyrannical the government is, how “dissidence” is punished with “invective”. Oh, just shut up. You have no idea how good you have it.
