Will ‘The Stoning Of Soraya M.’ Get An Oscar Nod?
by John T. SimpsonJust when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
Returning once again to the land beneath the Big Hollywood sign for a most important poll question. “The Stoning of Soraya M.” has received powerful rave reviews across the political spectrum. The buzz is hot. From the leftie pundits at HuffPo (who only seem to be discovering the true human rights horrorshow nature of that regime now, most curious) to the Righties at Big Hollywood and elsewhere, SORAYA M. is a must-see movie that will linger with you long after you’ve left the theater.
Strangely enough, Amnesty lnternational’s Elise Auerbach doesn’t like it. Because stonings in Iran are so rare, don’t you know. No suspension of disbelief for Ms. Elsie. I’m sorry, what’s her job again? Oh yeah, Iran Specialist for Amnesty International. Go figure. Personally, I happen to think one stoning is one too many. And it wasn’t the only one, not by a country mile! But that’s just me. I’m not an Iran specialist for AI. Like, say, Ms. Auerbach. Nice work if you can get it, huh, Ms. Elsie?
By the way, did the acronym AI in the context of Ms. Elsie’s employer and thumbs-down review of Soraya M. remind anyone else of Artificial Intelligence? But I digress. To be sure, there are a number of disturbing productions from Thugocracy Studios that have lingered with me for a very long time now. A young woman’s brutal and heart-wrenching Islamic clothing violation arrest I posted last May, which has generated 6000 hits since. The gay executions. The 140 children on Death Row.
The mass hangings. The stonings and executions of a lot more women and young girls than just Soraya M. Here’s a thugocracy twofer, sisters Zoreh and Azar Kabiri, each charged with adultery, already hit with 99 lashes and now awaiting the rock-throwers. Do their husbands want new wives too, like Soraya’s? Who needs a messy divorce when a good clean stoning works just as well? Nice law if you can get it, if you’re a philandering, misogynist God-fearing Islamist, and the fascist women-hating judges give your word as a man twice that of a woman’s in court.
If you want the full bloody extremist Third Reich tour of Iran, here it is. Here’s the regime’s gay-friendly extermination program. Boys In The Band it ain’t. Point being, will SORAYA M. make the AMPAS nominee list next January, even in its now-extended format of ten candidates for Best Picture? Or, will the Academy bury it as a dirty reminder of their collective shame this past March?
First, let us admit that no politics takes place during The Academy’s selection process. FISH HOOK! You people are just too easy. As for me, I’m torn. See, the Academy, particularly the Nine Stooges of Team Oscar, bravely commanded by Academy Prez and Stooge-In-Chief Sid Ganis, may find it embarrassing to rave about a powerful film on a brutal stoning in Iran after producing TEA WITH AHMADINEJAD and praising the regime’s boffo womens rights record, as thugocracy stooge Annette Bening did. Very unfavorable contrast with Soraya M.
Then again, by rallying to the Forces of Good and whitewashing that abysmal affair in now-chaotic Iran, as they’ve already attempted to with their lame website promo The Road To Isfahan (seen the real Road To Isfahan lately? It ain’t no Bob and Bing movie, that’s for goddamn sure!), they can once again proudly don the mantle of human rights champs, the one they so misplaced for their last tea and finger cookies soiree to the gay-slaughtering and women-stoning Islamist butchers of Iran.
So whattaya think, people? Does “The Stoning of Soraya M.” get showered with Oscar praise, and perhaps even Oscar gold, as Academy absolution of their egregious PR sins in Tehran? Or, do the King-Of-Hearts on Wilshire Boulevard put SORAYA M. in the closet, with all the 4000-plus exterminated Iranian gays? You know, the ones they so forgot about to play the roles of Hollywood Diplomats at the Ahmie and Khamie Punking Extravaganza? Or is it just too powerful a film for even the Academy to sweep under the rug as an Inconvenient Truth?
Cast your vote in the Comments section. Assorted woolgathering on the subject will also be welcome. I leave it to you fine folks at Big Hollywood to ward off the trolls. I’ll be too busy working on my Oscar-quality script honoring and paying homage to no less than Oscar himself.
That is not a punchline, either. Truth is stranger than fiction. Started it last year, when I still adored the Academy and all its members beyond measure. So shall it end, in the spirit of that love. I don’t let politics poison my scripts. I guess I now know why they call it La La Land. You really do have to exist in a state of unreality to get anything worthwhile done. Speaking of states of unreality, feel free to cast your own vote here with the Asylum of Motion Picture Airheads and Stooges.
Lastly, the WaPo, and others of the Leftie LibDem persuasion like President Obama, say any help to the people of Iran, or even siding with them, is a bad move. That smells like moral cowardice to me. Such naive and wishy-washy idealists have stood idly by from King George to Adolf Hitler. I personally believe in calling freedom-crushing, blood-drinking, power-grabbing dictators for what they are. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, Let Iran Be Iran.
Siding with the Iranian people, who are unimaginably oppressed and trying to shake off their Gestapo-like shackles can’t be bad. Besides, should they win this war on ruthless clerical fascism, which has nothing to do with Allah, whose side do you want them remembering YOU being on?
Playing nice never works with the Hitlers of this world. The regime is already blaming us for interfering anyway. Always have. Makes it easy to label people like students and dissenters as Imperialist and Zionist traitors and execute them. Ever read 1984? May as well commit the crime. And it’s not like they’ve been holding Death to America rallies for thirty years to show their affection.
Let’s show some of that love back. I would also add to that love of a free Iran any requests by a future Iranian People’s Resistance, if the bloodshed of innocents mounts to sickening proportions (which it most likely will), to include smuggling arms to them from Afghanistan and Iraq. Let the regime deal with the kind of Islamic-driven insurgency they’ve been fueling in both countries, not to mention Gaza and Lebanon. Sorry, people. I’m siding with the victims here in full measure, not the perpetrators.
I always side with the Resistance against Hitler. I also believe Congress, The White House and the State Department should be made aware of that sentiment as well. Oh, and if you do contact the White House, please have them correct the President in addressing Khamenei. It’s Supreme ASSWIPE. Do we support Hope and Change in Iran? Or do we play nice, so Ahmie can slaughter all the rounded-up protesters with bloodthirsty impunity, then tell us to fuck off as he finishes his shady basement nuclear project, as he’s always done to the UN, the IAEA and every other nation on earth?
As for me, I say DEATH TO THE DICTATOR! FREE IRAN! Good Night and Good Luck, especially to the poor innocent Iranians suffering unimaginably at the hands of Ahmie and Khamie’s Islamist Gestapo goons even as we speak. It’s the Basiji, Hamas and Hezbollah goons that deserve to die. I’ll gladly help with that any way I can. So should we all. Anything less would be uncivilized. Let’s be the Iranian people’s Right Guard, and help eliminate the foul stench of fascism once and for all.
It’s really stinking up the joint, isn’t it? Lastly, I’d like you all to send a shout-out to the stunningly beautiful and incredibly humorous (she thinks I’m funny) Hannah Irani, aka LuvManatee, at her YouTube and Twitter pages. She is an Iranian-American medical student in LA who is spending a lot of her time live-blogging Iran. Tell her a joke to cheer her up, let her know you’re with her and the Iranian people all the way, and ask her how you can help.
I must say, during these tumultuous times, I have truly found out just how incredibly gorgeous Iranian women are. Persian Princesses all. Women that beautiful have to be saved. Just think of the bennies. A lot of hot bennies for you gays, too 
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: Here are some protesters in Iran torching the gas lines to a basiji building and blowing it up. It’s at 0:05 on the far right of the screen. Five Islamist Gestapo basiji goons dead, many injured. It’s the feel-good movie of the summer. Just listen to those cheers! Somebody give that cameraman an Oscar, LOL! You know, I generally don’t like bloodshed. But only if it’s the wrong blood being spilled. Other than that, the Iranian Resistance has carte blanche.
FREE IRAN! DEATH TO THE DICTATOR! Worth a second shout-out, yes? See you at the Oscars!
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53 Comments
interestingly enough, we think Mr Simpson stumbled into something here…
Even the Left, which has tacitly backed Iran because of their loathing of Bush- could very well turn on them because it will give Obama cover. We can see, now- the feminist and gay angles being played to the hilt.
It does make sense… and one suspects a compliant Hollywood academy playing along.
I would count on the Hollywood establishment, i.e. Academy voters to avoid getting involved in the travesty that is Islamic Iran by keeping their collective mouths shut. Why RISK be "Rushdied" or worse, getting "Theo van Goghed" over a movie? The "powers that be" in Hollywood have no real convictions other than making money and tearing down traditional values in the U.S.
Excellent post, Mr. Simpson.
The only thing I'd add are some quotes from the late Martin Luther King.
*To the anti-mullah Iranian protestors:
"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
"When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative."
conflict."
*To President Obama:
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. "
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict."
*To the Academy:
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. "
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict."
*To President Obama:
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. "
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict."
*To the Academy:
"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. "
"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict."
I dunno James.. I've got a feeling this one will be one of those that will be considered for the final list (now that they've upped the numbers to 10). I don't think it'll get anything other than the "pleasure to be nominated" though.
They always like giving service to these variety of movies until the last minute, at which point they'll back out due to pressure from CAIR and other Islamic groups.
The Iran specialist for Amnesty International doesn't like "The Stoning of Soraya M."? I don't even know how to respond to that. I guess she'd only give a damn if it was somehow American soldiers murdering that poor woman. What a bizarre world we live in.
The Iran specialist for Amnesty International doesn't like "The Stoning of Soraya M."? I don't even know how to respond to that. I guess she'd only give a damn if it was somehow American soldiers murdering that poor woman. What a bizarre world we live in.
I think Hollywood is unfortunately very close to having a car bomb parked in front of someplace symbolic, Mann's Chinese or the Beverly Hills Hotel…they probably can't get into a studio lot…radical Islam HATES Hollywood from what I gather. It's the "loose morals" they see from TV and film that skews their perceptions of the U.S. Given what they would consider proper provocation I would expect retaliation the only way they know how, a cowardly attack on innocent American citizens. It's harsh, but I that's what I believe. Bear in mind I love L.A. and being around Hollywood anytime I can get out there. When I was younger I would leave for L.A. if invited literally within 10 or 20 minutes notice. I have immence respect and admiration for many or the people that make Hollywood the "world's dream factory". I just don't think they want to pick this fight. Christians, hey NO PROBLEM! Christians are MUCH less likely to kill over ideology.
"Will "The Stoning of Soraya M." get an Oscar Nod?"
With Obama being in Office for a year by the time the nomination process starts, I would say yes.
Now if Bush or some other republican was in office….well…..we all know the answer to that.
Amnesty lnternational’s Elise Auerbach doesn't like it because she can not bash the United States. She will find a way to blame us for yet another Muslim outrage.
We must draw attention to the plight of women in Muslim countries, Lord knows Bush did nothing about it. <sarc off>
The great Michael Ledeen has suggested that getting satellite phones to the Iranian dissidents would greatly help them maintain communications between theselves & the free world. If anyone wants to help go to http://shermansmarch.blogspot.com and make a pledge.
John you write with passion on these issues keep’em coming brother, the world needs courage and belief in ones convictions.
Amnesty International doesn't care for the film because stoning is rare in Iran? Hmmm, I'd say that slavery is even rarer (can you say, non existent?) in the US, but that never stopped Hollywood from making films about its horrors.
Thanks for your article today John.
As for your question, will 'The Stoning of Soraya M.' get the recognition it deserves from the members of The Academy? I believe in the end, it will. However, now is the time for the public to get out there and support this movie. After seeing it on Saturday night, I am convinced come awards time, it will be acknowledged.
A very powerful film, based on a true story, made with great passion and integrity. The cast of the movie does beautiful work in bringing their characters to life. The subject of the film and timeliness of what is happening in Iran, will add to it's recognition. As much as I have been critical of Hollywood and The Academy, any support this film and those who did such good work are able to receive, I am in favor of.
Continued:
Finally, let us not forget Soroya M. For it is she, whose story has been told, offers hope that good in the world will triumph over evil and for women suffering in certain places, this nightmare will come to an end.
I urge all readers here @ Big Hollywood, to please see the film. Go to the website, find out where it's showing. This upcoming week is extremely important. Pass the word to your family and friends.
Thanks.
True, so many "aid groups" are Marxist/ Leninist front groups that see the U.S. as the root of ALL EVIL. Amensty International is front and center there, I imagine they rent a suite of offices from the ACLU, a home grown "hate group". One of the cofounders of Greenpeace is it's BIGGEST critic.They coddle Castro and Chavez, ignore Ruwanda and have no opinion about the travesty that is Somalia. If they can criticize the U.S. they do it, if a despot is out of line, silence….
Sorry, I stole your thought…I agree hardily.
How are you Dom? I'm happily back in the States, and damn happy about it. I have classes starting next week but my Euro-bashing hasn't even warmed up yet…are they ever screwed up over there…not to mention "Cap and Trade" (doing research) , Obamacare, UGH!!!!!
True, but again I don't think Hollywood isn't afraid of Americans. Americans tend to be largely RATIONAL, with Tim A-hole McVeigh as an exception. I believe Hollywood is collectively afraid of radical Islam, and for good reason. These people travel internationally, they take suites in Cannes, they vaction in Africa or the Seychelles Islands, they are targets.
BTW, I hope you're right and I'm wrong…
You know, one of my life long dreams was to be a rogue arms dealer, selling arms to people like the Iranians, or the people in the Sudan or Myanmar. You know, places where no one else, including the U.N., has found it necessary to help end the slaughter of innocent people by their own gov'ts. For I would love to see those innocents take out those bastards.
I like Simpson's take on this. Even though this movie is not playing near me, I plan to make the relatively short trip to see it, in defiance of leftists that refuse to admit to what isgoing on and in defiance of those thugs that think I am frightened of them, because I AM NOT. I don't scare easily at all, especially in the face of tyranny.
Hangin' in there James. Glad your trip went well. I know all about being a "non-traditional" student, as I was called when I went back for a 2nd degree in architecture when I was 41. Go get 'em!
I enjoy occasional trips to L.A. as well, despite the looniness around me. The old saying goes, I love to visit but just dont want to live there. If only I can get them to move Canter's Deli off of Fairfax and over here to West Michigan.
your moniker gets a plus!
The Fearless Anti-Fascist Brigade of the Left was quick to find evidence of nascient fascism in every policy decision of President Bush. They've been awfully quiet while Obama has nationalized the auto industry and the banks; they've downright disappeared when real fascism rears its ugly head in the streets of Tehran.
There was never any downside to calling W a fascist; confronting REAL fascists could get your head broken. God bless the brave people of Iran for confronting it at such terrible cost.
It should.. but political correctness and diversity trump the truth.
We shall see. Hope I am wrong
HOW YOU CAN HELP: As the world once set its eyes on Gitmo and Abu Ghraib, now the world must set its sights on Evin prison. which make both of those look like Six Flags. They've already put Saeed Mortazavi, their Heinrich Himmler, on the job. We cannot let the persecution and bloodshed of innocents go unobserved.
Check with the UN, the Red Cross, Red Crescent, AI, HRW, The CPJ and other NGOs like even freeroxana.net (still up and running), NPR, the BBC, get those petitions signed! It is up to us to be the voices of the silenced. Let them know they're being heard. Any other suggestions or links would be most welcome.
Actually, Jimmy, if you read between the lines, this is my Oscar push, LOL! Nominating SORAYA M. is the only way the Academy can possibly look good after this piece, I hope. You know. Can I get a 'harumph!' on that?
harumph!
Feminist (man bad, woman victim) propaganda movie piece.
Based on a true story, you forgot to add, Terri. But everyone's a critic. Thanks for voting
How do I know you aren’t just keeping the money? I don’t see any charity information at your blog. Are you connected to Michael Ledeen or are you just using his name?
A fair question. Mr. Ledeen's email is michael.ledeen@gmail.com , ask him yourself.
Dan P.S. If you don't like the idea of donating at the blog, just buy a satellite phone yourself and send it to Mr. Ledeen. This is about helping people, not personal benefit or agrandizement.
How can it get any recognition? In Chicago, it is playing in only one theatre. It's not in the collar counties either. A huge metropolitan area such as Chicago and they give it one screen.
I am concerned that this is not legitimate. You are soliciting money, but I don't see any of the things that charities do to make sure the donated funds go to that purpose. Do you have an IRS designation? Are you registered with a state? Also, I see you constantly asking for money from people for yourself. How do I know you won't keep this money. Also, the e-mail you gave me for Ledeen is a gmail address which you could have set up your self.
I got Mr. Ledeen's e-mail from a posting he made on the National Review Online blog, "The Corner". Go to the blog and see if Mr. Ledeen has posted anything within the last few days and check out his e-mail address. Tip – if his name is underlined in the heading of the post and you click on his name- the e-mail will appear, and it will be the same e-mail I gave you. To answer your questions, I am not a registered charity, do not have an IRS designation. I got this idea from a suggestion by Mr. Ledeen that he made in an interview about what the US should be doing.
And where am I "constantly asking for money for yourself" My blog did have a pledge drive to keep the site going and that is no different from the drives that "Lucianne.com" and "National Review Online" hold bi-annually. I'll say it one more time, it is about helping people win their freedom. Question my veracity all you want, I am not offended, but do something to help these people.
This about doing something to help the Iranian dissidents, as quickly as we can. I've told you every fact I have. In fact, I just checked and Mr. Ledeen has a post at The Corner, dated today at 12:20 p.m with his email embedded in it. So you can check for yourself. If you feel I am not acting out of good faith, then so be it. But don't let that stop you from helping if you are indeed so inclined. Like I said, you can buy a satellite phone yourself and find your own way of getting it to the people who can put it to use. I don't have to be in the loop at all. If you're not willing to do that much, then I don't think you're really interested in helping.
I have told you where my plan came from, and how to contact Mr. Ledeen for any verification he could provide to satisfy you. You have everything that I know. Hey, maybe Mr. Ledeen just wants a few satellite phones for himself, right, or maybe I do? So you've got the opportunity to help these people all on your own. The question is, are you going to take it, or just sit on your hands and say "I wanted to help, but didn't know how"?
[...] And see it for this reason: at Big Hollywood, John T. Simpson asks, “Will ‘The Stoning Of Soraya M.’ Get An Oscar Nod?” [...]
Dan, I doubt you even are who you say you are. First, you're posting as Dan Wilson (under an open ID), and I have a better than average memory and do not recall having seen that name around BH, and I've been a visitor here from about it's second week of existence. Second, your use of the word "constantly" attempts to imply that I've had more than one message up at my blog about fund raising, when in fact that was the first one, and it was only up for about 2 weeks before I put up the new one. Third, for about the last month I put the URL for the blog only into a few of my comments. So it's obvious that you picked up the URL awhile back, and are trying to discredit me without knowing a thing about me. You are the one lacking veracity "Dan" and you are the one being deceptive, and you are a coward.
I’ve been posting as Dan or Dan Wilson since before they put in the ID system, and its not my problem if you don’t remember me. I barely noticed you until you asked people to go to your blog a couple days ago to help out in Iran. I went and I didn't see anything to tell me you are legitimate. Now here you are again using the Iranian crisis to ask good people for money still with nothing to show you are legitimate. My brother married a girl from Iran and I know how bad things are over there right now and I don’t like people exploiting what they are going through. Also, I e-mailed Ledeen early today and he hasn’t replied to me yet, but I bet he never heard of you.
Dan, Why don't you wait for the email, then rip him a new one if he's lying? Otherwise, I'm bound to think you have a grudge. Show us your proof, or give it a rest.
If I was a charlatan, why would I give you an actual way to verify what I claimed? If you did actually write to Mr. Ledeen, I'm confident his response will be positive. I know for sure that i have the 2 emails I sent him, along with his responses. And I will forward them to anyone who asks to see them. Will you do the same?
It is always the small, self-appointed-defenders-of-all-that-is-good who try to impede those who are actually trying to do something, while never lifting a finger on their own. You remind me of the smarmy EPA inspector in "Ghostbusters" who caused all the trouble.
Once again you expose your own dishonesty. Earlier you remarked that I was constantly asking for money for myself (indicating you'd been at my blog), yet now you write that you went to my blog only after I asked for help re:Iran. So which is it? Both can't be true.
So, Danny-the self-righteous- I ask again, what are you doing to help the Iranians? Anything? Anything? Bueller? Bueller?
John,(or anyone else) if you'd like to see the emails between me and Michael Ledeen, email me at dcolangelojr@yahoo.com and I will be more than happy to forward them to you.
It is people like you who brought about the adage, "no good deed goes unpunished"
As Frank Zappa wrote (sang)
"I've got troubles of my own", I said.
"And you can't help me out.
So take your meditations,
And your preparations,
And ram it…..up your snout"
So Danny, you still out there? Got your response from Mr. Ledeen? Ready to make it available to everyone Danny ? I've got my emails from Mr. Ledeen ready to forward to anyone who asks Danny . Even made my email public to do so Danny . So what do you say Danny ? Or is it just too hard to type with both thumbs firmly implanted up your…..
No response yet Colangelo. I wonder why not.
Wonder all you want Dan-o. But allow me to step into your shoes for a moment. How do I know you haven't already gotten a response, and you won't admit it because you didn't get the response you wanted? It is again interesting that you have not taken me up on my offer of proof, nor have you made one yourself. Why would that be?
It was both brutal and harrowing. I wept buckets of tears and left the movie theater angry. In fact, I was so angry that my teeth were clenched throughout my fifteen minute drive home.
Every woman and every man in this land should see “The Stoning of Soraya M.” Women should see it because of the brutal stoning and gender discrimination that is portrayed. Men should see it because of their wicked use of faith to squash human rights and their weakness in standing up against falsehoods.
The leading actresses in the movie, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Mozhan Marnò deserve Oscars. They are strong and beautiful, resolute and courageous. But because this is a foreign movie and Hollywood is so narcissistic, they won’t even be mentioned. And yet, I honestly have never seen a more powerful movie in my life. It has changed me completely.
The movie doesn’t entertain the audience, it educates them. I don’t know if America is ready for this because we’re becoming so tabloid titillated and paparazzi pampered that we don’t know how to deal with serious global issues anymore.
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