The American Spectator : Sticks and Stones

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Sticks and Stones

By Ivan Osorio on 6.26.09 @ 6:08AM

The Stoning of Soraya M. opens today. It couldn't be more timely.

The Stoning of Soraya M. is a difficult film to watch, but worth taking the time to do so. The film, which opens today, depicts the stoning death of a young Iranian woman falsely accused of adultery. It highlights the outrage that the barbaric practice of stoning continues to occur anywhere, but at times does more than that.

Based on the book of the same title by Iranian-French journalist Freidoune Sahebjam, the film (directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh) focuses on a specific event that illustrates the way in which a repressive, illiberal society can close in on an individual, ultimately taking away his or her very life and personhood. As in this instance, death by stoning is often the result of religious fanaticism, but the dehumanization and ultimate destruction of the victim depicted in the film can also take place in totalitarian systems devoted to some other allegedly higher ideal -- the workers’ revolution, the Volk -- which rulers place above the sanctity of the individual.

More specifically, the film brings welcome attention to the fact that stoning still goes on in some countries (at the screening I attended, viewers received a Human Rights Watch handout on it), and places the atrocity in the context of the conditions that make it possible. The series of circumstances and events that led to this particular injustice constitute tools of repression upon which tyrannical governments routinely rely -- intimidation of witnesses, suborning of false testimony, and dehumanization of the victim. In essence, Soraya is subjected to a show trial -- at which she is not even allowed to be present -- where she is turned into a legal non-person.

If that sounds Stalinist, it should. As in Stalinist Russia, obedience to some greater ideal becomes a tool for ruthless men to manipulate -- and even destroy -- others in the process of getting their way. The series of events that lead to Soraya’s death are set in motion by her husband Ali, who has tired of her and wants to marry a younger woman. When she refuses to grant him a divorce on his terms, he decides to get rid of her by a false charge of adultery, based on a series of lies, half-truths, and testimony from a threatened witness, which leads to sentence of death by stoning. Ali gets rid of an inconvenient spouse the same way that tyrants routinely dispatch political opponents.

That the events depicted occurred in Iran make the film unexpectedly timely, given the events there in recent days, especially because many of the marchers against the regime are women, and the murder of one young woman has become a rallying cry for Iranian reformers. From its outset, the film lays out women’s lack of rights in a fundamentalist theocracy at the core of the problem.

The story is told to Sahebjam (played by Jim Caviezel) by Zahra, Soraya’s aunt (Shoreh Aghdashloo). When Sahebjam’s car breaks down in their town of Kupayeh, Zahra notices that he is carrying a cassette recorder. When she learns that he is a journalist, she seeks him out to tell the story of Soraya’s ritual murder. Recognizing how little weight her words would carry where she lives, she tells him, “Then take my voice with you!”

On the streets in Tehran and all over Iran, women as well as men are trying to find their voices against a regime they neither trust nor respect. And yes, those events give The Stoning of Soraya M. special saliency. But it is powerful enough on its own.

topics:
Iran, Stalinism, Totaliltarianism

About the Author

Ivan Osorio is editorial director and a labor policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (19) | Leave a comment

NoToObama| 6.26.09 @ 8:10AM

God, what an awful society to live in.
But here in America today ALL that the MSM and FOX can talk about is Michael Jackson. A great singer indeed, but THIS is rediculous. The country is turning socialist and all we can talk about is a sick self mutilator. I love Thriller, but this is over the top.

Crusader| 6.26.09 @ 8:29AM

This is what happens in islam. Women are men's property, to be used and disposed of at the man's will. I find it hard to feel sorry for someone who willingly submits to this satanic death-cult. Are the woman's female relatives still muslim? If so, they have no credibility to complain. Lie down with dogs and all that.

Tim| 6.26.09 @ 10:17AM

And today we hear calls from some of Iran's clerics that the election protestors should be executed.

Hmmm. Perhaps talking to these leaders isn't that good of an idea after all....unless of course you subscribe to.... though in somewhat of a less intense form....... population and mind control through fear and intimidation .

Something to think about over the week-end!

Trotter| 6.26.09 @ 10:51AM

Waiting for CAIR to issue a condemnation of the movie as fostering hate against muslims in 3...2...1...

Indiana Alex| 6.26.09 @ 1:02PM

Where are the resident trolls talking about how America is just as evil?

Mel| 6.26.09 @ 2:37PM

I know for a fact they still stone women in Iran, and its Legal! For I am half Iranian and my father travels there every now and then to visit family.

Old Texican| 6.26.09 @ 4:26PM

I personally appreciate Jesus' take on the issue:

"He who has not sinned...cast the first stone."

Choose your Master, people.

DaveS| 6.26.09 @ 5:28PM

Even liberals know that Obama is no match for the mullahs. The protesters are toast.

Patriot| 6.27.09 @ 12:42AM

Since roe v wade, millions of babies in the womb have been dehumanized and deprived of their personhood, too. Tyrannical liberals in our country have a lot in common with the Iranian Mullahs.

Ion Vasile | 6.27.09 @ 11:10AM

Don't you find occured that "thousands" of men and women are on the streets of Teheran (only) with signs written in english? It's the first time when i see a popular movement against a legitimate president with a message that the common peoples do not understand. It's weird and says that the movement is not an authentic one but a foreign infiltration. I've seen it in my country before, it's a very familiar pattern. Islam is a different thing. It's a way of life, thing that christians do not understand in modern times. Now it's almost normal for a gay couple to ask for civil rights, for adoption, etc. An abomination that is normal today in the christian world. In Islam the rule is the law. No more, no less. And because you've seen a fiction movie, you think you have the right to condemn the religion itself. The only thing that is coming to my mind now, is pray in your religion and respect other's. And by the way, i am christian, male, white, straight, full of rage against manipulative poor written articles.

DaveS| 6.27.09 @ 11:54AM

Dear Ion Vasile: what language do you suggest? For myself, I'd use a language that my most powerful potential helpers would understand. Capiche?

Joseph| 6.27.09 @ 7:46PM

I just saw this movie. I just cannot fathom how any self respecting man can actually perpetrate any such acts as depicted in this movie. Stoning of women on religious grounds is one of the most vile anachronisms; yet, the media here and elsewhere concerns itself, to the point of saturation, with the dead of a former pop star. How ridiculous is that?

dudette| 6.30.09 @ 9:49AM

what is all this stuff about jacks and plugs and cheesy nonsense on this thread???

I am hoping to catch this film when it comes to Rockland county. It opened in white plains, if it is still there i may just drive over as the really good stuff seems to miss NY--like the American Carol--i was dying to see it but not a theater for miles around carried it.

Archie| 7.8.09 @ 1:51PM

It might be a difficult film to watch, but I don't think this should deter anyone from going to see it. We can't let ourselves be too softened to the actual events that are occurring around us. If this movie displays it in a raw manner, I can't imagine how much worse experiencing the real things must be. I can't wait to see it myself.

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