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The main idea of this movie was to depict Iran as seen from an insiders perspective. Alison Wearing’s Honeymoon in Purdah, on the other hand, shows Iran from an outsiders perspective, a mere glimpse of the complex culture that is beneath. Are these two views truly opposed? At first glimpse, yes they are. The first presents Iran like a very oppresive country were women, in particular, are second-class citizens who have little to no rights. Honeymoon in Purdah shows a beautifull country where despite the cultural behaviors that shock the two travelling westerners, there seems to be an openess, a charisma and a generosity that seem infinite.

Despite the oposition of these views, I feel one thing to think about is that we can look at them as two superimposed aspects of Iranian culture. What I mean by this is that these two point of views can coexist, we’ve seen that not all in the movie is depicted as bad (the policeman passage) and we also have to keep in mind that the movie is about ex convicts which face a great deal of stereotypes in most if not all countries in the world. Hence we can understand why they are depicted as having such problems and having to face so many obstacles. The underlying issue of the movie is of course the treatment and consideration of women. The book Honeymoon in Purdah even depicts Iranian women as being more liberated than American women because they have a much stronger law enforcement system which, the women in the book believed, made their streets safer. Another important aspect to think about is the argument of the religious old man who we’ve discussed last class. He argued that Iranians (presumably indluding Iranian women) wanted to live a life of religious achievements, to live according to spiritual guidance and strive to be religiously ‘righteous’. This of course cannot justify the unjust and unfair treatment to women that is shown in the movie but it does to some extent give us a better insight into the issue.

All this to conclude that Honeymoon in Purdah and The Circle are both oposite but coexistent views of Iranian culture in the sense that they are superposed. Much like an onion has different layers, I feel that these two point of views are different levels of understanding and enculturization. At first, Iranian culture might seem welcoming and open and the women can seem to have wonderfull and meaningfull lives, but at some level they can also be victims of injustice and prejudice.

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