What would Prince of Persia do?

The magical Dagger of Time in the movie Prince of Persia lets you go back in time and fix bad decisions

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What would Prince of Persia do?
by Ari Siletz
01-Jun-2010
 

All the way home from the movie Prince of Persia we three cousins fantasized about what we would do if we had a Dagger of Time so that we could go back to our decision points in the past and do things differently. Some stock purchases, college majors, and divorces later we ended up in politics. How should we as a nation have acted so we wouldn’t end up in the mess we’re in?

The conclusion was that as individuals we couldn’t change anything, except in unrealistic ways like taking a lot of money out of the country when 6 Tomans could still buy a Dollar and then funding a counter offensive against the dictatorial trends. No, we would get swept up in the currents along with the rest of the nation. Our claims to having seen the future would be as unconvincing as the claims of the few intellectuals who were prophesying disaster.

But what if more influential people had the dagger? Would the Shah still have left the country, leaving Prime Minister Bakhtiar to a sinking ship, or would he have stayed to help with the bailing? He would have left anyway, was our conclusion. There was no guarantee Khomeini would not win even if the Shah had been smarter or gutsier. Cousin number two is always a wiseass and she said what if the Shah stayed and if by chance he got into trouble he could use the dagger again to go back to his original decision. So we made the rule that you could use the dagger only once and go back only as far back as your own lifetime.

OK, let’s give up on the revolution and the medievalization of our country, we decided. Let’s go back fewer years. How about if Ayatollah Montazeri had the dagger and could undo the past? Would he have pretended to go along with regime executions, waiting until Khomeini kicked the bucket? Montazeri’s protests against the executions didn’t save any lives, so why not be a better diplomat and win in the end? Saretoon ro dark nayaaram, that scenario didn’t play out well either. This was not turning out to be an easy game.

Here at IC we are all princes and princesses of Persia, using an internet Dagger of Time to question our history and the decisions that were made. We have all traveled to the future, in our minds at least, and come back to warn of the consequences if we do this or don’t do that. The result is just as action packed, humorous, and fun as the movie. The only difference is that we each travel to a different future and come back to tell a different tale. Ultimately, I believe these disagreements will lead to a happier ending than in the movie where the truth belongs to only one person.

Now if we were all as good looking as the actors in Prince of Persia, this would be a heck of site. The moral of all this is that we should let a Hollywood casting director choose our avatars on this site.

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Darius Kadivar

To begin with Rostam killed Sohrab not knowing he was his son

by Darius Kadivar on Wed Jun 02, 2010 11:42 AM PDT

So your interpetation however interesting falls short ...

But if you are interested in developing this angle I can refer you to the thoughts of the late diplomat Fereydoun Hoveyda ( Brother of Amir Abbas) in this regard:

Monarchy and theocracy: The Impact of Iranian mythology on the Islamic revolution

Shah or president?:We should reject hereditary systems of government

 

Needless to say I do not share this interpretation however respectable and understandable (given his own brother's sad fate) in it's own right ...

But that is the beauty of great literature after all ... Open to all sorts of interpretations.

One could find similar "Republican" Angles to Shakespeare I suppose ... Yet Great Britain Remains a land of Kings and Queens despite it's long history of Tyrannical and Absolute Rulers ... including in the old bards plays ...

Also another recommended Book :

Shakespeare, Persia, & the East by Cyrus Ghani (amazon.com) 

Other Recommended Readings:

Rostam: The DARK AGES by Darius KADIVAR

Rostam Strikes Back! By Darius Kadivar

Rostam Super Hero: Popularizing A Persian Myth...  by Darius KADIVAR

EPIC MOVIE: The Timeless Legend of Rostam and Sohrab by Darius KADIVAR

Persian History Inspires French Comic Book Masters by Darius KADIVAR

The Shahnameh: The Persian Book of Kings of Ferdowsi translated by Dick Davis

Howard Lee, author of bestseller children's novel Jamshid and the lost Mountain of Light by Darius KADIVAR 

Recommended watchings:

MON CINEMA: The Timeless Legend of Rostam and Sohrab (1971)

MON CINEMA: Rostam and Esfindiâr The Source of all Legends (2009)


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jhone lager

Underbart information

by jhone lager on Wed Jun 02, 2010 11:17 AM PDT

Underbart information jag älskar denna webbplats hålla uppe den god arbete!


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aynak

If I could go back in time, I would tell Rostam, you idiot don't

by aynak on Wed Jun 02, 2010 10:29 AM PDT

If I could go back in time, I would tell Rostam, you idiot don't kill your Sohrab.   This one event is single handedly responsible for the past- overcoming the future in our mythology,  and by extension culture, and we as a whole and we as a nation, backward looking instead of future looking.      Sohrab knows the kings (be it that of Tourans or that of Iran) as the worthless being that they were, and wanted to join the two countries and rid both of these useless entities.    Perhaps the first democratic state, not ruled by the kings but by rule of people?    So in a way, Rostam killed this notion and re-instated the king, and therefore made the acceptance of an oppressive king (an absolute ruler) a norm.     Can the aspiration of a nation, exceed its biggest hero, who kills his own son, for an unworthy and reactionary cause? 

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Veiled Prophet of Khorasan

Ali Shariati

by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Wed Jun 02, 2010 09:21 AM PDT

 

was truly a traitor to Iran and Iranian people. A total charlatan and Iran hater. The creature does not deserve the name of "man". Rather a filth that hated anything Persian. I have never read so much crap as the nonsense that came out of him. That and Al Ahmad the xenophobe with his "gharb zadegi".

However if you really want to go back then do it right: Go and do in Alexander and prevent the original destruction of the Kian.

 


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oktaby

if you are gonna 'kill the demon' I recommend going back a few

by oktaby on Wed Jun 02, 2010 09:15 AM PDT

more years to start with Ali Shariati & prevent building of Hosseiniye Ershad. Without that snake the 'roshanfekr' and then khomeini could not have followed. 

OKtaby


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Immortal Guard

Dagger of Time!

by Immortal Guard on Wed Jun 02, 2010 08:02 AM PDT

I watched the movie and liked what was written at the beginning and end of it. I goes along the lines of: "Some people are linked along the ages etc.".

On a separate note I think if one has a good understanding of the past then predicting the future becomes more a matter of extrapolation than pure guesswork.


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statira

Kill the Demon

by statira on Wed Jun 02, 2010 07:41 AM PDT

If I was Bakhtiar and could get the dagger, I would turn back time and kill that demon, Khomeini. I would give life back to millions who butchered by that demon's spell. I would bring back happiness and prosperity to Iran.


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Darius Kadivar

hamsade ghadimi Jaan Your Lips to God's Ears ...

by Darius Kadivar on Wed Jun 02, 2010 07:40 AM PDT

La Princesse Noor D'Iran: Un Coeur à Prendre by Darius KADIVAR

LOL

Although to my dismay I doubt this will be anytime soon ... And probably not even in my lifetime ...


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hamsade ghadimi

queen of persia

by hamsade ghadimi on Wed Jun 02, 2010 07:28 AM PDT

it would've been nice to have a few million daggers.  but i'll play the game with one dagger.  i'm supposing the person who would have the dagger has to be alive.  then, in order for the shah to have the dagger, we have to go back in time when he was alive and he wouldn't have known the consequnces of the revolution into the future.  therefore, he is not a good candidate.  bakhtiar may have very well been executed, put in jail or exile if he had claimed to see the future.  he would have voluntary gone to exile, never take the shah up on his offer, made millions and .... there's no telling iri wouldn't go after him anyway.  he might have lived longer, been richer but come to the same fate.

i think that the person would have to be someone in power during the shah's time (someone with influence within the monarchy system) and have lived enough past the revolution to gain more insight; maybe shah's wife, farah.  even if shah didn't agree with her, she would've been safe.  she would've advised him of transitioning the government into a democracy, not putting up the drama of 2500 anniversary, not banning opposition group in favor of a one-party rastakhiz system, rein in the islamists, ....  i guess my choice would be the queen of persia; although, i'm not a monarchist.  dang.


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oktaby

Cheers Ari, unless Bakhtiar came to power a year or two earlier,

by oktaby on Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:09 AM PDT

his odds would not be good. And without Shah getting heeding advice I mentioned, I don't think he would have brought Bakhtiar or similar a year or two earlier.

I don't think Khomeini's return could have been stopped when bakhtiar actually became PM.

I agree with the VR dagger scenario. If Bakhtiar saw that, he would have added 33 layers of security to match what IRR has now. 

OKtaby


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Darius Kadivar

Ari ;0)

by Darius Kadivar on Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:02 AM PDT

Indeed I have no clue. I remember it was gunned down by the critics too.

Is it a coincinded the article was written a day after my birthday ? ;0)


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Ari Siletz

Darius, uncanny!

by Ari Siletz on Tue Jun 01, 2010 11:57 PM PDT

You must have seen this article, then gone back in time to Dec 15 2008 and posted your original article. What kept you from going back further to stop John Travolta from making Battlefield Earth?

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Ari Siletz

If Dr. Baktiar = Prince of Persia

by Ari Siletz on Tue Jun 01, 2010 11:40 PM PDT

Good choice of decision point oktaby for Shah= Prince of Persia.  If Dr. Bakhtiar= Prince of Persia, I bet he would go back to the point where he decided to let Khomeini return to the country. And if he waited to use the time dagger until he saw Vakili Rad's dagger, I wonder if he would dismantle SAVAK so quickly the second time around?

 

 


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Darius Kadivar

FYI/World's First Time Machine

by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jun 01, 2010 11:40 PM PDT

Great Article Ari Jaan,

Reminds me of a documentary I saw long time ago on the possibility of creating such a Time Machine:

World's First Time Machine

Warm Regards,

DK


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oktaby

Hmm, the answer may partly be in the question

by oktaby on Tue Jun 01, 2010 11:31 PM PDT

"How should we as a nation have acted so we wouldn’t end up in the mess we’re in?"

Our actions and conduct has been shaped by our history and we have not been very good students or teachers of it. In every period the version desired by the governing has been presented. With grasp of our own history, we would naturally be bigger owners of it and participants in it.

Given the constraints of your scenario, I would go back to 1972 (I would have been a kid but fits the constraint) and through some influential friends and family (of my parents and relatives) would make sure that Shah would hear of the concerns and risks: Teach unbiased (as possible) history, not meet venezuelan Oil Minister, stop building mosques, keep his mouth shut on exposing Oil intents, and stop shows of Iran's might to Americans. Heeding such advice, would have meant he likely understood the risks and needed changes.

OKtaby


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Bavafa

Ari Jan, very interesting idea and I will be thinking about it

by Bavafa on Tue Jun 01, 2010 09:58 PM PDT

Not that I am a prince but as an individual who still remembers most if not all of that time when Shah left Iran.

Mehrdad


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