Charlotte Safavi
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Shahs of Sunset: Episode 5 Taken with a Gulp of Wine
12-Apr-2012
Before Shahs of Sunset's fifth episode "The Shahs of Great Neck" aired this past Sunday, the show got an unexpected mini PR boost. It all happened during a Saturday Night Live skit where Taran Killam played Bravo host Andy Cohen. The segment lampooned Cohen's late night showWatch What Happens Live featuring ever-so-briefly but long-enough Shahs of Sunset's spoofed stars MJ and GG. They were played by the lovely Sofia Vergara and interestingly enough an Iranian-American SNL cast member Nasim Pedrad.
The coiffed gals gripped their colorful cocktails and gaily slurred, "Hello, we're Persian!"
When I later complained about this stereotyping of Persian girls -- shallow, made-up and drunk -- to my younger sister, who is more into popular culture than me, she told me to lighten up.
"U need to not take it so seriously," she texted. "It's meant to be trash TV. It's on Bravo for goodness sake! LOL."
Maybe she's right. So I decided to watch episode five, and whatever misadventures it would bring, sprawled out on my sofa with a glass of wine -- a little something to take off the edge.
It turns out "The Shahs of Great Neck" was a bit of tear-jerker... The episode's main plot followed the lead actor's quest to unravel the Gordian knot of his nuclear family. A quick backstory recap: his parents are divorced, his mother lives in Tehrangeles and his estranged father lives on Long Island.
To start things off, Reza invites mom for tea and asks her to bring old family photos. The table at his condo is suitably arrayed with delicate Persian pastries, tea in small glasses, and a bowl of ajil, a savory mix of dried fruits and roasted nuts. (Wish I had some, they would pair well with my wine...)
Other than a feeble joke about mixing olives and water in a martini glass for his mom when he was a kid at a family gathering, which Mrs. Farahan has absolutely no recollection of, Reza gets right to the heart of the matter.
Shedding real tears, he tells all starting with the "... black and white photos from a time when life was perfect..." to "... the one thing I didn't have was a stable home with two loving parents who loved one another." I find myself reaching for a box of tissues -- my own childhood having been a tad sticky -- while Reza offers to trade in all the BMWs, all the Rolexes and all the homes in Beverly Hills to be in a Norman Rockwell painting.
OK, I get it. It's sad. Family photos of old weddings and young siblings remind me of another time and place too, one that is impossible to get back to even if there hadn't been a revolution in Iran...
Back to the show, Reza's plan to reunite with his father takes us by way of another tedious cat fight (ladies grow up, Beverly High was a long time ago) to New York, where Reza's father has been holed up in Great Neck for the past 16 years or so.
Reza travels with MJ for moral support. Before the dastardly duo drive out to Great Neck to put a band-aid on Reza's gaping hole -- his words not mine -- of fatherly abandonment, MJ and Reza cruise the streets of Manhattan in a black Beemer with Reza hollering at random men, "... all I can see are these yummy white ho's..."
I take another sip.
Then we arrive at what Reza calls the supersize version of the LA Persian house where "the blonde is blonder, the red is redder, the diamonds are bigger." What I see, instead of the multimillion-dollar house full of antiques, is a gaudily decorated home, all baroque gilt sofas and a red Persian carpet fit for a football stadium... and also a cousin with a bad bleach job.
The big reveal is that Reza's father was a Jewish-Iranian who converted to Islam to marry Reza's Muslim-Iranian mother, and that Reza's "old-ass, mean, 100-year-old, knock your lights out grandmother" broke up their happy marriage. Nice way to say hello to grandma. Said lady, who throws silent daggers at Reza the whole time while munching on her food, also prevented dad from connecting with his children much, because they were "goyim-- non-Jews."
By the end of it all, father and son have argued it out, wept and reconciled. At Shabbat, it's one big happy family, except for the wickedest witch of grandparents, whom I shall miss.
Other highlights... Asa wore an ugly turban (Hello, we're Persian towel-heads!), Sammy gave MJ her belated birthday $15/20,000 diamond earrings, which actually cost $2,800 (Hello, we're Persians and we lie to our BFFs!) and Mike was absent, as he was largely absent from episode four (Hello, we're Persians, possibly with a conscience!)
Somebody get me another glass of wine.
Follow Charlotte Safavi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CharlotteSafavi
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Smile and say "cash money" :)
by Farfromheaven2002 on Sun Apr 15, 2012 07:54 PM PDTI wanted to open a Face book page for Reza Farahan’s mom and dad. Then, I thought it would be lots of work. I’ll work on Reza’s dad Face book, and I’ll ask Charlotte to work on Reza’s mom Face book. You won’t be sorry. Believe me; I heard with my own ears that she always carries lots of cash. Didn't you remember she offered to Reza half a million dollars in cash?
I think I am okay with Reza’s dad Face book. Is that okay to spoil him?
"Everyone will give more when they feel appreciated." No Safe Place, Deborah Ellis
Crying gene
by Farfromheaven2002 on Sun Apr 15, 2012 07:47 PM PDTIranians have a dominant gene in impromptu crying and being appreciated for that. I remember a woman was telling her son in a funeral that she didn't think a girl was appropriate for her son because she didn't cry enough.
I also remember a story. I was supposed to meet a female friend at 5:00 p.m. She showed up at 6:30 p.m. She immediately said she was sorry: “something happened, then I cried”. I immediately invited her to a Cholo Kabab. I thought that was good to spirit her up.
At dinner I asked her what happened. She said nothing important. “I told you I cried after that happened. It was irrelevant.” I realized that she just wanted to cry with no reason.
After dinner she invited me for tea at her apartment. She told me her boss gave her a day off because she needed to cry for a few days. When we got home there were several gift bags. At the top of each was written a note. “Wish you a warm eyes”...”Wish you a body with no poison”. There were lots of potato chips, M&M and pumpkin seeds in each bag. I asked her what they were for. She said her friends gave her some snacks to eat when crying at nights.
When I left her apartment there were some balloons with a note on them. “Cry well soon”.
Have you ever noticed that Iranian men cry more than Iranian women? What a gene :)
"Everyone will give more when they feel appreciated." No Safe Place, Deborah Ellis
Merci :)
by Charlotte Safavi on Sat Apr 14, 2012 05:37 AM PDTMerci :)
I'm sure he has seen his
by Charlotte Safavi on Sat Apr 14, 2012 05:36 AM PDTI'm sure he has seen his father off and on. This is a dramatization no doubt to a large extent. The issues are likely real. But I don't know the details, just what I see on TV.
Thanks for your comment. No
by Charlotte Safavi on Sat Apr 14, 2012 05:35 AM PDTThanks for your comment. No reality TV isn't a documentary depiction of Iranians as a whole.
Generalization.
by Farfromheaven2002 on Fri Apr 13, 2012 06:38 PM PDTPoor wives and kids surviving in far villages in Iran could more accurately generalize and present Iranians as a whole. After-war-disabled Afghans should be included if the reality show reflecting Persians.
Does a TV reality has to present a true population of Iranians? Isn't it sufficient to show that Muslim and Jewish Iranians have no problem with each other.
p.s. I am one of IC readers that I comment my mind. Sometimes I don't read the blog and sometimes I don't read comments. As long as my comment is related to the blog material I comment. I don't always do my entire homework!
"Everyone will give more when they feel appreciated." No Safe Place, Deborah Ellis
Generalization.
by Farfromheaven2002 on Fri Apr 13, 2012 06:38 PM PDTPoor wives and kids surviving in far villages in Iran could more accurately generalize and present Iranians as a whole. After-war-disabled Afghans should be included if the reality show reflecting Persians.
Does a TV reality has to show present a true population of Iranians? Isn't it sufficient to show that Muslim and Jewish Iranians have no problem with each other.
p.s. I am one of IC readers that I comment my mind. Sometimes I don't read the blog and sometimes I don't read comments. As long as my comment is related to the blog material I comment. I don't always do my entire homework!
"Everyone will give more when they feel appreciated." No Safe Place, Deborah Ellis
To cry or not.
by Farfromheaven2002 on Fri Apr 13, 2012 06:34 PM PDTI haven’t seen Reza and his father episode yet, but I have some questions by watching the preview. I wonder why Reza hadn’t missed his father during his entire 38-year old life. Hadn’t he felt a need to meet with his father? Reza should discover factors preventing him to look for his father.
"Everyone will give more when they feel appreciated." No Safe Place, Deborah Ellis
Education is not always a plus.
by Farfromheaven2002 on Fri Apr 13, 2012 06:33 PM PDTI am also a fan of education by providing schooling and training by formal instruction and supervised practice for children. Unfortunately, education doesn’t usually result in earning money or supporting oneself financially. This is an extreme scenario for Iranians in Iran.
p.s. You are not only educated! You are beautiful and fabulously and professionally dressed. One has to be very sick to make someone to cry. That’s not the way I entertain myself. Never been.
"Everyone will give more when they feel appreciated." No Safe Place, Deborah Ellis
Thanks for your comment.
by Charlotte Safavi on Fri Apr 13, 2012 01:43 PM PDTThanks for your comment. Sorry you're not my daddy :)) My father made sure that all three of his daughters were well-educated and fully capable of supporting themselves...something which came in handy when the revolution wrecked our lives. But then again, he would have advocated these things regardless, while spoiling us some on the side, like Persian parents do when they can.
On H & M, every self respecting fashionista mixes high with low, no doubt including GG in real life.
Thanks for your comment.
by Charlotte Safavi on Fri Apr 13, 2012 01:39 PM PDTThanks for your comment. Season 2 has not been announced and there may never be one. I'm not sure you get my humor... I wasn't literally crying. It would take a lot more to move me to tears :)
Thanks for your comment.
by Charlotte Safavi on Fri Apr 13, 2012 01:35 PM PDTThanks for your comment. Glad you appreciated my sense of humor. Hello, I'm Persian, sort of ;) If you click on the SNL link on my blog you should be able to view the skit. Reza's black and white photos would have been imperfect regardless, however, as his parents divorced due to their religious background dynamics nothing to do with the revolution...at least not revealed in the episode.
Thanks for your comment.
by Charlotte Safavi on Fri Apr 13, 2012 01:32 PM PDTThanks for your comment. Fine wine goes a long way... But I'm not a flip-flopper, this episode had some merit ;)
Thanks for your comment.
by Charlotte Safavi on Fri Apr 13, 2012 01:30 PM PDTThanks for your comment. This episode has some merit; I'm not a flip-flopper ;)
Let's start from GG.
by Farfromheaven2002 on Fri Apr 13, 2012 11:58 AM PDTI think they portray Iranians exactly as we are. The only difference is that they act in a bolder, exaggerating and more expressive way because that’s a TV reality show supposes to do.
They are certainly funny. I couldn’t stop laughing at GG’s argument on H&M clothing! Do you really think GG was (that!) strongly annoyed by accusing with a H&M T-shirt? I don't think that GG is not capable/quailified of earning tones of money.
GG only wants to show there is nothing wrong when a father supports his daughter (even his son) financially and unconditionally. This is what an admirable Persian father does. Iranians could be 10 times less financially equipped if parents wouldn’t share/support. I am not against the argument that parents money belongs to parents, and they could do whatever they want with the money. But, it’s nice to transfer the money to their children in early or late ages. We agree there are other options like donating to Church or other charities instead of their own children.
"Everyone will give more when they feel appreciated." No Safe Place, Deborah Ellis
در ضمن Jahanshah Javid پسر عمّ Mercedes Javid هستش!
Esfand AashenaFri Apr 13, 2012 11:20 AM PDT
Everything is sacred
Still Not Iranian!
by bahmani on Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:19 AM PDTHow many Iranian families do you know that are both Jewish and Moslem?
I don't know any myself. So does that mean there are a lot?
No, it means that it is rare.
Now add in how many jewish/moslem families do you know who are divorced?
Even less rare.
Less Rare does not make a Stereotype.
Seeing a Gay man cry might make you cry, but so does the slightest sad movie on an airplane.
The show isn't typical. Where is the NIAC that used to write letters to the filmmakers of 300?
Clearly we are all in some stupid shock and unable to stop this. Maybe Season 2. That is when Reza decides to get his body waxed and is told there is so much of it he will need anesthesia.
To read more bahmani posts visit: //brucebahmani.blogspot.com/
Good usage of Hellllooo we are Persians!
by Esfand Aashena on Fri Apr 13, 2012 08:03 AM PDThahaha! I liked your usage of Helllooo we are Persians! I think they ARE portarying aspects (not all) of Persian behaviors by wearing weird clothes (Asa), lying to one's BFF (Sammy) though I doubt it was even $2800 probably $28 as he is cheap and being absent (Mike) for sobering up or possibly growin conscience, all Persians behaviors!
I'm just not sure if you'd agree with those Persian characteristics or you agree with me on the usage of Helllloooo we are Perians!
I didn't see the SNL skit but knew about it and hope to see it soon. As far as Reza referring to the BW photos as times that were perfect, sure it could be "perfect" if revolution hadn't had happened. That again is another Reza's rants that can resonate. Not to me as I think we'd be like Egypt, Syria or Bahrain now but it can resonate.
Now would we be talking about "Persian culture" if the show wasn't on TV?!
Everything is sacred
A U-turn on Sunset Boulevard!
by Faramarz on Fri Apr 13, 2012 07:16 AM PDTI am glad to see that you have lightened up about this show!
Despite several attempts by some very reasonable folks here you did not move an inch. But some fine wine and a comment by your younger sister made you change your mind. Great!
Maybe fine wine and younger women are what we need to see the light!
Thanks for your
by Charlotte Safavi on Fri Apr 13, 2012 03:45 AM PDTThanks for your comment...and yes we do.
yes,
by iraj khan on Thu Apr 12, 2012 08:04 PM PDTthe Shahs of Sunset were mentioned on SLN by one line in the sketch:
"we are Persians and were always protrayed as terrorists.... but now you can see we are annoying and terrible".
Still, I prefer to be portrayed as 'annoying' and 'terrible' to the other streotypes of Iranians on American media. I guess it's sort of an improvement.
We have a long way to go still.