I have an important message, all the bling and Mercedes aside: I’m an openly gay Persian man. According to the president of the country I was born in, I don’t even exist…
I don’t mind being stereotyped as materialistic. Middle Easterners have many stereotypes, and materialism is one of the better ones. We’re usually viewed as evil terrorists, so if you’re going to stereotype me I’d prefer it be because we love gold and Mercedes instead of Uzis.”
Shahs of Sunset cast member Reza Farahan, on how he and his circle are being perceived on the show, to the AP.
Shahs of Sunset airs Sundays at 10pm on Bravo. Photos via Bravo.
Mark
Could it be any more obvious they’re instructed not to say “Iran” or “Iranian”?
Jeff
So instead of being viewed as an evil terrorist, he is now being viewed as a gay clown.
The Real Mike in Asheville
In catching previews of the show, I didn’t get a “terrorist” vibe/view at all. On the other hand, I most certainly got a “Wow, this is just plain creepy” vibe/view. And absolutely ZERO interest in watching, with or without, a gay cast member. Creepy, creepy, creepy, just like A-List New York and A-List Dallas, very very creepy.
Julian
@Mark:
Iranians in California all refer to themselves as Persians. Most have been in the U.S. for 30 years, since the Iranian Revolution.
That said, I think it’s a joke that this guy says Obama thinks he doesn’t exist. Both Bush and Obama rejected bigotry against American Muslims.
polo
@Julian:
he say the country he born in , not America.
The Real Mike in Asheville
@Julian:
The reference is to the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has stated that there are no homosexuals in Iran, that homosexuals do not exist in Iran, blah, blah, blah. (Reza Farahan was born in Iran and immigrated to the US.)
Mangina
So says the man who sports a Hitler mustache.
andrew
this is like the iranian jersey shore
horrible horrible horrible
FreddyMertz
@Jeff: teehee
swimmer - Chicago
He is no gay man that I want to know. The entire cast is over the top with their delusions of wealth and looks. They are not all that. The pool party was jr. highschool on steroids – if this is america today – get me outta here….
James
Why can’t we get a show with normal gay guys in it.Women get the real L word that was a show about girl gay chicks just living there lives,we get guys like this one and the A list.Sad so sad.
What?
@Mark: Most Persians refer to themselves as such. The country itself wasn’t called “Iran” until it was changed in WWII to align themselves with the aryan-centric views of Germany. Besides, most Americans can’t tell the difference between an Arab, a Persian, a south Asian or any of the other Eurasians. We all have an elementary view of race, ethnicity and heritage that we go to Africa and refer to the black people as “African Americans”
Frank
This guy is the what of where?
Texndoc
Christiane Amanpour never refers to herself that I know of as a “Persian”. She identifies as an Iranian American.
LandStander
@James: What do you mean by “normal” gay guys in it? If by “normal” you mean less effeminate, what about the gay guy on Happy Endings? The gay guy on Weeds? Desperate Housewives had a few macho mo’s if I remember correctly too. And that is just off the top of my head 🙂
James
@LandStander: No I don’t mean less effeminate I guys who are not shallow,materialistic,a** holes
drums
Oh good, more reality shows about people who come across as shallow, obsessed with looks, and materialistic. That’s just what we need. Painting the stereotype onto 16-year-old girls, Italian-Americans, Southern people, gay people, and now Middle Easterners. Soon every demographic in America will be covered and we’ll look like a country of assholes (even though in real life we’ll know many people from all of those demographics who are normal, decent people).
shannon
I LIVED IN LA…AND I WILL TELL YOU…IRANIANS IN LA ARE NASTY…VILE….SHALLOW….DELUSIONAL PEOPLE….I AM NO FAN OF THEM NOR THIS DISGUSTING ASS SHOW!@!!
JoeyO'H
I don’t feel that way. I don’t see every person of/from Middle East as a terrorist.
He should shave that nasty mustasche off… He does look like Hitler!
Snottyboy
re: Persian
Most, if not all, of the middle eastern men I have met (i live in Chicago), regardless of their age or where they were born, refer to themselves as Persian. It just sounds better than Iranian or Iraqi. Better to whom? I don’t know. Don’t really care, either. But its really not much different than some American born person telling people they’re Irish or whatever. Who gives a damn?
Snottyboy
And by the way, Shannon, you need professional help.
Kyle
I like this show. Iranian or “Persian”.
@shannon: Who are you, who does that?
Pooka
What a joke.
@persiangirl
persian is a race. there are turkish, armenian, kurdish and persian iranians. so when someone whos ancestry is fars or persian regardless of where they are born they recognize themselves as persian.
linc52
id like to see this show is there anyway i can watch im in the uk
Mike
@Mark: Instructed by whom? Iranian Americans have been using “Persian” to describe their ethnicity for many many years. If you’re thinking that their use of Persian over Iranian is indicative of any sort of agenda, then you’re absolutely mistaken.
Shawna
@Julian: He meant Iran. Not the U.S, the president of Iran (Ahmadinejad) believes that there are no gays in Iran. He stated in an interview in New York that “we do not have such phenomenon in Iran”