Cinema and Iran's Sociopolitical Changes

Cinema and Iran’s Sociopolitical changes; from its inception to the end of 2001 Ali Riasaty1*, Hadieh Parhizkar 2, Hamid Maghami3 1 Vice President Advisor of Philosophy of Life and Healthy Lifestyle (PLHL) Research Center at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS), Shiraz, Iran, 2 President of of PLHL Research Center at SUMS, Shiraz, Iran, 3Member of PLHL Research Center at SUMS, Shiraz, Iran. Correspondence: Ali Riasaty, Vice President Advisor of Philosophy of Life and Healthy Lifestyle (PLHL) Research Center at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS), Shiraz, Iran. Email: [email protected]. ABSTRACT That media affects and is affected by social changes is an axiom which needs no contemplation and is what naturally occurs in reality. However, the interaction between media and political developments is an issue which, in varying social situations and time periods, emerges in a variety of forms. Therefore, addressing the kind of association between sociopolitical changes and Iran’s cinema developments is a problem which is of utmost significance; in that it sheds light on the place of this media in Iran. Reviewing Iran’s sociopolitical changes as well as its historical developments, the present study attempted to address the socioeconomic place of cinema from its emergence to the end of 80th decade in Iran, with a documentary and comparative approach. Accordingly, given industrial nature of cinema and also by comparatively investigating developments in these two areas, the research sought to explicate on the issue on the basis of Rational Choice Theory. From this perspective, a social act is not considered rational unless the actor selects ways of achieving its goals on the basis of its beliefs as regards various social acts and possible consequences. It was revealed that in terms of its interaction with social changes, Iran’s cinema resorted to passivity, silence and projection rather than addressing the issue. Keywords: Cinema, Iran, political developments, social changes. cinematic circles and perhaps has been undeniably appealing is to regard cinema as pure art, committed to society and effective on Introduction social phenomena. Nonetheless, according to the writer of the present study, it is A large body of studies has been conducted on Cinema of Iran exactly that which causes disagreement. Is cinema really pure art? (also Persian Cinema as well as Iranian Film Industry). They Is it inherently committed to community? And does it actually include Mohammad Hossein Asayesh- Typology of Cinema affect social phenomena? Responses to these questions might be Audiences in Iran-Saeid Mohammadzadeh- Cinema and the clear-cut and obvious at the outset and/or the questioner seems Iranian Islamic Revolution; Ali Asa’die-An Introduction to the to be short of knowledge. But, a moment’s reflection would shed Sociology of Cinema in Iran;A’azam Ravudrad- Political more light on the issue. Sociology of the Iranian Cinema; Armin Amir- An Examination The fact is that cinema has never been and will not be pure art. of the Functions of Cinema in Iran, each of which has dealt with As in production procedure it has been and will be dependent on it from certain perspectives. However, what apparently has capital-based instruments and heavy expenditures such as attracted great attention in scientific communities as well as salaries, rents and, moreover, in supply cycle it has also relied on Access this article online a certain system, highly bound up with capital investment, cinema has enjoyed an industrial nature from its inception. Film Website: www.japer.in E-ISSN: 2249-3379 is a commodity created from the fusion of art and industry and, so, a filmmaker never manages to produce an artistic product without taking into account the industrial requirements and How to cite this article: Ali Riasaty, Hadieh Parhizkar, Hamid Maghami. Cinema and Iran’s Sociopolitical changes; from its inception to the end of 2001s. obligations as a writer, painter, singer, musician, or even a J Adv Pharm Edu Res 2018;8(S2):73-79. theater director does. Source of Support: Nil, Conflict of Interest: None declared. This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial- ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. © 2018 Journal of Advanced Pharmacy Education & Research | Published by SPER Publication 73 Ali Riasaty et al.: Cinema and Iran’s Sociopolitical changes; from its inception to the end of 2001s To better understand the issue, assume that a film is to be addresses the issue as well as the two-way interaction between produced while the filmmaker is allowed to portray what he/she cinema and social changes. wishes to and finally supply the product. What happens to the investor if box office does not bring good luck? Let’s suppose that Theoretical Foundations the investor overlooks his/her main capital by his/her cultural tolerance, will the filmmaker be able to, again for second and When dealing with an issue from the perspective of Rational third times, attract investment for new products? If it occurs to Choice theory, the data is collected and analyzed in accordance a beginner filmmaker, he/she will leave the profession for good. with three approaches including Decision theory, Game Theory, Apart from that, is cinema an abstract art which individually and Collective Action Theory. communicates with its audience or rather is accompanied with From this perspective, a social action is deemed to be rational mass presentation? It is obvious that films are always presented when an agent chooses the best and closest ways to achieve to the masses of audiences in movie theaters, television antennas objectives by acting upon his/her beliefs as regards varying and internet. As a consequence, should it not be considered as methods of social action and possible consequences. Here, the mass media? Or have it not played this major role during its concepts like preference and benefit are taken into account and existence? an individual makes the choice based on this framework. In the On the other hand, can it be with absolute certainty concluded present study, the explanations are provided in accordance with that production and presentation of film ‘A’ has brought about strategic rationality-based decision-making. phenomenon ‘B’ in the society? Or rather, phenomenon ‘B’ and In the following, two main players in cinema’s art and industry; its backgrounds, have not influenced production of film ‘A’ in that is, producer and government, which possess the greatest any way? The answers are easier said than done and, influence in mutual interactions, are addressed based on Decision furthermore, every sound person would sanction a two-way Theory frameworks. Strategic rationality is a part of rational interaction between film and society rather than a uni-factor choice, the consequences of which depend on intentional choice impact. of decision-makers of other factor. In the area of strategic As an industry, art, and media, what is the place of cinema in rationality, the profit an individual earns relies on choice made society? ‘Cinema is both an aesthetic as well as a social situation, by other players. Consequently, here every player should take the two features are interwoven’ [1]. Perhaps what grants cinema account of others’ rational calculations and chooses what such high importance in a short period of time are its integrated maximizes his/her interest by assuming that other players make artistic characteristics, empowering it to cause the audiences to rational choices as well. Thus, in this method, Expected Utility identify with cinema through a dramatic story, appeal to them rule does not generate any profit, and so, the use should be made with visual beauties, capture their imagination by music and of Utility Maximization rule [3]. make them reach a belief on reality by shows. The aggregation of all these features into a frame of motion pictures is in fact a Cinema in Iran simulated reality, providing us with meaning of interwoven as Great and intense debates have been conducted among mentioned previously. philosophers and art experts with regard to the origins of art. This is why cinema, from its inception, has always faced with Some believe it is originated from instinct, varying from social luck, which increased its significance and power day by construction instinct to sexual one, while others hold that it is day. ‘Among the new communication media developed in 20th the result of need. An arts expert called Hiren, asserts that arts century so as to achieve its perfection as an art, cinema held the were initially required to satisfy physical needs. It is obvious that highest rank’ [1]. From his ideological perspective, Adorno asserts man’s desire for beauty has been effective on the origins of art. that ‘art cannot confront with reality for the cause of art. As a Nonetheless, as this social institute lives on and grows, it is the consequence, it turns into a false consolation’ [2] .Though it art creator’s pursuing a rational goal that justifies it. One of the implies the art which is committed to community, this remark justifications introduced in this area is the role of art in conveying illustrates an overall and delicate point that rejection of art is messages for other human beings, gods, and mythological forces separated from society and, moreover, that since cinema has an [4]. inherently social nature, it is involved in social reality. Cinema is, however, a combined art which came into existence As mentioned before, a plethora of studies has been carried out over the last century alongside developments in painting, about cinema and the Iranian society.

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