We met the cast of the Shahs of Sunset in its first episode, a new series focused on a group of Persian friends who share the same history…they all left Persia and arrived in Beverly Hills as refugees. Their families, like thousands of others, found great success living the California dream and have raised their now-adult children in an environment of entitlement.
I, for one, am just going to love to hate this show…or is it hate to love. I’m not yet sure.
Spoiled rotten to the core
We meet the first real-live, spoiled rotten brat in GG, who is being kept by daddy and who hates ugly people, which is, of course, in her view, most of society. (she hates ants, too, although they are not ugly). Her feelings of entitlement make her one of the most unattractive and ugly people I have ever been introduced to. I pity the poor man she digs her claws into, although I’m sure we’ll eventually get to watch her televised wedding and she’ll make millions from sponsors. She could well be the new definition of mean girl.
Asa's somewhat bohemian style doesn't appeal to some of her cast-mates.
Then there’s Asa, GG’s polar opposite, who won’t compromise herself or her values for wealth. She’s somewhat bohemian in her style, which just doesn’t quite sit right with her some of her flashy cast-mates who equate money to class and flaunt it like there’s no tomorrow.
So, imagine my surprise when, in our first episode, it’s Asa who criticizes GG at a dinner outing with all the cast-members by referring to GG’s outfit as being so “H&M“…ouch!, those are fighting words. Nobody, except maybe some on Fifth Avenue, would ever shop at H&M! (not).
Now, see, I would have taken offense to that because of the tone in which it was said and GG does because it’s insulting to the deep pockets of GG’s father, who would rather pay for flashy designer labels, than anything H&M. In fact, GG is so pissed at the comment that she barks down Asa’s throat NEVER, EVER TO SPEAK BADLY OF GG’S FAMILY, especially her father. EVER. (I’m guessing that Asa should have know that GG is being kept by daddy).
I know that one of the sponsor’s of Jessica Simpson & Nicole Ritchie’s new show, Fashion Star, is H&M, so I thought that in honour of GG’s barking, I would include the link to H&M here for your shopping pleasure! TeeHee. here’s the link:
I’m gonna send my kids right over there, since I had never heard of them before GG’s bark. I might save myself some money, since I have some kept daughters, too. If they can stock up on some tanks, tee’s and thongs there, they’ll have more money for handbags, sunglasses and Christian Louboutin’s.
Ah, hahahahahaha! We’ll talk about the rest of the cast later.
Your friend,
I love H&M. We have one here in Scottsdale AZ. Great Blog as usual
. -E
Thank you for saying that. I had just heard of them on the episode.
I watched this with slack jawed horror.. I worked in a lab in california in the 80s with a lot of Iranians.. This is not the norm, these guys are a freak show.. I am sure the Persian community is THRILLED with the Persian Jersey shore..
My experiences are different from yours. My Persian friends have always been all about flaunting it. They all have always driven nice cars, lived in elegantly appointed homes and apartments, purchased only the finest accoutrements and flashed more 18K to 22K gold than carter has liver pills (as they say). I find this group very typical EXCEPT for the entitlement mentality. My friends were always trained that being highly educated is what distinguished them from the masses, and so they were and are.
well I worked in a laboratory situation so my coworkers werent rich.. they did value education, and were very family and community oriented. more middle than upper class
I see. I don’t know any like that, though I’m sure there are plenty around
I’m an Iranian, I watched some parts of it. It’s not fair to show Iranians like this. Iranians are usually very down-to-earth, educated and analytical people. Did you know, according to the space magazine, 43% of NASA scientists are Iranians or The founding president for the Congress of International Neurosurgeons (MASCIN) is an Iranian (Dr. Majid Samii?. There are more than 5 million Iranians living out of Iran and most of them are very successful people. Please check these names on wikipedia: Dr. Hossein Eslambolchi (He became AT&T Chief Technology Officer, AT&T Chief Information Officer, President and CEO of AT&T Labs and President and CEO of AT&T Global Network Operations) – Pierre Morad Omidyar (the founder/chairman of the eBay auction site) – Firouz Naderi (Director for Solar System Exploration at NASA’s JPL) – Sina Tamaddon (Senior Vice President of Applications for Apple Inc.) – Jamshid “Jimmy” Delshad (He became Mayor of Beverly Hills on March 21, 2007 and again on March 16, 2010) – Dr Ghassem Asrar (Director of the World Climate Research Programme) … AND HUNDREDS MORE … There are bad and good in every walk, why the ugly side is chosen?
I’m with you on that one. The Iranians I know are highly educated and cultured. Their contribution to humanity has been worth mentioning. Why are these kids selected, particularly since they are not representative of the more cultrued group of Persians? The audiences like the bling, that’s why. Granted, these kids are a shame to the culture, but they do exist and I have plenty of Persian friends who are blingy & educated. These kids just seem to be blingy and superficial, however, they were raised in Beverly Hills where money talks. They’ve learned to speak the language quite well, don’t you think?
Please don’t take this the wrong way, I don’t want to start a historical discussion but west, but west really fears another Persian empire. If you ask Westerns or Americans about Iran some of them even don’t know where Iran is situated. The Persian empire conquered 80% of the civilized world but You generally dont learn about the persian empire in schools simply because of politics. They never want a powerful and successful Iran (I’m NOT talking about nuclear bomb sort of things, Iranians think knowledge is power), they are trying to introduce Iranians as superficial and non-modern people). After the Arab invasion of Persia, the islamic hordes burnt all books in the Persia libraries, destroying the knowledge that took Europe 1000 years to re-invent. Now they want the world to forget everything and think WEST IS EVERYTHING!
Do you remember any historical movie about Persian Empire or even talking about Persian Empire in a historical movie? Cyrus the Great figures in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) as the patron and deliverer of the Jews. He is mentioned 23 times by name and alluded to several times more. From these statements it appears that Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, was the monarch under whom the captivity of the Jews ended, for in the first year of his reign he was prompted by God to make a decree that the Temple in Jerusalem should be rebuilt and that such Jews as cared to might return to their land for this purpose. The only one is the film 300 in which Iranians are some wild people and westerns are some angles! Cyrus the Great declared the first Charter of Human Rights known to mankind. He took the title of “King of Babylon and King of the Land”. Cyrus had no thought of forcing conquered people into a single mould, and had the wisdom to leave unchanged the institution of each kingdom he attached to the Persian Crown. In 539 BCE he allowed more than 40,000 Jews to leave Babylon and return to Palestine. This step was in line with his policy to bring peace to Mankind. A new wind was blowing from the east, carrying away the cries and humility of defeated and murdered victims, extinguishing the fires of sacked cities, and liberating nations from slavery. Why they don’t make a film about this?!
Anyway, as I mentioned before, I’m not going to talk about history but these facts bother Iranians.
Usually people from other countries think Iran is just a desert, I highly recommend that you visit these website:
http://www.photochilick.com/?pg=./fair/fair&lang_id=en&fair_id=29
http://www.iranmap.com/iran-photos
Please write to me,
Thank you
I think the points you make need to be made, so that others do not think this group of people is representative of, or negates, the great contributions the Persians (now Iranians) have made to society. Cyrus the Great did play a pivotol role in the history of the Jewish people as is found in the book of Chrochicles, allowing their return to their homeland after a 70 year exile. Thank you, again, for the comment.