Iran's Modern Family

In what the Huffington Post has called "disheartening," the Islamic Republic of Iranian Broadcasting has copied the hit American sitcom Modern Family with its own Haft Sang. 

What's disheartening about Iran copying a show that promotes the morals of the modern American family? 

Well it leaves out Mitch and Cam, the show's gay characters and their adopted baby, of course, replacing them with a straight couple and their adopted baby.

But it's not shocking and the only ones who should truly be outraged are the show's creators, writers, and directors. International copyright laws aren't often enforced in Iran and many other countries. Russia copied Always Sunny in Philadelphia, obviously downplaying similar content perceived to be pro-gay. Although in the case of москве всегда солнечно, it may be more likely that Russian writers simply didn't get the show's satire and assumed that Always Sunny's slurs are meant to be literal.

Haft Sang

Iran is a different story though and this bit of western influence, even without its gay couple, is a good sign. Unlike Russian culture which was cut off from the world in the 1940s and is struggling to catch up, Iran was only severed from modern ideology in 1979. Plenty of Iranians remember a nation not unlike others in the 1970s. Read Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis for more on that. It's funny, charming, and sad.

Haft Sang has upset some conservative Iranians, primarily because it borrows from an American show that allegedly promotes homosexuality. Parliament's Culture Committee has stated that IRIB will appear before legislators regarding the show's originality. It's not the first American show that has been copied in Iran, but the American version has a sizable viewership online in Iran, perhaps prompting the IRIB to offer a localized version.

What many may perceive to be a conservative move is actually bold in an insular country with rigid laws against homosexuality, a crime punishable by death. The fact that the IRIB is tiptoeing into the comedic foibles of any modern family to cater to a public that already seeks this humor online is a step in the right direction. 

The impact that the mainstream media has had on the United States over the past twenty years is astounding, and it's finding its way to smart phones and iPads around the globe, showing those laughing from Tehran and Moscow, "we're funny, just like everyone else."