Salon.com > The Iran Job http://www.salon.com Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 “The Iran Job”: Love and basketball — in Shiraz? http://www.salon.com/2012/10/09/the_iran_job_love_and_basketball_%e2%80%94_in_shiraz/ http://www.salon.com/2012/10/09/the_iran_job_love_and_basketball_%e2%80%94_in_shiraz/#comments Tue, 09 Oct 2012 21:59:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13035143 The premise of “The Iran Job” sounds like a nutty idea for a sitcom: An African-American basketball player – a big, bluff, cheerful guy with a bit of a philosophical streak – goes to the Islamic Republic of Iran, not really knowing anything about the place except that it’s universally vilified by outsiders and that his family fears for his life. Throw in a trio of feisty and undeniably attractive Iranian women, who whip off the coats and headscarves as soon as they’re indoors, revealing themselves as severe fashion victims and eager consumers of smuggled cans of Tuborg beer. Not funny enough yet? How about a laconic, seven-foot-tall Serbian roommate, a building super from Afghanistan who speaks not a single word of English and a fast-food employee who prides himself on his elaborate imitations of African-American dance moves. Oh, and an attempt to find a Christmas tree in the provincial Iranian city of Shiraz, complicated by the fact that the Farsi word for “raisin” apparently sounds a lot like “Christmas.”

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